In 1959, Richard P. Feynman, Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology and Nobel Laureate, delivered an address at the American Physical Society, which is given the credit for inspiring the field of nanotechnology. Published in Engineering and Science, Feynman’s address entitled “Plenty of Room at the Bottom” described a new field of science dealing with “the problem of manipulating and controlling things on a small scale.”* Feynman theorized that the development of improved electron microscopes would allow scientists to view the components of DNA, RNA, and proteins, to develop miniature computers and miniature machine systems, as well as to manipulate materials at the atomic level
