Eric Drexler is often described as “the father of nanotechnology.” Dr. Drexler set the technical direction for the field in his seminal 1981 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which established the fundamental principles of molecular engineering and outlined development paths towards advanced nanotechnologies.

In his 1986 popular science book, Engines of Creation, he introduced a broad non-technical audience to a fundamental transhumanist technology objective: using machines that work at the molecular scale to structure matter from the bottom up. Drexler’s research in this field has been the basis for numerous journal articles and a comprehensive, physics-based analysis in his textbook Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation.

In his publications and lectures, Dr. Drexler describes the implementation and applications of advanced nanotechnologies and shows how they can be used to solve, not merely delay, large-scale problems such as global warming.

Dr. Drexler served as Chief Technical Advisor to Nanorex, a company developing design software for molecular engineering. In addition, he writes about nanotechnology and other topics on his blog, Metamodern.com. He has worked in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund to explore advanced nanotechnology solutions to global problems such as energy scarcity and climate change. Recently, Drexler served as Chief Technical Consultant to the Technology Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems, a project of the Battelle Memorial Institute in conjunction with several US National Laboratories. He is currently an Academic Visitor at Oxford University.

Drexler was awarded a PhD in Molecular Nanotechnology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (the first degree of its kind).

Drexler appeared on Thursday May 30th MeetUp of the London Futurists held in the Roberts Engineering Building of the University College London. The video below was recorded as part of an experimental Google Hangout and as a result the video quality is what you might expect from an impromptu Hangout recording. Nevertheless Drexler is a key figure in nanotechnology and transhumanism, and this video is very worth watching.