edited by Kamilla Lein Kjølberg (University of Bergen, Norway) & Fern Wickson (University of Bergen, Norway)

This book explores the enormous diversity in social perspectives on the emergence of nanotechnologies. The diversity is structured by applying five broad categories: Philosophy, governance, science, representations and arts, and attention is drawn to important research lines and pertinent questions within and across these categories. Nano meets Macro is designed especially for use in interdisciplinary teaching and discussions about nanoethics with natural science students, but the richness of issues and perspectives makes it of interest to all researchers, practitioners and non-academics wanting an introduction to the social perspectives on nanosciences and technologies. To stimulate a thorough discussion the book includes pieces of science fiction and visual arts, as well as questions for reflection after each chapter. The book contains chapters by prominent scholars and commentators in the field, such as Alfred Nordmann, Rob Doubleday, Lynn Frewer and Friends of the Earth.

Contents:

• In the Making:
  • Historical Context of the US National Nanotechnology Initiative (H Fogelberg)
  • Questioning Interdisciplinarity: What Roles for Laboratory based Social Science? (R Doubleday & A Viseu)
  • The Science and Politics of Nano Images (R Strand & T Birkeland)
  • Poetry from the Laboratory (H Lee)
• In the Public Eye:
  • The Slippery Nature of Nano-Enthusiasm (R Sparrow)
  • Representations and Public Engagement: Nano in Norwegian Newspapers (K L Kjølberg)
  • Everyday Nanowars (C Milburn)
  • Nanotechnology and Global Sustainability: The Case of Water Management (M Kamera)
  • Nanotechnology in Foods: Understanding Public Response to Its Risks and Benefits (L Frewer & A Fischer)
  • My Room (L L Smith)
• In the Big Questions:
  • Inside, Outside: Nanobionics and Human Bodily Experience (R Kyle & S Dodds)
  • Enhancing Material Nature (A Nordmann)
  • The Nano Control-Freak: Multifaceted Strategies for Taming Nature (A Ferrari)
  • It's Perfect, and I Want to Leave (L Willis)
• In the Tough Decisions:
  • Smoke that Thunders - Risk, Confusion and Regulatory Frameworks (D Bowman & G van Calster)
  • Economic and Political Aspects of Nanotechnology Governance in Latin America: The Case of Mexico (G C Delgado)
  • Nanotechnology in Food and Agriculture (G Miller & R Senjen)
  • Treating Nanoparticles with Precaution: Recognising Qualitative Uncertainty in Scientific Risk Assessment (F Wickson et al.)
  • Nanotechnology and Public Engagement: A New Kind of (Social) Science? (S R Davies et al.)
  • Civil Society and the Politics of Nano-Scale Converging Technologies (H Shand)
  • Moving In (L Atcliffe)

Readership: Advanced undergraduate- and graduate-level students in nanotechnology, science and technology studies, and history and philosophy of science; researchers in nanotechnology, chemistry, biology and physics (especially those with an interest in social and ethical issues), science and technology studies, and history and philosophy of science.

"The editors have compiled a beautifully diverse and timely collection on the social and cultural aspects of nano-scale science and engineering. With informed academic analysis, fresh-from-the-field NGO experience, and provocative images, fiction and poetry, their contribution is as multi-faceted as nano itself."