Nanomechanical Systems

The concept of Nanotechnology, namely, the ability §to mass produce atomic-scale machines, was first §publicly envisioned by Richard Feynman in Pasadena, §California, at a lecture more than 40 years ago. §This famous talk entitled "Plenty of room at the §bottom", given by Dr. Feynman in the 1959 APS §meeting, has inspired generations of scientists and §engineers to study the tiny machines at the §nanometer scale. The research work that culminates §into this book is one more small piece of §advancement added to this long-lasting pursuit and §adventure. It is absolutely amazing to see Feynman s §visionary predictions coming into reality piece by piece over the decades. In part, the efforts are for §mental entertainment, as Feynman advocated in his §lectures. However, this emerging field is indeed §finding practical applications. And these §(potential) applications result in a flow of §resources including manpower and research funding §into what is now called "nanotechnology".