Eric Drexler

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Eric Drexler in 2013

Kim Eric Drexler (born April 25, 1955 in Oakland , California ) is an American engineer , pioneer and visionary of molecular nanotechnology and author .

Career and impact

He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), his Ph.D. (PhD) from 1991 was the first in molecular nanotechnology. Drexler created the term nanomachine (also called nanobot ) and came up with the idea of assemblers . Also, the term Gray Goo (gray goo) was coined by Drexler.

Originally, he began studying nanometer- thin metal layers for the construction of solar sails .

With another nanotechnology pioneer, Richard Smalley , he led a high profile debate about the future of nanotechnology, and specifically the ability to create assemblers . The debate cited as the Drexler – Smalley debate on molecular nanotechnology took place between 2001 and 2003 over articles and open letters in the specialist journals.

Drexler has been working with the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University since 2012 , initially as an Academic Visitor , then as a member from 2016. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow and publishes research reports there.

Private life

Drexler founded the Foresight Institute in Palo Alto , California with his then wife, Christine Peterson, in 1985, a year before his major work, Engines of Creation, was published . The couple divorced in 2003. Ms. Peterson, who also has a BA in Chemistry from MIT, remains closely involved in running the institute, which aims to educate the public about nanotechnology.

In 2006 Drexler married Rosa Wang, a former investment banker.

bibliography

  • Engines of Creation , Anchor Books 1986
  • with Christine Peterson, Gayle Pergamit: Experiment Future: The Nanotechnological Revolution , Addison-Wesley 1994
  • Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing and Computation, Wiley 1992
    • Developed from his dissertation at MIT 1991: Molecular Machinery and Manufacturing with Applications to Computation , Dissertation MIT 1991.
  • Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization , Public Affairs 2013
  • Reframing Superintelligence: Comprehensive AI Services as General Intelligence , (as K. Eric Drexler), Technical Report # 2019-1, Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford, 210 pages, 2019 Online at FHI .

Books and articles about Eric Drexler

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Max Rauner : With sticky fingers. In the USA nanoscientists have recognized the dangers, and in Europe they are still conferring . In: The time . No. 52 , 2003 ( zeit.de [accessed June 1, 2020]).
  2. ^ Timeline of Future of Humanity Institute. In: Timelines Wiki. Accessed June 1, 2020 .
  3. ^ Future of Humanity Institute, Macrostrategy Research Team. In: Future of Humanity Institute. Accessed June 1, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Our team. In: Foresight Institute. Accessed June 1, 2020 .


personal data
SURNAME Drexler, Eric
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Drexler, Kim Eric
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American molecular nanotechnology pioneer and author
DATE OF BIRTH April 25, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Oakland , California