Preface
This book is about human senses and movement, how they function on the nanoscale,
and how they can be mimicked on the nanoscale by technology. It combines viewpoints
and data from a variety of different fields: biology and chemistry, of course, but also
physics and mechanical and electrical engineering. Since these fields are generally
taught separately, many students may find this interdisciplinary presentation chal-
lenging. Therefore, I would recommend this book for senior undergraduate or early
graduate students. While chemistry and biology are the most important fields in this
book, students from any of the above-mentioned fields may read this book. It has been
purposely written in simple language with explanations of the jargon used to make it
accessible to a variety of fields.
The introduction presents the major points of each field needed to understand the
content. Each student can choose the sections needed for their background. Each chap-
ter starts by first looking at the molecular details of the sense or movement, so that it
is clear what exactly is mimicked. The next part of each chapter will look at technology
that uses some of the human molecules in nanotechnology. The last part of each chapter
looks at nanotechnology that mimics the function of each sense or movement, not by us-
ing human molecules but chemistry, engineering, biology, and other sciences to achieve
its goal.
Biomimetic nanotechnology is a large, quickly moving field. A lot of exciting new
developments have been added to this edition. For the first time, research attempts to
start with a nanoscale sensor, then to scale it up by self-assembly to a large-scale struc-
ture that includes many sensors, similar to what happens in human organs. This book is
not a comprehensive compilation of all research on the subject; instead, I have chosen
several examples for each chapter that stress the connection between the molecules in
the human body and the human function of the senses and movement.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110779196-201