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Ask the Scientist

Ask the Scientist is where scientists at any stage of their careers can come and ask leaders in the field about their research, careers in nanotechnology, and advice for getting started in this exciting field. Updates will be posted weekly to this website, so check back frequently for new answers.

This Feature

Our current featured expert is Prof. James Gimzewski, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at University of California, Los Angeles. Prof. Gimzewski has been a forerunner in exploring and elucidating the mechanical and electronic properties of nanostructures, and was one of the pioneers in scanning tunneling microscopy.

Do you have a question for Prof. Gimzewski on scanning probe microscopy, or nanoscience in general? Submit it here.

Where did the term “nano” originate?

“Nano” is Greek for “dwarf.” Norio Taniguchi coined the word “nanotechnology” in a paper in 1974.^1,2 Richard Feynman did not use the word “nanotechnology.” ³ Eric Drexler popularized the term now shortened to “nano.” ⁴

1. Taniguchi, N. On the Basic Concept of 'Nano-Technology'. Proc. Intl. Conf. Prod. London, Part II, British Society of Precision Engineering, 1974.
2. Sandhu, A. Who Invented Nano? Nat. Nanotechnol. 2006, 1, 87.
3. Feynman, R. P. There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom. Engineering & Science (Pasadena, CA), Feb. 1960.
4. See: Drexler, K. E. Molecular Engineering: An Approach to the Development of General Capabilities for Molecular Manipulation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 1981, 78, 5275–5278.