In response to the Perspectives column written by Charles Cooper, "Catching the nano wave":
I agree with you about the need to develop nanotechnology in the area of chips. It must be done. But I think you might be wrong when you include the government.
I grew up in Oak Ridge, Tenn., the home of the original Manhattan Project. With the experience of seeing an entire town gripped in secrecy, I have a comment about your views. You have to see the billboards around Oak Ridge, which encourage secrecy. My big fear would be the needless secrecy and top-secret status of so much work.
I think that corporations working with universities would provide the best results. Let universities figure out how to make nanotech cheap and profitable. Let universities figure out how to make computer chips atom by atom or molecule by molecule. The potential has not been tapped. I personally think that nano should stay away from any form of government.
Jim Feliciano
San Francisco