INTD 290 Nanotechnology and Society
Homework 6 Solutions
1-According to the “Follow the Money, Follow the Leader” article, what are the two roles
government plays pertaining to the technological development?
i- initiator and creator (investor)
ii- purchaser
2- According to the “Follow the Money, Follow the Leader” article, what is the reason
for some of the states such as CA, NY, investing in nanotechnology?
Economic development
3- According to the “Follow the Money, Follow the Leader” article, what is the central
building block in most state investment efforts on nanotechnology?
Strong and reputable research program at a university or federal laboratory.
4- What does the above-mentioned article mean by “the disruptive nature of technology”?
Its ability to render billion-dollar industries obsolete very quickly.
Fill in the blanks in the following questions:
5- The “Follow the Money, Follow the Leader” article talks about the investment efforts
in nanotechnology first by the government, then by t h e big business, and finally by
venture capital.
6- Langdon Winner in his testimony to Congress suggests that we judge technologies to
be superior if the consequences of their use are reversible.
7- In the same testimony Langdon Winner suggests that it is about time the society, the
everyday people get involved in the decision making when it comes to what (nano)
technological areas to be sponsored (by the taxpayers’ money). We can do that–he
suggests–by forming citizens panels selected in much the same way the juries are chosen
in cases of law.