Xenology:

An Introduction to the Scientific Study of Extraterrestrial Life, Intelligence, and Civilization

— First Edition,  Xenology Research Institute,  1975-1979,  2008

Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Molecular Manufacturing E-mail address: Business mail address: Personal Home Page: Nanomedicine Book Site: Nanomedicine Page: Nanomedicine Art Gallery: Molecular Assembler Site: Freitas Wikipedia Page:   rfreitas at rfreitas dot com Box 605, Pilot Hill, California 95664 USA http://www.rfreitas.com http://www.nanomedicine.com http://www.foresight.org/Nanomedicine http://www.foresight.org/Nanomedicine/Gallery http://www.MolecularAssembler.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Freitas

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, the 2006 Guardian Award from Lifeboat Foundation, the 2005 Harold Ellis Award from the International Journal of Surgery, and was awarded the first patent on diamond mechanosynthesis on 30 March 2010.

“Robert Freitas has pioneered the study and communication of the benefits to be obtained from an advanced nanomedicine that will be made possible by molecular manufacturing. He has also worked to develop and communicate a path from our current technology base to a future technology base that will enable advanced nanomedicine.”

-- Dr. Pearl Chin, President, Foresight Institute, upon awarding the 2007 Foresight Prize in Communication to Freitas on 9 October 2007

“The winner of the 2009 Feynman Prize for Theory is Robert A. Freitas Jr., in recognition of his pioneering theoretical work in mechanosynthesis in which he proposed specific molecular tools and analyzed them using ab initio quantum chemistry to validate their ability to build complex molecular structures. This Prize also recognizes his previous work in systems design of molecular machines, including replicating molecular manufacturing systems which should eventually be able to make large atomically precise products economically and the design of medical nanodevices which should eventually revolutionize medicine.”

-- Foresight Institute press release, announcing award of the 2009 Feynman Prize in nanotechnology for theory to Freitas on 6 October 2009

“The term nanomedicine emerged in 1999, the year when American scientist Robert A. Freitas Jr. published Nanomedicine: Basic Capabilities, the first of two volumes he dedicated to the subject. Extending American scientist K. Eric Drexler’s vision of molecular assemblers with respect to nanotechnology, nanomedicine was depicted as facilitating the creation of nanobot devices (nanoscale-sized automatons) that would navigate the human body searching for and clearing disease....”

-- “Nanomedicine,”Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 August 2016

“The term 'nanomedicine' was put forward by Eric Drexler and Robert Freitas Jr. in the 1990s to signify the application of nanotechnology in medicine.”

-- Sun M, Sen Gupta A. Vascular Nanomedicine: Current Status, Opportunities, and Challenges. Semin Thromb Hemost. 2019 Jun 14.

Nanomedicine. The most important applications of machine-phase nanotechnology will be in medicine. Not only will human health, comfort, safety, and pleasure be vastly improved, but nanomedicine could dramatically extend the lifespan of the individual human being and greatly expand the possibilities of the human form. In 1996, I authored the first detailed technical design study of a medical nanorobot ever published in a peer-reviewed mainstream biomedical journal. Now I’m trying to help lay the technical foundations for the future field of medical nanorobotics by conducting theoretical analyses of specific nanomedical systems and by writing a 4-volume technical book series entitled Nanomedicine. This book series looks at all relevant issues including basic engineering capabilities, biocompatibility, systems and operations of medical nanorobots, clinical applications, and ethical issues. The first two volumes – I (1999) and IIA (2003) – are now published. The remaining two volumes of Nanomedicine are in progress, and a compilation of medical nanorobot technical designs can be found at my nanomedicine.com website. Please also visit my Nanomedicine Page – the first active site on the web for nanomedicine-related information, research, and links, including medical nanorobotics – which was hosted for me by the Foresight Institute until 2021. The Nanomedicine Page includes a nontechnical nanomedicine FAQ and hundreds of links to articles, papers, websites, people and organizations who are active in the field of nanomedicine. In 2010, I published a comprehensive summary of the application of medical nanorobotics to health care and anti-aging (extreme longevity).

Nanomedicine, Vol. I: Basic Capabilities (Landes Bioscience, 1999). The first volume of the Nanomedicine book series describes the set of basic capabilities of molecular machine systems that may be required by many, if not most, medical nanorobotic devices, including the physical, chemical, thermodynamic, mechanical, and biological limits of such devices. Specific topics include the abilities to recognize, sort and transport important molecules; sense the environment; alter shape or surface texture; generate onboard energy to power effective robotic functions; communicate with doctors, patients, and other nanorobots; navigate throughout the human body; manipulate microscopic objects and move about inside a human body; and timekeep, perform computations, disable living cells and viruses, and operate at various pressures and temperatures. Read Text free online ..... Purchase Hardcover online ..... Purchase Softcover online ..... Purchase Softcover online ..... Purchase directly from Landes Bioscience ..... Chapter 3 (early version, Foresight Institute) ..... Japanese Language Version (Cover Only, HTML) Review by Gregory M Fahy, Ph.D. and here; Review by Lawrence Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D.; see all Reviews. See note regarding left-handed DNA depicted in cover art.

Nanomedicine, Vol. IIA: Biocompatibility (Landes Bioscience, 2003). The safety, effectiveness, and utility of medical nanorobotic devices will critically depend upon their biocompatibility with human organs, tissues, cells, and biochemical systems. In this second Volume of the Nanomedicine technical book series, we broaden the definition of nanomedical biocompatibility to include all of the mechanical, physiological, immunological, cytological, and biochemical responses of the human body to the introduction of artificial medical nanodevices, whether “particulate” (large doses of independent micron-sized individual nanorobots) or “bulk” (nanorobotic organs assembled either as solid objects or built up from trillions of smaller artificial cells or docked nanorobots inside the body) in form. Read Text free online ..... Purchase Hardcover online ..... Advance Purchase directly from Landes Bioscience ..... Subscription Version online at eurekah.com (PDF) See all Reviews

Nanomedicine, Vol. IIB: Systems and Operations (in preparation). This Volume will consider systems-level technical requirements in the design and operation of medical nanodevices, including: scaling factors and general design principles; control issues including teleoperation and haptic controllers, swarm motions, autogenous control systems, and various operational protocols; repair, replacement, and reliability; molecular machine system architectures and deployment configurations such as nano-organs, medical utility fogs, and replicators; methods of nanorobotic ingress and egress from the human body; possible nanodevice failure modes, environmental interactions, side effects of nanomedical treatments, nanodevice software bugs and other safety issues; classes of medical nanosystems such as instruments, tools, and diagnostic systems; specific medical nanorobot devices; rapid mechanical reading and editing of chromatin and protein macromolecules; and complex nanorobotic systems for cell repair, tissue and organ manufacturing, and personal defense.

Nanomedicine, Vol. III: Applications (in preparation). This Volume will consider the full range of nanomedical applications which employ molecular nanotechnology inside the human body, from the perspective of a future practitioner in an era of widely available nanomedicine, including: rapid cardiovascular repair; treatments for pathogenic disease and cancer; responses to physical traumas, burns and radiation exposures, with new methods of first aid, surgery, and emergency or critical care; neurography, spinal restoration and brain repair; improved nutrition and digestion; sex, reproduction, and population issues; cosmetics, recreation, veterinary and space medicine; strategies for biostasis and the control of aging processes; human augmentation systems; regulatory and sociological issues, implementation timelines, and the future of hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and the medical profession.

Cryostasis Revival (Alcor Life Extension Foundation, 2022). Cryostasis is an emergency medical procedure in which a human patient is placed in biological stasis at cryogenic temperatures. A cryopreserved patient can be maintained in this condition indefinitely without suffering additional degradation, but cannot yet be revived using currently available technology. This book presents the first comprehensive conceptual protocol for revival from human cryopreservation, using medical nanorobots. The revival methods presented in this book involve three stages: (1) collecting information from preserved structure, (2) computing how to fix damaged structure, and (3) implementing the repair procedure using nanorobots manufactured in a nanofactory – a system for atomically precise manufacturing that is now becoming visible on the technological horizon.

Molecular nanotechnology involves the ability to build structures that are permitted by physical laws, to molecular precision. I am primarily interested in positional assembly, which is a deterministic process in which the components used in a construction are held in known positions and are constrained to follow desired intermediate physical pathways during the entire construction sequence. This is the future technology that may enable us to build medical nanorobots. Programmable positional assembly at the molecular scale is the central mechanism for achieving both great flexibility and the ultimate in precision and quality in manufacturing. A proposal for the next logical R&D step is here, and a technical bibliography for research on positional mechanosynthesis is available here. The other key to practical molecular manufacturing is the ability to fabricate massive quantities of molecularly precise structures, or to assemble larger objects from vast numbers of molecularly precise smaller objects – that is, massively parallel assembly. The end result of this development process will be a basic molecular assembler that employs machine-phase nanotechnology (e.g., nanoscale gears, struts, springs, motors, casings) to fabricate molecularly precise diamondoid structures, following a set of instructions to build a desired specific design. With Ralph Merkle, I’ve undertaken theoretical analyses of possible molecular assembler systems. I’m co-authoring at least three technical books describing the results of this research. The first book, Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines, was published in October 2004 and was available at a substantial prepublication discount directly from Landes Bioscience. The second volume, Diamond Surfaces and Diamond Mechanosynthesis, is in progress and should be published in 2009-10. The third volume, Fundamentals of Nanomechanical Engineering originally to be co-authored with J. Storrs Hall, is still in preparation and might be published in 2009-10. Our international research collaborations, ultimately leading toward the development of a working nanofactory, are described at the Nanofactory Collaboration website.

Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines (Landes Bioscience, 2004). This book offers a general review of the voluminous theoretical and experimental literature pertaining to physical self-replicating systems and self-replication. The principal focus here is on self-replicating machine systems. Most importantly, we are concerned with kinematic self-replicating machines: 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. Read Text free online ..... Purchase Hardcover online ..... Purchase Hardcover online ..... Advance Discount Purchase directly from Landes Bioscience ..... German Translation of Chapter 1 (HTML) See all Reviews

Diamond Surfaces and Diamond Mechanosynthesis (in preparation). A full analysis of how to use programmable positional assembly to synthesize most arrangements of atoms permitted by physical law would be, at present, prohibitively complex. A more manageable project is to analyze a significant class of stiff hydrocarbons – in particular, diamond – that could potentially be synthesized by the use of a small set of positionally controlled mechanosynthetic tool tips. There is already widespread interest in the exceptional properties of diamond such as extreme hardness, high strength and stiffness, high thermal conductivity, low frictional coefficient, chemical inertness, and a wide bandgap. The molecular surface characteristics of diamond were extensively investigated both theoretically and experimentally in the 1990s, and many practical questions about the molecular structure of diamond surfaces have now been resolved. The fields of diamond CVD and adamantane chemistry provide additional understanding, both experimental and theoretical, of the myriad reaction mechanisms which can contribute to the growth of diamond. A technical bibliography for research on positional mechanosynthesis is available here. The first patent ever issued on positional diamond mechanosynthesis is available here, and the second filed patent covers material described in this paper. See also the Nanofactory Collaboration website for the larger context of this research.

Fundamentals of Nanomechanical Engineering (in preparation). This course textbook, intended for use by 2nd or 3rd year college students in advanced engineering programs, will provide a solid grounding in the practical design of molecular scale machines composed of rigid covalent solids, with a strong emphasis on diamond and diamondoid materials. After an introduction to the unique aspects of nanoscale machinery and a review of the computational tools currently available to assist such designs, the mechanical characteristics of key materials and the fundamentals of load, stress, stiffness, and mechanical failure in nanoscale machinery will be explored in detail. This will be followed by discussions and examples of specific nanomechanical components and compound machines including bearings, fasteners, gears, linkages, drive mechanisms, motors and pumps, mechanical energy controllers, sensors, and programmable materials.

A self-replicating machine system achieves massively parallel assembly first by fabricating copies of itself, and allowing those copies to fabricate further copies, resulting in a rapid increase in the total number of systems. Once the population of replicated manipulator systems is deemed large enough, the manipulator population is redirected to produce useful product objects, rather than more copies of itself. Following John von Neumann’s pioneering theoretical studies of kinematic replicating systems in the 1940s and 1950s, I served as NASA/ASEE Research Fellow and Study Editor for the 1980 NASA-sponsored study entitled Advanced Automation for Space Missions (NASA CP-2255), the first technical engineering study of kinematic self-replicating machines ever published. Recently I’ve co-authored a book-length survey (due to be published in 2003) of kinematic self-replicating machine systems, including both theoretical and experimental work in this reawakening field. My interest is focused on the context of molecular assembler design.

Advanced Automation for Space Missions (NTIS, 1982). This is the Final Report of the 1980 NASA/ASEE sponsored study of self-replicating lunar factories. It was the first technical engineering study of kinematic self-replicating machines ever published, and introduced new concepts such as qualitative and quantitative closure (and “vitamin parts”) in self-replicating machine systems design. Read Text free online ..... PDF Version online

In the 1970s I wrote a semi-technical book on this subject, entitled Xenology (~500,000 words, ~150 illustrations, 4000+ references). The material in this book, initially published only partially as a handful of articles but now entirely available online, was privately circulated and collected critical comments from such notables as Edward O. Wilson, Stanley L. Miller, Sidney W. Fox, Cyril Ponnamperuma, Stephen H. Dole, J. Desmond Clark, Barney M. Oliver, Frank D. Drake, Ronald Bracewell, and Robert L. Forward.

Xenology: An Introduction to the Scientific Study of Extraterrestrial Life, Intelligence, and Civilization (copyright 1979). Topics include the history of the idea of extraterrestrial life; comparative planetology, stars, and galaxies; xenobiology (definition/origin of life, exotic biochemistries, and possible alien bioenergetics, biomechanics, sensations, reproduction, and intelligence); extraterrestrial civilizations (energy sources, biotechnology, interstellar travel, alien weapons, planetary and stellar engineering, xenosociology, and extraterrestrial governments and culture); interstellar communication techniques; and the sociology, legal issues, and appropriate interaction protocols pertaining to first contact. Read Text free online ..... Tony Lutz version

(1) quantitative cliodynamics (aka. “psychohistory”), including econometrics and financial forecasting; (2) structures and models of universal ethical systems; and (3) J.R.R. Tolkien studies.

Diamond Mechanosynthesis Tooltips (2002-10). Computational design study of a new class of carbon dimer placement tool tips that might be useful for performing positionally-controlled diamond mechanosynthesis (DMS). First complete DMS tooltip ever proposed; also, first DMS tooltip computationally demonstrated to work on a diamond surface. Ralph C. Merkle, Robert A. Freitas Jr., “Theoretical analysis of a carbon-carbon dimer placement tool for diamond mechanosynthesis,” J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 3(August 2003):319-324; prev. paper presented at the 10th Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology, October 2002. Conference Abstract (HTML) ..... Full Paper (PDF) ..... Full Paper (HTML) ..... Full Paper (PDF) ..... Subsequent 2004 Paper I (PDF, 3 MB) ..... 2004 Paper II (PDF, 2 MB) ..... 2004 DMS lecture (HTML, 1.7 MB) ..... 2004 Patent Application (HTML, 0.93 MB) ..... 2006 Paper III (PDF, 1 MB) ..... 2008 Minimal Toolset paper (PDF, 6.5 MB) ..... First patent on DMS, issued 30 March 2010 (PDF, 1.2 MB)

Microbivores (2001, 2005). Detailed scaling study of a nanorobot-based artificial white cell (a mechanical phagocyte). Robert A. Freitas Jr., “Microbivores: Artificial Mechanical Phagocytes using Digest and Discharge Protocol,” J. Evol. Technol. 14(April 2005):1-52; orig. Zyvex preprint, March 2001. Full Paper (HTML) ..... Full Paper (PDF) ..... Full Paper (early version, HTML) ..... Summary Article (HTML) ..... Summary Article (HTML) ..... Russian Translation Summary Article (HTML) ..... Nanomedicine Art Gallery images

Nanodentistry (2000). First front cover of a peer-reviewed mainstream medical journal (Journal of the American Dental Association) for a paper on medical nanorobotics. Robert A. Freitas Jr., “Nanodentistry,” J. Amer. Dent. Assoc. 131(November 2000):1559-1566. (cover story) PubMed Abstract (HTML) ..... Full Paper (PDF, 0.3 MB) ..... Excerpt from Paper (HTML) ..... Nanomedicine Art Gallery images

Ecophagy (2000). The best defense against the deliberate abuse of molecular nanotechnology is preparedness and vigilance -- early detection is the key to an effective defense. "As far as I know, this article by Mr. Freitas was the first detailed, published analysis of the so-called ‘gray goo’ problem.” – Bill Joy, The Sciences 40(November/December 2000):3 Robert A. Freitas Jr., “Some Limits to Global Ecophagy by Biovorous Nanoreplicators, with Public Policy Recommendations,” Zyvex preprint, April 2000. Full Paper (HTML) ..... Summary Article (HTML) ..... French Translation Full Paper (RTF) ..... Lifeboat Foundation Full Paper (HTML)

Respirocytes (1998). Detailed scaling study of a nanorobot-based artificial red cell (a mechanical erythrocyte) – first medical nanorobot design paper ever published in a peer-reviewed mainstream medical journal. Robert A. Freitas Jr., “Exploratory Design in Medical Nanotechnology: A Mechanical Artificial Red Cell,” Artif. Cells, Blood Subst., and Immobil. Biotech. 26(1998):411-430. PubMed Abstract (HTML) ..... Full Paper (HTML) ..... Summary Article (HTML) ..... French Translation Full Paper (PDF) ..... Russian Translation Article Extract (HTML)..... Nanomedicine Art Gallery images ..... Award-Winning Animation (IMM website) ..... Award-Winning Animation (Phlesch Bubble website)

Nanomedicine, Nanorobotics, Nanofactories, Molecular Assemblers and Machine-Phase Nanotechnology (1993-present) (164 items)

Astronomy, SETI/Xenology, Machine Self-Replication, Science, Law and Ethics (1976-1991) (80 items)

Financial Forecasting, Econometrics, and Investment (1988-1997) (381 items)

Please visit my Nanomedicine Art Gallery (hosted for me by the Foresight Institute until 2021), which I created and continue to serve as curator. The Gallery is the first and most complete online collection of original and previously-published nanomedicine-related images, artwork, graphics, and animations ever assembled, with an emphasis on medical nanorobotics. There are also hundreds of useful links to images and websites related to nanomedicine, nanotechnology, medical visualization and simulation, and microbiology.

Freitas homepage last updated on 16 April 2024

Copyright 1996-2024. All Rights Reserved.

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Last updated 12 December 2023

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Return to Robert A. Freitas Jr. homepage

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert A. Freitas Jr. (born 1952) is an American nanotechnologist.

Freitas was born in Camden, Maine. His father worked in agriculture and his mother was a homemaker. Freitas married Nancy, his childhood sweetheart in 1974.^[1]

In 1974, Freitas earned a bachelor's degree in both physics and psychology from Harvey Mudd College, and in 1978, he received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Santa Clara University School of Law. He has written more than 150 technical papers, book chapters, and popular articles on scientific, engineering, and legal topics.^[2]

Freitas interests include nanorobotics,^[3] how nanotechnology can extend the life of humans,^[4] self-replicating machines,^[5] and Cryonics.^[1]

In 1980, Freitas and William Gilbreath were participants in a NASA study regarding "Advanced Automation for Space Missions",^[6] and they presented the feasibility of self-replicating machines in space, using advanced artificial intelligence and automation technologies.^[7][8]

Freitas began writing his Nanomedicine book series in 1994.^[9] Volume I, published in October 1999 by Landes Bioscience while Freitas was a Research Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing. Volume IIA was published in October 2003 by Landes Bioscience.^[10]

In 2004, Freitas and Ralph Merkle coauthored and published Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines, a comprehensive survey of the field of physical and hypothetical self-replicating machines.^[11]

In 2009, Freitas was awarded the Feynman Prize^[12] in theoretical nanotechnology. Afterwards, he was granted the first patent for a Mechanosynthesis tool which he developed while working at Zyvex. The tool is theoretically to be used in molecular engineering.^[13][14]

• Ecophagy

1. Wolf, Aschwin de (21 June 2022). "Alcor Member Profile: Robert A. Freitas Jr". Alcor - Life Extension Foundation - Cryonics. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
2. Templeton, Graham (May 10, 2017). "'Xenology' by Robert Freitas: the Backstory". Inverse. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
3. "Lifeboat Foundation Interview: Robert A. Freitas Jr". Lifeboat Foundation. 4 April 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
4. Boeing, Niels (20 April 2006). ""Die Medizin wird digital"". MIT Technology Review (in German). Retrieved 11 May 2023.
5. "Interview with Robert Freitas". Nanotech.biz. 18 February 2006. Archived from the original on 13 December 2006. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
6. Advanced Automation for Space Missions (PDF). NASA.gov: NASA Scientific and Technical Information Branch. 1982. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
7. Freitas, R. A. Jr.; Gilbreath, W. P. (4 September 2013). "Advanced Automation for Space Missions". NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS). Retrieved 11 May 2023.
8. "IJCAI'81: Proceedings of the 7th international joint conference on Artificial intelligence - Volume 2". Guide Proceedings. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
9. Peterson, Chris (31 January 2000). "Foresight Update 38 Page 2". foresight.org. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
10. "Robert A. Freitas Jr, Senior Research Fellow". Institute for Molecular Manufacturing. 22 September 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
11. "Book review of Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines by Robert A. Freitas, Jr. and Ralph C. Merkle. Artificial Life Journal. 2006 Winter;12(1):187-188". Retrieved 2017-06-18.
12. "Socio/intellectual patterns in nanoscale research: Feynman Nanotechnology Prize laureates, 1993-2007. Social Science Information 2010;49:615-638". Retrieved 2017-06-18.
13. "Freitas awarded first mechanosynthesis patent". Foresight Institute. 12 April 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
14. Andrew, Alex M. (2000). "NANOMEDICINE, VOLUME 1: BASIC CAPABILITIES, by Robert A. Freitas Jr., Landes Bioscience, Austin, Texas, 1999, xxi + 509 pp., ISBN 1-57059-645-X Index". Robotica. 18 (6). Cambridge University Press (CUP): 687–689. doi:10.1017/s0263574700212824. ISSN 0263-5747.

• Robert A. Freitas Jr., Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic Capabilities (Landes Bioscience, 1999) ISBN 1-57059-645-X
• Robert A. Freitas Jr., Nanomedicine, Vol. IIA: Biocompatibility (Landes Bioscience, 2003) ISBN 1-57059-700-6
• Robert A. Freitas Jr., Ralph C. Merkle, Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines (Landes Bioscience, 2004) ISBN 1-57059-690-5
• Robert A. Freitas Jr., Nanomedicine: Biocompatibility (S Karger Pub, 2004) ISBN 3-8055-7722-2
• Robert A. Freitas Jr., Cryostasis Revival: The Recovery of Cryonics Patients through Nanomedicine (Alcor Life Extension Foundation, 2022) ISBN 978-0-9968153-5-2

• Robert Freitas' personal website

This page was last edited on 1 November 2023, at 19:33 (UTC).

From: Fantastic Worlds

© 2013 by Jordan S. Bassior

Xenology – the scientific study of alien life and civilizations – is a science unique in that we haven’t yet found any alien life or civilizations to study. Why, then, does the discipline exist? After all, there are no real sciences of, say, demonology or unicornology, because we’ve never discovered any real demons or unicorns. (Mystics and fantasists compile lists of imaginary demons, and fantastists and fangirls lists of imaginary unicorns, but this is not the same as “scientific study” of a subject).

The difference is that we have a very strong suspicion that alien life and civilizations do exist, for the very good reason that we exist, and the same forces which caused life and intelligence on Earth have probably caused life and intelligence on at least some other planets. We bother to discusss the issue scientifically, even though we haven’t found any such life and civilizations yet, because for various reasons such alien life and civilizations, if and when discovered, are bound to be of great significance to both the study and the destiny of the life and civilization which has originated on Earth.

The Universe is very large. As we learn more about its structure it becomes apparent to us that the natural forces which generated terrestrial planets around Sol have also generated terrestrial planets around other stars, and what we know of chemistry and paleontology make it very likely that these forces have also generated ecosystems on at least some of those worlds. Terrestrial planets seem to be common enough that it is very likely that there are alien ecosystems in some of the nearby star systems – say, within 100 or so LY of the Earth.

Such ecosystems would be important to us because they would give us a wider informational base from which to study our own ecosystem. As long as we have only one example of an evolved ecosystem (Earth’s) to go by, we cannot tell which aspects of that ecosystem are essential to being an ecosystem, and which are chance and incidental features of our particular  ecosystem. Also, since any ecosystem is essentially a colossal natural experiment, taking place over a whole planetary surface and lasting billions of years, it would be rather surprising if we didn’t find some unique and useful results from any particular new ecosystem we studied.

Paleontology tells us that it takes a planet merely a few hundred million years to generate an ecosystem, but billions of years to create sapient life. Consequently, sapience should be much rarer than life. It would be surprising if there was no alien life within 100 LY of Earth (indeed, it wouldn’t be particularly  surprising if some existed in our own star system); it would not be all that surprising if there were no alien sapients  within that radius. Furthermore, since civilization (agriculture plus writing) occurred fairly late in the history of the ape family, and spacefaring fairly late in the history of civilization, we might expect to find many savage for each civilized sapient race, and many planetbound for each spacefaring civilization, unless of course existing spacefaring civilizations have already colonized many nearby star systems.

Everything I’ve said about alien life applies to alien sapience, civilizations and spacefaring. Alien sapients would represent different experiments in being smart; alien civilizations in being civilized; alien spacefarers in being scientific. We would learn through the study of such beings just which aspects of our current sapience, civilization and science are essential, and which accidental. Additionally, we should be aware that alien civilizations, especially spacefaring ones, might pose a threat to us – it is obviously theoretically possible for such civilizations to attack us, and if they exist they might. So from purely selfish, even insular motives, we should locate any which happen to be in our vicinity, and be on our guard against them.

Do we know for certain that any of this exists? No, not yet, and that’s why this is a curious science, for it is studying something of whose reality we cannot be certain. What is certain is that the more we study the Universe beyond our lonely planet, the wider the base of information we gain for an estimation of the frequency of alien life, sapience and civilization, and hence the more solidly-grounded becomes xenology.

It is dangerous to attempt to walk through our existence as a species with our eyes squeezed firmly shut – better to open them wide to the wonders of the Universe. And, while we’re dong so, keep a lookout for the tigers.

From: LiveJournal

Hi, I thought this might be useful for people:

Xenology - An Introduction to the Scientific Study of Extraterrestrial Life, Intelligence, and Civilization  is the almost complete, free online version of a comprehensive resource book for sci-fi writers and other interested people.

It's from the 1970s, so the science isn't entirely accurate anymore (especially fields like biochemistry and exobiology were still in their infancy back then), but I think it's still very useful and interesting.

It's written by a guy who now researches nanotechnology and who was involved with SETI and political advocacy for space exploration, so I'm fairly confident he researched this as well as he could back then.

I haven't read all of it yet, but judging from the fields that aren't my speciality, it seems understandable enough for laypeople.

From: Portal to the Universe – 3 Dec 2010

In 1979, the scientist, inventor (and then-newly minted lawyer) Robert A. Freitas, Jr. published the fascinating book Xenology: An Introduction to the Scientific Study of Extraterrestrial Life, Intelligence, and Civilization.

Freitas has now graciously published the entire book on the web for free.

It has a good summary of Andrew Haley's and Ernst Fasan's work on Metalaw, and another section detailing Fasan's elaboration of Haley's Metalaw accompanied by a useful table containing dozens of attempts by other authors to articulate metalegal concepts.

What caught my attention, however, was yet another section that contains some valuable criticism of Metalaw, criticism which obviously predates my own paper critical of Metalaw for its failure to contemplate the likely machine nature of ETI.

Freitas is skeptical of Metalaw' reliance on Kant's Categorical Imperative (and by implication, Metalaw's reliance on the natural law theory of jurisprudence).

Freitas points out that Kant ignores "the possible existence of a sentience of a qualitatively higher order than that possessed by humanity."

Freitas suggests that Ernst Fasan "falls into the same anthropocentric trap" by regarding "human-style intelligence as 'the highest possible level of life.' " Pointing out that multiple orders of higher sentience are possible (and quite likely given the likely ...

What is Metalaw?

According to Dr. Ernst Fasan, Metalaw is “the entire sum of legal rules regulating relationships between different races in the universe.” Metalaw is the “first and basic ‘law’ between races” providing the ground rules for a relationship if and when we establish communication with or encounter another intelligent race in the universe. Dr. Fasan envisioned these rules as governing both human conduct and that of extraterrestrial races so as to avoid mutually harmful activities.

Attorney Adam Korbitz presents a guide to exploring the relationship between the pioneering metalegal work of Andrew G. Haley and Dr. Ernst Fasan, and the scientific Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)

From:  Thoughts of a Taoist Babe

They are not, and have never been, simple characters in children’s books. They were keepers and teachers of ancient secrets, rulers and caretakers of vast stretches of Earth land, and they came from a distant land beyond the visible star-dome of the night sky. Their presence is felt far and wide in graven images and statues of stone, their influence resonating clear to this very day.

Dragons show up everywhere, ubiquitously powerful, undeniably otherworldly, and infinitely wise. Ancient mythology is repleted with it from every corner of the world. Archaeology and palaeontology offer tantalizing clues about the dragons that roamed the lands in ancient times. And now, they are showing up in areas once thought free of mythical beings — that of genetics, biology, chemistry, astronomy, and xenology, which is the scientific study of all aspects of extraterrestrial life, intelligence, and civilization.

For more information about Xenology, click on the image of the book or follow this link here for a free online copy of the 1979 book entitled Xenology: An Introduction to the Scientific Study of Extraterrestrial Life, Intellignece, and Civilization, by Robert A. Freitas Jr. This book is rather dated, but it details the very first written document about the brand new science field which is still in its infancy due to the nature of the subject matter.

For a different extrapolation of the subject matter, Dr. David Brin talks about Xenology here, in his article published in 1983, entitled Xenology: The Science of Asking Who’s Out There.

To be perfectly honest, if I had been given the chance and the choice (and the funds needed) I would have happily followed in this line of research during my years at the University, if there was ever such a thing available to be studied. But you see, there is hardly anything out there openly that can be studied. What available material is locked down so tight, it would be just about impossible to sneak a peek, let alone do a serious graduate-level scientific study on it.

And this is such a crying shame that we are not given access to study about this — most especially because we are living descendants of this ancient legacy.

But there is hope.

The great thing about living in this day and age is the crazy awesome access we all have to information about anything we ever wish to study. As Donny Miller so wisely said, "In the age of information, ignorance is a choice." And so I dig and dig and dig, and what I find is a treasure trove of knowledge out there, dug up in bits and pieces by very smart folks — folks like Dr. Joe Lewels who wrote, in his article for FATE magazine titled Humanity’s Historical Link to the Serpent Race:

As long as humanity has kept records of its existence, legends of a serpent race have persisted. These myths tell of a mysterious race of superhuman reptilian beings who descended from the heavens to participate in creating humankind and to teach the sciences, impart forbidden knowledge, impose social order, breed with us, and watch over our development. The serpent like beings were not alone, but were part of a retinue of super beings thought to be gods by the ancients.

This is by no means new information. It is as old as dirt. Clay tablets taken from Sumeria said the exact same thing, only more belabored and far far more colorful. Go to other corners of the world and the story is the same, only the names and places have been changed.

The idea of a reptilian race does not fill me with great dread, or fear, or horror, or shock, or revulsion. It does none of those things because I grew up hearing about my ancient ancestors and their deep family ties with dragons. The legend speaks of Lạc Long Quân whose maternal grandfather was a dragon living under a lake, and Âu Cơ, his wife, who gave birth to my ancient ancestors.

Dragons are not just associated with good luck, good fortune, and wisdom, they were also one of my ancestors!

Please allow me to introduce you to Dracorex. He looks just like a dragon doesn’t he?

Look at the bony protrusions! Look at the horns, the snout, look at the eye sockets! He’s a dragon straight out of mythological legends! Yet, he is as real as can be.

Dracorex is a 66-million-year-old dinosaur that was found in the continent of North America. To-date, there is only one fossil of Dracorex found, but that does not mean that only one existed. I am not saying that Dracorex is a member of the serpent-like beings who were such a huge part of our culture. I am simply saying that the existence of Dracorex is an established fact, but other than the one specimen found, there has been no other. In other words, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

This opens up the high probability that there are dragon bones out there…we just haven’t been able to find them yet…or even more likely, we haven’t been able to identify them as such for some inexplicable reason.

No matter.

We only need to look within to find that missing evidence. In my next posting, I will discuss further, the biological link between us modern humans and our ancient ancestors, the serpent beings.

Xenology: An Introduction to the Scientific Study of Extraterrestrial Life, Intellignece, and Civilization. Robert A. Freitas Jr., J.D.

Xenolgoy: The Science of Asking Who’s Out There. David Brin, Ph.D.

Humanity’s Historical Link to the Serpent Race. Joe Lewels, Ph.D.

(continue to Dragons (Part 2): The Genetics)

What, exactly, is “xenology”? As described by the subtitle of this book, xenology may be defined as the scientific study of all aspects of extraterrestrial life, intelligence, and civilization. Similarly, xenobiology refers to the study of the biology of extraterrestrial lifeforms not native to Earth, xenopsychology refers to the higher mental processes of such lifeforms if they are intelligent, xenotechnology refers to the technologies they might possess, and so forth.

I was among the first to attempt to popularize the “xeno-“ prefix in association with the general study of extraterrestrial life (e.g., see my letter to Nature, below). However, credit for coining the xeno-based terminology in this usage is generally given to the renowned science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein (starting in The Star Beast, Scribner, New York, 1954 HTML commentary), though the first use of the related word "xenologist" is apparently attributable to L. Sprague de Camp ("The Animal-Cracker Plot," Astounding Science Fiction 69(July 1949); "The Hand of Zei," 1950).

The scientific usage of the xeno- terminology was subsequently defended in the mainstream scientific literature by Heinlein and Harold A. Wooster in a 1961 article published in the journalScience (R.A. Heinlein, H. Wooster, "Xenobiology," Science 134(21 July 1961):223-225 PDF) and subsequently by myself in a 1983 article published in the journal Nature (R.A. Freitas Jr.(CV), "Naming extraterrestrial life," Nature 301(13 January 1983):106 HTML HTML). (Heinlein had confirmed to me, by personal correspondence in August 1980, that he still regarded his coinage as both valuable and correct.)

My article in Nature drew a complaint ("Xenology disputed," Nature 302(10 March 1983):102) from four specialist researchers claiming to represent "20 research groups in at least eight countries" who preferred to retain use of "xenology" for the study of xenon concentrations in meteorites (an argument that would not apply to other uses of the xeno- prefix) but their plea has largely failed. By December 2008, Google listed 20,600 entries for "xenology" of which only 1140 referred to xenon and most of the rest referred to the extraterrestrial usage. Online dictionaries (e.g., Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English, 2003-2008) now typically define "xenology" as "the scientific study of extraterrestrials, esp. their biology." So far, the mainstream field seems to have settled on the name “astrobiology” (the biology of stars?), but I still harbor hope that the more etymologically correct name, xenology, can be applied to the more general field of study that I tried to help define, so long ago, with my book – titled Xenology (~500,000 words, ~150 illustrations, 4000+ references), First Edition.

Reading again the text that I first wrote 30 years ago, it feels as though this book has fallen through a time warp or a crack in time, or has just been removed from a time capsule. But while some of the material seems dated, much of it still appears fresh and new, and the synthesis of the field (of xenology) is still relevant and unique. The main purpose of this book was to help create a coherent new field of study called “xenology”.

As you read this book, please bear in mind that it was written before Sagan’s “Cosmos” TV series and predated the internet, the personal computer, the cell phone, most of genetic engineering, Ronald Reagan, all but the first few Space Shuttle launches, electronic word processors and spell checkers, and Google and online reference sourcing. It was written before the sulfur volcanoes of Io or the liquid seas of Titan had been discovered, before extrasolar planets had been observed, and before my own optical and radio telescope SETI searches and other writings on replicating systems and nanotechnology (and several years before nanotechnology had even been invented, via the 1981 PNAS paper and 1986 book Engines of Creation by K. Eric Drexler). Xenology predates the first engineering study of self-replicating systems by NASA in 1980, almost all of the important work on interstellar probe SETI, and the development of the entire field of molecular nanotechnology and medical nanorobotics. In the fictional sphere, Xenology also predates all the Star Trek and all but one of the Star Wars movies, and its writing began just 6 years after the theatrical release of the classic 2001: A Space Odyssey.

If this book is so ancient, why bother to publish it now? There are several reasons.

First, I have an emotional attachment to it, having spent so many years (5) of my life writing it, back in the late 1970s. Indeed, I wrote it during my time in law school, a very trying experience for someone accustomed to scientific thought processes. Writing this book helped keep me sane during those years. (The whole thing was typed on my trusty blue IBM Selectric typewriter, and the graphics were hand-drawn or paste-ups, which explains in part why it has taken so long to get this up into "print".)

Second, Xenology was my first major effort at bookwriting. It taught me how to research, organize and write a reasonably coherent and lengthy single-topic work. It was excellent training and taught me valuable lessons in scientific writing that I’ve put to good use in my subsequent work. Anyone who is familiar with my later work will recognize the early manifestations of my characteristic proclivity to organize information in a comprehensive, almost encyclopedic manner, imposing some coherence on the information to help create a foundation for a more rigorous discipline someday to come.

Third, the work contains many thousands of literature references – a style of writing that has also become my trademark. Please bear in mind that back in the late 1970s, all of these references had to be assembled “the hard way”. In those antediluvian days, you had to look things up in a hardbound citation index and then walk the stairs and aisles of a real bricks-and-mortar library to find the right shelf containing the exact volume that you needed, then photocopy the papers for a nickel a page. Xenology was completed more than 20 years before the advent of the World Wide Web made online literature searches and pdf document retrievals a snap.

Fourth, while this book is not as technically rigorous as my later books, there is enough good material here that I thought it deserved to see the light of day. It is also reasonably well written, and contains some unique and valuable insights that I’ve not seen published elsewhere in the last 30 years. So I think it still has a valuable contribution to make to the field.

Fifth, as far as I know there is still no single text that attempts to integrate the entire field, as Xenology does. The only book that comes close is Intelligent Life in the Universe by I.S. Shklovskii and Carl Sagan, but that was published in 1966.

I first got interested in the study of possible extraterrestrial life through the works of Carl Sagan in the science area and Larry Niven in the science fiction area, in the early 1970s. Also, my favorite physics professor at Harvey Mudd College, Thomas Helliwell, indulged my budding freshman curiosity about rotating black holes, tachyons, calculations on the gravitational stability of toroidal planets and the dynamical stability of ringworlds around stars. At HMC, freshman were required to conduct a full-time 1-month engineering project. For my project, I chaired a 7-man team to create a design for a fusion-powered manned interstellar spaceship ("Project MISEV").

I began accumulating materials for Xenology in 1974, and began the actual writing in 1975, finally completing the last chapter, Chapter 26, in early 1979. There were 27 chapters originally planned. I never got around to writing the introductory (Chapter 1) or concluding (Chapter 27) chapters, nor one other chapter in the middle (Chapter 9) that was intended to be a summary of the unmanned interplanetary spacecraft that had been sent to other planets as part of the actual “experimental” search for life in our solar system, with a particular focus on the Viking landers on Mars that conducted the first biochemical searches for life on another planet via direct sampling. The book contains some pretty speculative material in a few places, including material from speculative fact and science fiction writers when appropriate. But generally the text tries to stick to concepts and arguments that are grounded in some kind of precedent either in biology, technology, or the social sciences and the arts.

Xenology was privately circulated while it was being written in the late 1970s. The book was reviewed by 40 notable scientists (see below), who were first contacted by letter, then mailed one or more chapters, after which these reviewers generously offered constructive comments leading to revisions. I then attempted to find a mainstream publisher, but collected only rejection slips. Finally, a science fiction writer friend (James Hogan) recommended his book agent, Ashley Grayson, who, upon reading the entire manuscript, became very enthusiastic about its prospects. Ashley kindly spent a couple of years shopping it around to the general run of speculative science and science fiction publishers. We got a few nibbles, but in the end all the editors and publishers who reviewed it concluded that the book was too lengthy (hence necessarily would have to be too highly-priced per copy) to be a commercial success. The book continued to be privately circulated to a select few others, most notably some science fiction writers and editors of my agent’s acquaintance, throughout the 1980s. The full book was never published in print (hardcopy) form or offered for sale commercially.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, I carved out about a dozen “science fact” articles from the book materials, which were published in Analog magazine and a number of other venues. Around this same time I became one of the principal advocates for interstellar communication via material probes rather than radio waves and published a number of technical papers on this subject. I also conducted the first SETI searches for possible orbiting alien artifacts in Earth-Moon orbits using optical telescopes, published the first engineering scaling study of a self-replicating interstellar probe, performed the first radio SETI search at the tritium hyperfine line (which, if detected, would have been unambiguously artificial), and participated in the first engineering design of a self-replicating lunar factory for NASA. These activities thoroughly distracted me from further pursuing publication of Xenology in book form.

By 1994, I’d begun my current career in nanotechnology, starting the research that would eventually lead to my first published book in the field, the first volume in the Nanomedicine series, and beyond. At a nanotechnology conference in May 1998 I met Robert Bradbury, who had a company doing life extension research but was also writing in the area of SETI and astroengineering topics. Bradbury expressed interest in my unpublished book, and after reading some of it, offered to scan it and place it online alongside his existing collection of SETI-related works. From mid-1999 to mid-2000, I xeroxed Xenology and snailmailed it to him, chapter by chapter, which he scanned in and formatted. He also paid a Russian colleague to manually type the first 4300+ references (about half of my accumulation, but including most of the references used in the book) since these were all handwritten in a notebook.

Because of the imperfect nature of the scanning process, a large number of typos crept into the text that had to be caught and manually corrected. Bradbury did a lot of this but could not catch everything. This was a job only the author could do. Also, the last two chapters included a lot of handwritten insertions into the typed text that could not be scanned, so this material (the two longest chapters in the book) was unusually heavily laden with typos, dropped sentences, missing fragments, and the like. My personal attention was required, but by this point I was employed full time as a nanotechnology Research Scientist at Zyvex, so I couldn’t spare any cycles for the necessary corrections – and again, progress on the book languished.

While I could not consent to Bradbury placing the uncorrected manuscript online for general access in its initial unedited rough form, I also could not find time to correct it. As a compromise, I agreed that individuals upon special request could view the materials, which were placed online at Bradbury’s private Aeiveos Corp. website. This at least afforded Bradbury and a few selected SETI researchers ready access to the materials during 2000-2008 on an invitation-only basis.

During the 2000s the number of requests for access to the manuscript continued to grow. So for the last few years I’ve been slowly working, in spare moments, to clean up the text, reformat the material to be consistent with my other online books, then put the book up for free public access at my own xenology.info website that I reserved in 2002 for just this purpose. I’ve largely resisted the urge to change much, making just minor editorial corrections where appropriate, adding Section numbers, renumbering Figures and Tables, and correcting typos, but generally avoiding bringing the book up to date which should be the job of the Second Edition (if one is ever written). Such updating and correction is desperately needed, but must await a proper thoroughgoing editorial process that will be undertaken (most likely) by others.

The First Edition was originally written in the style of Scientific American (e.g., pitched to a scientific layperson reader), and it maintains this non-academic style throughout. There are only a few mathematical equations in this book. The work is heavily referenced to the primary nontechnical literature on extraterrestrial life (and related material), and is well referenced to the primary technical literature in many specialized areas but not uniformly throughout.

Xenology was current as of 1979, but the field has made 30 years of progress since then. The reader will find numerous omissions of facts and valuable references that have been published in the intervening years, and probably even a fair number of outright errors which were unknown at the time of writing. I’ve resisted the urge to rework problems and present new views. Missing also are my own three SETI studies and a couple of dozen papers I wrote in the 1980s. Many concepts that are widely discussed today were relatively unknown back then; many others have found their way into science fiction during the intervening years. For the most part, the material has held up reasonably well. The first contact protocols, scenarios and taxonomy in Chapter 25 are still relevant today – and perhaps even more so, since they obviously also apply to artificial intelligences which are now much closer to fruition than they were thirty years ago. The governance scales in Chapter 21 can be used to generate thousands of different possible governmental forms; the study of interstellar governance complexity and stability has been only lightly studied academically to this day. My discussion of coboglobin-based blood (original to me) in Section 10.4 has not been replicated elsewhere. And so forth.

Most significantly, the First Edition of Xenology was written entirely in the “pre-nanotechnology” era, thus largely ignores this all-important coming development. Even so, I anticipated this field in a small way in Section 16.4.1 when I wrote: “If alien electronic artificial intellect is possible, how physically small might it be? The theoretical lower limit of cell size is about 400 Angstrom, a bit smaller than the tiniest known living organism (the PPLO). A brain with 10¹⁰ neurons of this size would neatly fill a minute cube one-tenth millimeter on a side. But artificially designed alien microbrains theoretically could be vastly smaller still. Using molecular electronics with components on the order of 10 Angstrom in size, 10¹⁰ microneurons could be packed into a space of a few microns. This is small enough to hide inside a bacterium, a fact which may have several very interesting consequences.” It remained for other authors (including myself, in later decades) to more fully explore those "interesting consequences".

I wish to sincerely thank the aforementioned Robert J. Bradbury for his constant encouragement and enthusiasm about this book, and for laboriously scanning my typewritten pages and converting them to an initial html form over a period of about 12 months during 1999-2000. Robert also painstakingly coded into html format all of the Tables and Figures, some of them very lengthy and very complex, by hand. Without Robert’s truly Herculean initial efforts on my behalf, I could not have found the personal time or energy to carry these materials across the finish line to completion. I also thank Robert for scanning in the images for numerous figures. Some of these images have poor legibility, but this is my fault, not Robert’s. These images were scanned from my copies of library originals some of which were in turn reproduced using an ancient wet xerographic process, causing them to become heavily grayed out with time. I also regret that the text is not more heavily linked. However, each paragraph and illustration in the book is tagged with an anchor point to facilitate direct URL citation.

Please note that the official version of the book, as corrected, restored, and formatted by the author, is now formally published at the http://www.xenology.info website. No other version should be cited as authoritative or regarded as authentic.

I also wish to belatedly thank my original reviewers who read parts of the manuscript and provided critical comments. This includes: R. McNeill Alexander, Norman J. Berrill, David C. Black, Jonathan Boswell, Ronald N. Bracewell, A.G.W. Cameron, J. Desmond Clark, Mary Connors, John D. Currey, Karl W. Deutsch, Stephen H. Dole, Frank D. Drake, Freeman J. Dyson, John F. Eisenberg, Francis R. Flaim, Robert L. Forward, Sidney W. Fox, Arthur Harkins, Thomas M. Helliwell, Sol Kramer, Paul Kurtz, Paul D. MacLean, Magoroh Maruyama, Stanley L. Miller, Marvin Minsky, Peter M. Molton, Barney M. Oliver, Leslie E. Orgel, George C. Pimentel, Cyril Ponnamperuma, William K. Purves, Tim Quilici, S. Ichtiaque Rasool, Jack D. Salmon, Charles L. Seeger, Mark Stull, Jill Tarter, Francisco Valdes, Gerard de Vaucouleurs, David H. White, and Edward O. Wilson. Most of their comments were integrated into the text but a few corrective items might have been missed. As a result I must apologize in advance for any errors in the original work that may have survived. All such errors should be attributed, and reported by email, solely to the author. I also thank Ashley Grayson for his efforts on my behalf.

Finally, I must thank my wife, Nancy Ann Freitas, for her patience and support during the writing of this book, more than three decades ago near the start of our married life together. Without her help and faith in me, this book simply could not have been written.

Robert A. Freitas Jr. (CV)
Senior Research Fellow
Institute for Molecular Manufacturing
6 December 2008