My apologies if the following has already been forwarded.
I just wanted to let people here know that Robert Freitas' much-anticipated "Nanomedicine" has just been published!
I received my copy a couple of weeks ago --- it's a huge book, covering an enormous range of material. What little I've read has been very interesting, and rather reminiscent of Drexler's "Nanosystems" not so much in terms of content (although there's obviously some overlap), but in terms of scope, chutzpah, and the combination of detail and breadth of vision. Below is an email message from John Novak announcing the creation of an online study group devoted to the task of working through this volume. This seems to me an exciting opportunity to get a great deal out of Freitas' book, and I'm certainly planning to participate!
Michael Nielsen
Room 3, East Bridge, Mail Code 12-33, Caltech, Pasadena CA 91125
Ph: 626 395 8431 Fax: 626 793 9506 http://theory.caltech.edu/~mnielsen/ mnielsen@theory.caltech.edu
From: "John S. Novak, III" <jsn@ts002d06.per-md.concentric.net>
Last night, I posted this in the general Transhuman list. Now I am posting it here, for additional coverage.
> I got Freitas' _Nanomedicine, vol I_ in the mail last week.
> It is a book of significant weight. It is the first of three volumes,
> in the vein of Drexler's _Nanosystems_. Which is to say, it is
> technical, intense, and crossdisciplinary.
>
> It is also very interesting.
>
> Some months ago, I proposed the idea of "study group" mailing
> lists devoted to individual difficult-to-read books of importance
> to transhuman studies. There was some approval of the idea.
>
> I think this book meets the qualifications. Therefore, I have created
> a group through Onelist.com. The page is at:
>
> http://onelist.com/community/Nanomedicine
>
> I have included the official charter, below.
> Here's what's not in the charter:
> (The "welcome message" thing has a 2000 character limit.)
>
> I've decided to keep the mailing list "private" in the sense that it
> should not show up in the general directory of listings. It is
> "public" in that my approval is not required for subscription. It is
> my hope that only people who will make a serious effort to contribute
> will subscribe. To my mind, that will mean volunteering for one
> section, and actually _Purchasing The Book._
>
> To that end, I encourage people on this list to subscribe if they
> will, and to contact individuals who may be interested and willing to
> participate as well.
>
> I will also post this message to the transhumantech list, and
> probably sci.nanotech. Someone else can post it to the Extropians
> list for me.
>
> If I've screwed up in the creation of the list, somehow, please
> mention it HERE, so everyone sees it and I don't get eight thousand
> copies pointing out the same mistake.
>
> Here is the charter:
>
> ---
>
> The purpose of this mailing list is a systematic reading and
> discussion of the book _Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic Capabilities_
> by Robert Freitas.
>
> In the initial phase, list members may obtain copies of this work
> (shipping now through Amazon.com) and conduct general, individual
> surveys of the work.
>
> In the second phase, the list coordinator will, with discussion and
> input from the list members, divide the book into sections of
> appropriate length. List members will each volunteer to read and
> attempt to summarize one or more subsections of the book, the goal
> being roughly equal treatment of the whole volume. The list
> coordinator will create a timetable, make it public, and keep it
> current.
>
> The third and final phase will be the actual coordinated reading of
> the text, the posts of the volunteered summaries, and discussion. The
> anticipated pace is one section every two weeks. The anticipated
> beginning of this phase is early to mid-February.
>
> Volunteers are not expected to be experts in nanotechnology,
> medicine, or in the topic of the section which they are summarizing.
> The purpose of this mailing list is to help technically educated
> non-specialists of varying disciplines to absorb the text as fully as
> possible through an environment of discussion. The purpose of the
> summaries is to keep the list active and on track, and provide seeds
> for ongoing discussion.
>
> For that reason, it is anticipated that these summaries may take the
> form of literal point-by-point summaries, lists of questions or
> requests for clarification on points which the volunteers did not
> understand, speculations on refinements or extensions of the ideas
> presented, and the like.
>
> Related links:
>
> The Nanomedicine Homepage:
> http://www.foresight.org/Nanomedicine/index.html
>
> The Foresight Institute Homepage:
> http://www.foresight.org/
>
> To Order from Amazon:
>
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D157059645X/foresightinstituA/103-35
5407
> 7-2784621
-- John S. Novak, III jsn@concentric.net The Humblest Man on the Net --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- Cell Biology Reference Set--3 books + 2 CDs-for $7.99! A $127.40 value, yours with membership in Library of Science, the leading science book club since 1958! Order NOW at Click Here ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Community email addresses: Post message: transhumantech@onelist.com Subscribe: transhumantech-subscribe@onelist.com Unsubscribe: transhumantech-unsubscribe@onelist.com List owner: transhumantech-owner@onelist.com Shortcut URL to this page: http://www.onelist.com/community/transhumantech Old archive: http://mail.planetx.com/transhumantech/