Springer and The Nanoethics Group have released a collection of important papers addressing a range of near-term issues related to nanotechnology’s ethical and social implications. The anthology “Nanotechnology and Society: Current and Emerging Ethical Issues” tackles such contentious issues as environmental impact, health dangers, medical benefits, intellectual property, professional code of ethics, privacy, international governance, and more.
The anthology features sixteen papers focused on the most urgent issues arising from nanotechnology today and in the near future. Written by leading researchers, policy experts, and nanoethics scholars worldwide, the book is divided into five units: foundational issues; risk and regulation; industry and policy; the human condition; and selected global issues.
“While there are also more distant and speculative issues in nanoethics—and we’ve touched upon some of them in our previous work—it is important to also have a single volume focused on the more immediate problems facing nanotechnology, especially as policymakers and industry are interested in these issues first and foremost,” said Patrick Lin, Ph.D., director for The Nanoethics Group.
The volume is co-edited by Fritz Allhoff (Western Michigan Univ.) and Patrick Lin (Cal Poly, SLO; Dartmouth College) and presents papers by notable names in nanotechnology and nanoethics, including (in order of appearance): Jean-Pierre Dupuy (Stanford), Paul Thompson (Michigan State Univ.), Arthur Zucker (Ohio Univ.), David Berube (North Carolina State Univ.), Thomas Powers (Univ. of Delaware), Ashley Shew (Virginia Tech), Jeroen van den Hoven (Delft Univ. of Tech., Netherlands), Drew Harris (Graves Dougherty Hearon & Moody), Raj Bawa (Bawa Biotechnology Consulting LLP), Summer Johnson (Albany Medical College), Jason Robert (Arizona State Univ.), and Joachim Schummer (Tech. Univ. of Darmstadt, Germany). Organizations such as Canada’s Commission de l'Éthique de la Science et de la Technologie, the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies, the Meridian Institute, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars also contributed papers.