Technologist Eric Drexler envisioned a future in which machines far smaller than dust motes would construct everything from chairs to rocket engines, atom by atom; in which microscopic robots would heal human ills, cell by cell. Sixteen years after the publication of Drexler’s book Engines of Creation, the molecular-scale technologies most immediately available to consumers are somewhat less fantastic: stain-resistant khakis and more durable tennis balls. Much of the hype is gone from nanotechnology, the term Drexler popularized for his world of very small wonders. But something more interesting has crept in: sales. The khakis and tennis balls are bringing in money, as are dozens of other new products made and enhanced through nanotechnology. To be sure, most nanotech companies are still investing more in R. and D. than they are collecting in revenue. But many commercial applications are in advanced stages of development or already on sale: handheld devices that can sense anthrax spores, hand cream that can protect us from them and computer chips that are faster, cheaper and cooler
