Nanotechnology at the crossroads: the hard or the soft way?

The paper starts by looking at the competing paradigms in pursuing nanotechnology, namely the top-down approach originating from microelectronics, and the bottom-up approach inspired by biological sciences. This almost dogmatic dichotomy uncovers the challenges posed by interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary knowledge transfer. Several possible knowledge mechanisms are proposed using the analogy with the classical transfer phenomena theory, namely "diffusional", "convective", "turbulent", "radiative" and "interphasic" transfer mechanisms. Furthermore, possible modes of knowledge production are outlined. These possible mechanisms for knowledge transfer and production are then analyzed in the context of micro-electro-mechanical systems and nanotechnology development. This analysis is extended to formulate a framework for facilitating knowledge transfer and production in nanotechnology. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.