Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines

by Robert A. Freitas Jr.

This book offers a general review of the voluminous theoretical and experimental literature pertaining to physical self-replicating systems. The principal focus here is on self-replicating machine systems. Most importantly, we are concerned with kinematic self-replicating systems in which actual physical objects, not mere patterns of information, undertake their own replication. Following a brief burst of activity in the 1950s and 1980s, the field of kinematic replicating systems design received new interest in the 1990s with the emerging recognition of the feasibility of molecular nanotechnology. The field has experienced a renaissance of research activity since 1999 as researchers have come to recognize that replicating systems are simple enough to permit experimental laboratory demonstrations of working devices.

Genres: Nonfiction

341 pages, Hardcover

First published October 30, 2004

About the author

Robert A. Freitas Jr., J.D., published the first detailed technical design study of a medical nanorobot ever published in a peer-reviewed mainstream biomedical journal and is the author of Nanomedicine, the first book-length technical discussion of the medical applications of nanotechnology and medical nanorobotics. Volume I was published in October 1999 by Landes Bioscience while Freitas was a Research Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing (IMM) in Palo Alto, California. Freitas published Volume IIA in October 2003 with Landes Bioscience while serving as a Research Scientist at Zyvex Corp., a nanotechnology company headquartered in Richardson, Texas during 2000-2004. Freitas is now completing Nanomedicine Volumes IIB and III and is also consulting on diamond mechanosynthesis, molecular assembler design, and nanofactory implementation as Senior Research Fellow at IMM.

He won the 2009 Feynman Prize in nanotechnology for theory, the 2007 Foresight Prize in Communication, and the 2006 Guardian Award from Lifeboat Foundation, and was awarded the first patent on diamond mechanosynthesis on 30 March 2010.

Reviews

[Peter Hiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book usable as either a reference in itself, or something to just browse and gather ideas. I bought this to help me think about the reprap project (of which I'm a huge fan, and try to get involved as much as I can) and then lend it to a mate, who still hasn't gotten it back to me. The bredth of the detail and research is fantastic. It's kind of a pity that it hasn't been updated (to my knowledge) since 2004, but for a pre 04 look at the field, this is a great intorductory text.

[Bria · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of this book is just a to-read list of other articles and books. The rest is a woeful lament of how foolishly the world at large does not take seriously Merkle's & Freitas' vision of self-replicating machines for a better humanity. But if you are good and keep reading, you will find thought-provoking discussions on what counts as life.

[Djiezes]

Free Ebook at http://www.molecularassembler.com/KSR...

[Brendan]

This was before the discovery of carbon nano-tubes