There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom

There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom ( " below is a lot of space " for English ) is a lecture given by physicist Richard Feynman gave on December 29, 1959. The location of the presentation was the California Institute of Technology. In the lecture, Richard Feynman argued numerous suggestions as to how technology might work on a microscopic level. The many ideas of the lecture were later the basis of nanotechnology.

Main ideas of the speech

Possibilities for data storage

Feynman argues that the theoretical possibilities of the compression of data are far from exhausted to small spaces. He uses the example that you could store the entire Encyclopædia Britannica on the head of a pin, so that the resolution of the font would be retained. As a way to write in such standards, Feynman presented without the use of the term electron beam lithography.

Need for better electron microscopes

Another point of speech is the appeal to increase the resolution of electron microscopes. This would after Feynman essential biological mechanisms such as the formation of mutations to be solved by simple direct observation. In addition, stronger electron microscopes would make it possible to read very little data images, so that the storage capacity would increase per consumed space.

Benefits of using miniaturized computer

Feynman also proposes to miniaturize computer so that their cable had a diameter of about 10-100 atoms. This brand has been reached today in new computer models. It is explained that because of the impossibility to exceed the speed of light, the length of the cable and thus the size of the computer should be as small as possible to enable rapid calculations possible.

Construction of microscopic machines

Because of the difficulties which exist, for example, for the repair of very small objects, Feynman also suggests that you build microscopic machines that can perform such work. These machines could make very small: If a car is different maximum duty of his plan, and it reduced this car by a factor of 4.000, this corresponds to the new deviation from the plan about 10 atoms; this is according to Feynman in the acceptable range.

One way to construct such small machines, according to Feynman would be a gradual reduction of the production machines: First, you would build automatic and controllable artificial hands that have the size of normal hands. These could then build automated, controllable hands that have the size of normal hands. This process could be continued until it would be controlled automatically and hands, which would be sufficiently small in order to construct microscopic machines.

In this operation, each iteration could also increase the number of automatic hands by a factor of 10, that is an automatic hand size produces 10 hands the size. In this way, one could build a large number of microscopic manufacturing facilities without significant material costs.

Physical molecule manipulation

Feynman also considered whether it would be possible to use physical methods rather than chemical methods for the manipulation and production of certain molecules. Although Feynman admits that the chemistry would make such great progress that chemists would have been able to synthesize almost all materials before such a physical process could be invented. However, he believes that the development of such a method is of theoretical interest.

Price tender

To promote research in the field of nanotechnology, Feynman offered for two performances each $ 1,000 to:

• For the construction of an engine which performs a rotational movement and cubic inch is big,
• And for the miniaturization of any book page by a factor of 25,000, so that the miniaturized version of the book page with an electron microscope is readable.

Both awards have now been won.