Book Review

Abstract

Koos van der BruggenJürgen Altmann, Military Nanotechnology. Potential Applications and Preventive Arms Control. Routledge London/New York 2006.Most technologies have their roots in civil technical universities and in research laboratories of private enterprises. But in history there is hardly any technology that has not been used -or abused -for military purposes. A well-known example is nuclear technology. The discoveries of Einstein and others in the first half of the twentieth century were applied to develop the atomic bomb. Robert Oppenheimer and other famous physicists were involved in this socalled Manhattan-project. The main reason for their participation was the fear that Nazi-Germany would develop its own nuclear weapon.After the Second World War the world became divided during the Cold War, which would last for more than 40 years. One of the consequences was an arms race between the United States with its allies and the Soviet Union with its allies. Scientists and engineers played a major role in this arms race. All kinds of technical and scientific research was not only -and often not even in the first place -directed at civil use, but also at its military value. Nuclear technology, biotechnology, information technology: military or military relevant (dual-use) applications were prominent on the agenda.The end of the Cold War was not the end of this military involvement in research and development. That is clearly shown by Jurgen Altmann in his book Military Nanotechnology. Potential Applications and Preventive Arms Control. Since the 1980s, but with considerably more promises and results in the 1990s and in this first decade of the twenty-first century nanotechnology has become a new focus of scientific and technological research. Altmann gives a short description of this early history and of the promises and risks of this "next industrial revolution." Almost from the start it was realized that nanotechnology (NT) could have far reaching consequences for warfare and the armed forces. Well-known authors on NT as Drexler and Joy have paid attention to possible military applications of NT. During the first workshop of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) on societal implications of NT seven possible applications for "national defence" are given: continued information dominance through advanced electronics; more sophisticated virtual reality systems; increased use of enhanced automation and robotics; higher performance (lighter weight, higher strength) in military platforms; improvements in chemical, biological and/or nuclear sensing; design improvement for nuclear non proliferation monitoring; combined nano-and micromechanical devices for control of nuclear defence systems.The possible applications are very divergent. For anyone who knows a bit of nanotechnology this should not come as a surprise. As Altmann writes: when working at the nanometre scale "the borders between the disciplines physics, chemistry, biology vanish, including their sub-, intermediate and applied fields." Nanoethics (2007)...