There’s Plenty More Room at the Bottom

Imagine building a tiny machine, so small you can barely see it with your naked eye. This machine is designed to build other, smaller machines.

The smaller machines are tiny enough to be invisible to the naked eye, but their job is to build machines that are smaller still.

You get down to the point where microscopic submarines are navigating your bloodstream, patrolling for potential predators. They can even prevent molecules from getting into the wrong place, and even tinier machines are capable of manipulating atoms themselves.

This narrative was crafted in 1959, but it wasn’t a science fiction author talking about ever tinier machines. Instead, this was physicist Richard Feynman at his best, giving a lecture entitled "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom." Here, Feynman invoked a sense of wonder to introduce the concept of nanotechnology, inviting us to imagine the possibilities ourselves.

If you know my writing, you know I often invoke Richard Feynman and his incredible sense of wonder. Here, Feynman’s wonder was on full display, and it’s easy to see why he is regarded as one of the most brilliant physicists of the 20th century, especially among fellow physicists.

Feynman had a knack for getting you to think from a different point of view. In this lecture, he brought the listeners to a future where manipulating and controlling things on a small scale could unlock unprecedented technological advancements.

The concept of microscopic machines seemed fanciful at the time (and hey, it kind of still does today, if I’m being honest). But Feynman knew that there was no physical law precluding us from manipulating even smaller component parts of machines, even all the way down to the level of individual atoms and molecules.

This idea was revolutionary, suggesting that the entire landscape of physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering could be reimagined at an atomic scale.

For reimagining things, there have been few minds in all of history as good as Feynman’s.

Another incredible conclusion Feynman drew was the idea that all of the world’s information could be stored in a much, much smaller space. Information during the 1950s was virtually all on paper, comprising billions of books.

Microfilm and microfiche were initial forays into this concept, and they hit their technical stride during the late 60s and early 70s. I wrote about that phenomenon a bit here:

Information storage at the atomic level wasn’t really on anyone’s radar at that time, but Feynman talked about how that was possible, too.

If you’re intrigued by the depth and foresight of Feynman's ideas, you can find the full text of There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom here. I recommend reading all seven pages if you have the bandwidth.

Today, over six decades since Feynman's lecture, nanotechnology has become a crowded field, rich with innovation and discovery. We've seen remarkable advancements in areas like medicine, where nanoscale drug delivery systems are revolutionizing treatments, and in materials science, where nanomaterials offer unprecedented strength and flexibility.

We’ve also seen plenty of disappointment. I spoke with a PhD candidate working in the field of DNA origami, and you can read about that frustrating reality here:

There is, indeed, still plenty of room at the bottom. We’re on our way there, working toward better control and manipulation of the microscopic world, but Feynman’s vision still has a lot of room to run.

Richard Feynman’s vision, so well articulated all those years ago, continues to shape the course of scientific discovery. The world of the very small may be tiny, but as Feynman taught us, there's always plenty more room for discovery, innovation, and wonder.

Let’s share a little wonder together today. Science fiction offers plenty of fuel for a creative mind, with nanobot swarms and nanoscopic wonder-drugs a dime a dozen. What sorts of innovations in the world of the very tiny would you like to see during your lifetime? What do you think we’ll see next?

Let me know in the comments! And, if you’re so inclined, you can pledge to support my work, helping me to spend a few hours every day on writing and researching! It’s really appreciated: