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Class Curriculum and Schedule
This is a discussion-based course. There are no lengthy lecture notes for each class. Nor have I included all of my personal notes. I have, however, posted the class themes, the worksheets and handouts I distributed during class, all the quizzes and exams, and the class notes or outlines where available.
Intro. to Nanotech+Society 1, 2, 3, Essay 1
Nanoscience/Nanotech 4, 5, 10, 12, 14, 37-44
Nanotech in Culture
6, 8, 9, 22, 24, 46
Revolutions 31, 46, Essay 3
Technology and Society 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 24, 32, 46, Essay 2
How Government Drives Technology 23, 25, 46, Essay 4
Weighing the Risks 33, 34, 35, 36, 46
Thinking About the Future 30, 45, 47
Science and Technology Studies 201, Section 84405
Nanotechnology and Society
Meets: M, W, F (9:55 – 10:45) in Rm 234, Education Building, Spring 2005
Credits: 3
Instructor: Charlie Tahan, Physics Department, Wisconsin-Madison
(Class 1) Wed., January 19, 2005 - Introduction to Nanotechnology and Society
In class: Introduction to instructor and other students. Walk through syllabus and course structure. (New class. What you make it.) Philosophy of class. Get student info. Brief presentation on what I do (as a grad student).
Homework: Divide the class in two.
- Turn in: Define "science" and "technology, respectively.
(Class 2) Fri., Jan. 21, 2005 - Introduction to Nanotechnology and Society
Due: About one paragraph defining either “science” or “technology”, as you were assigned in class. Start by finding a definition somewhere. Then really think about how you would define science or technology. Type it up to hand in.
In class:
Homework:
- Read: Understanding Nanotechnology: “Forward”, “Introduction” and “Little Big Science” (up to page 17).
- Read: Trevor and Pinch, “Introduction: the technological golem," (No. 1 in the reader.)
(Class 3) Mon., Jan. 24, 2005 - Introduction to Nanotechnology and Society
Due: Reading.
In class:
Homework:
- Read: M. C. Roco, Broader Societal Issues of Nanotechnology, Journal of Nanoparticle Research, 5 (2003): 181-189 (No. 15 in the reader.)
- Read: Swiss Re report on Nanotechnology: Small matter, many unknowns
- Ch. 1&2: Charlie
- Ch. 3.1-3.3: Group A
- Ch. 3.4-3.5: Group B
- Ch. 4: Group C
- Ch. 5: Group D
- Ch. 6: Group E
- Ch. 7: Group F
- Read: (Optional) Ratner and Ratner, Ch. 3: Fundamental Science Behind Nanotechnology (No. 3 in the reader.)
- Turn in: Outline of your assigned chapter in the Swiss Re report.
(Class 4) Wed., Jan. 26, 2005 - Introduction to Nanotechnology
Announcement: First essay out.
Due: Typed outline of your assigned chapter in the Swiss Re report. We can’t get around a lot of reading this week. The goal is to give you some primary sources for your first essay and a foundation of nanotech for the rest of the class. The more you see and read, the better prepared you will be to write your essay.
In class:
- Swiss Re report outline for Chs. 1-2
- Groups will be given some time to discuss with each other and produce a coherent outline of your chapters. Pick one from the group to give a summary on the board next class.
Homework:
- Read: M. Roukes, Plenty of Room, Indeed, in Understanding Nanotechnology
- Read: K. E. Drexler, Machine-Phase Nanotechnology, in Understanding Nanotechnology
- Read: S. Ashley, Nanobot Construction Crews, in Understanding Nanotechnology
- Read: (Optional) Nanotechnology: Shaping the World Atom by Atom, National Science and Technology Council
- Turn in: Final group outline.
(Class 5) Wed., Jan. 28, 2005 - Introduction to Nanotechnology
Due: Final group outline.
In class:
Homework:
(Class 6) Fri., Jan. 31, 2005 - Nanotech in Culture: Science Fiction
Due: 1st essay due.
 In class:
- Exploring the wild-eyed dangers of nanotech as seen in popular culture.
- Watch scifi show: The Outer Limits: The New Breed
- In this episode, a nanotechnology professor creates a strain of "nanobots" that can cure anything. His soon-to-be brother-in-law injects himself with them and all hell breaks loose. The nanobots being to "improve" the main character and resist all attempts at deactivating them...and spread.
- During the video: Class survey, questions, feedback.
Homework:
(Class 7) Wed., Feb. 2, 2005 - Technology and Society: Technology as Forms of Life
Due: Reading.
In class:
Homework:
- Read: M. Chrichton, Artifical Evolution in the 21st century, Introduction to Prey (No. 7 in the reader.)
- Turn in: Find and print out an article on a nanoproduct or discovery, understand it, be able to talk about it.
(Class 8) Fri., Feb. 4, 2005 - Nanotech in Culture: Nanoproducts
Due: Reading. Find and print out an article on a nanoproduct or discovery, understand it, be able to talk about it.
In class:
- Recap on Nano vs. Society and why we’re reading people like Winner.
- Class discussion on what nanoproducts you found. List on board. (See attached.)
- What nanoproducts may be forms of life in Winner’s defintion? (Not nanobots! Not artificial life!)
- Discussion of Chrichton’s article. Nano in culture.
- Next class: town meeting on Flynn’s Soul of the City.
Homework:
- Read: M. Flynn, Soul of the City, (No. 8 in the reader.)
- Turn in: NONE. But be prepared to discuss the piece and represent any of the interest groups in the town. We’ll be trying a town council meeting format where the town council must decide on what to do about the events that have been going on.
(Class 9) Mon., Feb. 7, 2005 - Nanotech in Culture: Science Fiction
Due: Reading. To discuss Flynn's Soul of the City we’ll be trying a town council meeting format where the town council must decide on what to do about the events that have been going on. be prepared to discuss the piece and represent any of the interest groups in the town.
In class:
Homework:
(Class 10) Wed., Feb. 9, 2005 - Nanoscience
Due: NONE. We’re going to talk about Quantum Dots and Quantum Mechanics and Essay grades.
In class:
- Essay comments. I said that (for this essay only) you could redo it to improve your grade.
- Lecture on The Quantum in Quantum Dots. Notes.
Homework:
(Class 11) Fri., Feb. 11, 2005 - Technology and Society: Progress
Due: Reading: Leo Marx, Does Improved Technology Mean Progress?
In class:
Homework:
- Read: "The Art of Building Small" in Understanding Nanotechnology
- Turn in: Quiz.
(Class 12) Mon., Feb. 14, 2005 - Nanoscience
Due: Reading: "The Art of Building Small" in Understanding Nanotechnology. Quiz.
In class:
Homework:
(Class 13) Wed., Feb. 16, 2005 - Technology and Society: The Politics of Technological Change
Due: Reading: Langdon Winner, Do Artifacts Have Politics?
In class:
- Group work: Worksheet on Do Artifacts Have Politics?
- Groups fill out Handout in parts and a representative from each summarizes their answers on the board.
- Class discussion on politics and technology.
Homework:
(Class 14) Fri., Feb. 18, 2005 - Nanoscience (research projects)
Due: If you haven’t read Do Artifacts Have Politics? by Langdon Winner, read it.
In class:
Homework:
(Class 15) Mon., Feb. 21, 2005 - Technology and Society: The Politics of Technological Change
Due: Reading: S. E. Cozzens and E. J. Woodhouse, Science, Government, and the Politics of Knowledge. Pick a professor doing something interesting to you from this list of Wisconsin professors supposedly doing nano. Search for their web page, find out what they do, write a 1-paragraph summary/list, be able to describe it generally. Is it nano?
In class:
- Group work on article.
- Class discussion.
- Notes.
- Discussed what students found out about "nano"-professors at Wisconsin.
Homework:
- Read: R. Kline and T. Pinch, Users as Agents of Technological Change: The Social Construction of the Automobile in the Rural United States, (No. 11 in the reader.)
(Class 16) Wed., Feb. 23, 2005 - Technology and Society: Progress
Due: Reading: R. Kline and T. Pinch, Users as Agents of Technological Change: The Social Construction of the Automobile in the Rural United States.
In class:
- In class debate: Was the automobile progress?
- Divide the class into three groups: Langdon Winner, Leo Marx, Kline and Pinch
- Battle!
- Sum-up
Homework:
Due: Top 3 choices for research project.
In class:
- Sick.
- Class survey: Write top three questions/comments you have about the class to date.
Homework:
- I will be gone next week. Midterm is on friday.
No class.
No class.
MIDTERM
PDF of Midterm exam.
Due: Essay 2.
In class:
- Questions/Discussion. Getting back on track after break.
- Went through questions/comments from Class 17.
Homework:
(Class 22) Wed., Mar. 9, 2005 - Nanotech in Culture: Nanoproducts and Business
Due: Reading: J. Ulrich, Follow the Money, Follow the Leaders.
In class:
- Break into groups and come up with three questions you would ask about this article.
- What is the perspective of the author?
- The author quotes that nanotech will have societal impacts far greater than silicon b/c it is applicable in many more fields than silicon. Is this true?
- Who is funding nano research? How much? In what way? Is this the best way?
- Discussion of R&D in this country, the shring of corporate research. Nano invested through universities – that’s where the scientists are, expensive equipment costs (different from internet revolution), and not predictable yet.
- From an international perspective how is nano different from semiconductor tech (or internet, or railroads).
- Why is there so much focus on University partners?
- Formed new topical groups clustered around research projects.
- Assigned research topics.
Homework:
(Class 23) Fri., Mar. 11, 2005 - How Government Drives Technology: Nanotechnology Funding Initiatives and Science Agencies
Due: Reading: M. C. Roco, The US National Nanotechnology Initiative After 3 Years.
In class:
Homework:
(Class 24) Mon., Mar. 14, 2005 - Technology and Society & Nanotech and Culture: Science Fiction
Due: NONE.
In class:
- Technology and Society in science fiction.
 Watched the Stargate SG1 episode Learning Curve (Season 3).- Our heros discover a new society on another world called the Orbans. The Orbanian society acquires knowledge by selecting a few children -- called "Urrone" -- and implanting them with nanites at birth, before the brain has fully developed. The nanites act as additional synapses, allowing the children to learn vast amounts of knowledge very quickly. When an Urrone child has reached 12 years of age, his or her nanites are harvested in the Averium ceremony, and one is given to every Orban citizen. The child's knowledge is passed on, but the child is left in an infantile state. They are cared for physically, but not taught or interacted with.
- Talk about a new "form of life"! (As Winner would call it.)
Homework:
- Read: David Noble, Command Performance: A Perspective on Military Enterprise and Technological Change, (No. 17 in the reader.)
(Class 25) Wed., Mar. 16, 2005 - How Government Drives Technology: The Military and Technology
Due: Reading: David Noble, Command Performance: A Perspective on Military Enterprise and Technological Change.
In class:
Homework:
Due: NONE.
In class:
- Review class for people who missed important days prior.
- Go over midterms.
Homework:
(Class 27) Mon., Mar. 21, 2005 - SPRING BREAK
(Class 28) Wed., Mar. 23, 2005 - SPRING BREAK
(Class 29) Fri., Mar. 25, 2005 - SPRING BREAK
(Class 30) Mon., Mar. 28, 2005 - Thinking about the Future: Science Fiction
Due: NONE.
In class:
 Questions/Update/Getting back in the swing of things.- Hand things back.
- Watch another episode of Stargate SG1, Nemisis. The crew fight a new enemy: replicating mechnanical robots built on nanomodules.
Homework:
- Read: G. Cross and R. Szostak, Technology and American Society, Ch. 4, Origins of Industrialization, (No. 6 in the reader.)
(Class 31) Wed., Mar. 30, 2005 - Revolutions and the History of Science and Technology
Due: Reading: G. Cross and R. Szostak, Technology and American Society, Ch. 4, Origins of Industrialization.
Due: Outline of research project if you haven’t already.
In class:
Homework:
- Read: Langdon Winner, Testimony to Congress, (No. 16 in the reader.)
- Read: Read these two recent articles (here and here) in Nature discussing the involvement of public participation in nanotechnology funding/research. Think about whether the public should have input on the development of nanotech.
(Class 32) Fri., Apr. 1, 2005 - Technology and Society: Public Participation
Due: Reading: Langdon Winner, Testimony to Congress.
Due: Read these two recent articles (here and here) in Nature discussing the involvement of public participation in nanotechnology funding/research. Think about whether the public should have input on the development of nanotech.
In class:
- Group discussions. Discuss and comment on the snippets I've extracted from today's readings. What is your opinion?
- Public participation handout.
- Come back together as class to compare opinions.
- Instructor comments.
Homework:
(Class 33) Mon., Apr. 4, 2005 - Weighing the Risks: Accidents
Due: Reading: Charles Perrow, Introduction and Ch. 1, Normal Accidents.
Due: Reading: WIRED: Let a Thousand Reactor Bloom
In class:
Homework:
- Read: Vicki Colvin, The potential environmental impact of engineered nanomaterials, Nature Biotechnology, (No. 20 in the reader.)
(Class 34) Wed., Apr. 6, 2005 - Weighing the Risks: Nanotoxicology
Due: Reading: Vicki Colvin, The potential environmental impact of engineered nanomaterials, Nature Biotechnology.
In class:
Homework:
- Read: S. Krimsky and A. Plough, The Release of Genetically Modified Organisms into the Environment: The Case of Ice Minus, (No. 21 in the reader.)
(Class 35) Fri., Apr. 8, 2005 - Weighing the Risks: Risk Analysis and Communication
Due: Reading: S. Krimsky and A. Plough, The Release of Genetically Modified Organisms into the Environment: The Case of Ice Minus.
In class:
Homework:
- Read: H. Collins and T. Pinch, The science of the lambs: Chernobyl and the Cumbrian sheepfarmers, The Golem at Large, Cambridge 1998, (No. 23 in the reader.)
(Class 36) Mon., Apr. 11, 2005 - Weighing the Risks
Due: Reading: H. Collins and T. Pinch, The science of the lambs: Chernobyl and the Cumbrian sheepfarmers, The Golem at Large, Cambridge 1998.
In class:
- Class discussion.
- Review and summar of risk and nanotechnology.
Homework:
- Research talks start wed.
Due: Essay #3.
(Class 45) Mon., May 2, 2005 - Thinking about the Future: Prophets, Worriers, and Hacks
Due: Reading: E. Drexler, Engines of Creation: Ch. 2, The Principles of Change (No. 25)
Due: Reading: D. Mulhall, Our Molecular Future: The Singularity (No. 26)
In class:
Homework:
(Class 46) Wed., May 4, 2005 - Nanotechnology and Society
Due: Essay #4.
In class:
- "Testimony before the congressional subcommittee on the first review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative" based on your essay.
- Government investment in nanotechnology research: should the government continue funding of nanotechnology? In what specific areas (from your point of view)? How should the money be funneled, through which agencies?
- Public participation in the evolution and funding of nanotechnology: Should the public be brought into the nanotechnology development process? How? Should there be public panels as L. Winner suggests? Should there be a national or international regulatory agency or should the individual regulatory agencies handle the specifics as they do now?
- Town hall meeting depending on your "personality" from Essay 4:
- The congressman themselves
- Military brass from the Pentagon
- Scientists from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
- Representatives from the ETC (look at their report) and the Sierra Club
- Lobbyists representing the Nanotechnology Business Alliance
- Invited social scientists/science and tech. historians
- This class will act as a review of the course. You will get a chance to share your perspective from your essay with the rest of the class.
- Review on board.
Homework:
- Turn in: Find an article or story about the most wild, wacky, crazy or other future articles about nanotechnology you can find and bring it in to share on the last day of class.
(Class 47) Fri., May 6, 2005 - Thinking About The Future
Due: Find an article or story about the most wild, wacky, crazy or other future articles about nanotechnology you can find and bring it in to share on the last day of class.
In class:
- Student contributed articles.
- Nano joke contest voting. We settled on quantity instead of quality.
- Review of class and preparation for final exam.
Homework:
- Nothing, last day of class!
(Final Exam) Fri., May 13, 2005 at 12:25 pm
PDF of Final exam.
That's all she wrote!
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