Robert A. Freitas Jr. (born 1952) is an American
nanotechnologist
Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and Supramolecular complex, supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particul ...
.
Career
In 1974, Freitas earned a bachelor's degree in both
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
and
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...
from
Harvey Mudd College, and in 1978, he received a
Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from
Santa Clara University School of Law. He has written more than 150 technical papers, book chapters, and popular articles on scientific, engineering, and legal topics.
Freitas began writing his ''Nanomedicine'' book series in 1994. Volume I, published in October 1999 by
Landes Bioscience while Freitas was a Research Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing. Volume IIA was published in October 2003 by Landes Bioscience.
In 2004, Freitas and
Ralph Merkle
Ralph C. Merkle (born February 2, 1952) is a computer scientist and mathematician. He is one of the inventors of public-key cryptography, the inventor of cryptographic hashing, and more recently a researcher and speaker on cryonics.
Contribution ...
coauthored and published ''Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines'', a comprehensive survey of the field of physical and hypothetical
self-replicating machines.
In 2009, Freitas was awarded the
Feynman Prize in theoretical
nanotechnology.
Bibliography
* ''Robert A. Freitas Jr.'', Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic Capabilities (Landes Bioscience, 1999)
* ''Robert A. Freitas Jr.'', Nanomedicine, Vol. IIA: Biocompatibility (Landes Bioscience, 2003)
* ''Robert A. Freitas Jr.,
Ralph C. Merkle'', Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines (Landes Bioscience, 2004)
* ''Robert A. Freitas Jr.'', Nanomedicine: Biocompatibility (S Karger Pub, 2004)
See also
*
Ecophagy
Ecophagy is a term coined by Robert Freitas that means the literal consumption of an ecosystem. It derives from the Greek "οἶκος" (), which refers to a "house" or "household", and the Greek "φαγεῖν" (), "to eat".
Freitas used the te ...
References
External links
Robert Freitas' personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freitas, Robert
1952 births
Living people
American nanotechnologists
Harvey Mudd College alumni
Santa Clara University alumni
American people of Portuguese descent
American transhumanists
Cryonicists