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The word nanotechnology itself is a combination
of nano, from the Greek "nanos" (or
Latin "nanus"), meaning "Dwarf",
and the word "Technology."
Nano refers to 10-9, or one billionth.
Therefore, a nanometer is one billionth of a
meter.
For comparison:
- four gold atoms lined up side by side would
be about one nanometer wide
- a human hair is about 50,000 nanometers
thick!
Forbes Magazine defines it as:
"the precision placement, measurement,
manipulation and modeling of sub-100 nanometer
scale matter, somewhere from 4 to 400 individual
atoms. This range is important because when
we get down to this small size, the classical
laws of physics change to give us novel properties
that can be harnessed and exploited. Manipulating
atoms which combine to form molecules, the
building blocks of our natural world allows
scientists to create new building blocks which
produce new materials with the exact properties
they desire: smaller, stronger, tougher, lighter
and more resilient than what has come before."
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