Lecture 4: Tom's Response

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You've heard the lectures. You've seen what our experts have to say. But what do you think? It's time for you to join the debate.

Our experts' responses

'We need shock as well as awe'
Joyce Fortune
'Fear can take many forms'
Derek Matravers
'Precaution and accountability are crucial in technological endeavour'
Tom Hewitt
'Things just got complicated again'
Nick Braithwaite

Tom's response to the fourth lecture of the 2005 series of Reith lectures

It’s a small world, in fact so small that we can only use our imaginations to see it. Or we have to take someone’s word for it. Nanotechnology is breathtaking in its proportions. I used to have a habit of taking things apart when I wanted to understand how they worked. All very interesting until it was time to reassemble. Which way round did that rubber grommet go?! But those days are gone. The circuit boards inside this laptop are as understandable to me as a piece of modern art. When a gadget breaks it is often simpler and cheaper to replace it than repair it.

This week’s lecture takes us into a world which only few people understand. It is a great example of how a whole set of processes and products have been combined and how technological frontiers have been opened through an understanding of the very small in so many different fields. What engineers do in there has to be taken on trust. Alec Broers touches on some of the potential hazards in some areas of nanoscience and encourages a precautionary approach.

Precaution and accountability are crucial in technological endeavour if society is to feel at ease with new generations of innovation. This is all the more important when the scale of such innovation is reduced to the unseeable.

Content last updated: 26/04/2005

About Tom

Tom Hewitt has worked in international development for the last 20 years. From 1989 to 2002, he was a member of academic staff at the OU specialising in the teaching of development management and researching technology and development (particularly in Brazil and East Africa).

He is now coordinator of the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN) at Save the Children UK.