Reflections on Nanotechnology

A preponderance of youth among the audience was the most conspicuous feature of the two-day symposium on nanotechnology held at the sylvan campus of TIFR in the southern most tip of Mumbai. Jointly hosted by the Mumbai and Baroda chapters of the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Indian Science Congress Association the seminar presented interesting food to chew upon in the emerging area of nanosciences and nanotechnology. Actually the concept underlying nanotechnology is not all that new as the hype enveloping it would lead us to believe. It probably date backs to the time when man realised the power and potency of things small and tiny. Thus artists in 10th Century used gold specks in their paintings to impart certain lustre. Practitioners of Ayurvedic medicine used bhasmas containing gold and silver dust, probably as carriers of medicine. Samuel Hahnemann’s homeopathic system that relied on the potency of drug in small dosages can also be regarded as a manifestation of nanoscience.