Molecules matter because matter is made of molecules, and everything from air to flesh to spacecraft is made of matter. When we learn how to arrange molecules in new ways, we can make new things, and make old things in new ways. Perhaps this is why Japan's MITI has identified "control technologies for the precision arrangement of molecules" as a basic industrial technology for the twenty-first century. Molecular nanotechnology will give thorough control of matter on a large scale at low cost, shattering a whole set of technological and economic barriers more or less at one stroke.

Nanotechnology will give better control of molecular building blocks, of how they move and go together to form more complex objects. Molecular manufacturing will make things by building from the bottom up, starting with the smallest possible building blocks. The nano in nanotechnology comes from nanos, the Greek word for dwarf. In science, the prefix nano- means one-billionth of something, as in nanometer and nanosecond, which are typical units of size and time in the world of molecular manufacturing. When you see it tacked onto the name of an object, it means that the object is made by patterning matter with molecular control: nanomachine, nanomotor, nanocomputer. These are the smallest, most precise devices that make sense based on today's science.

Digital electronics brought an information-processing revolution by handling information quickly and controllably in perfect, discrete pieces: bits and bytes. Likewise, nanotechnology will bring a matter-processing revolution by handling matter quickly and controllably in perfect, discrete pieces: atoms and molecules. The digital revolution has centered on a device able to make any desired pattern of bits: the programmable computer. Likewise, the nanotechnological revolution will center on a device able to make (almost) any desired pattern of atoms: the programmable assembler. The technologies that plague us today suffer from the messiness and wear of an old phonograph record. Nanotechnology, in contrast, will bring the crisp, digital perfection of a compact disc.

Nanotechnology will lead to incredible advances, some merely practical, others almost sublime. On the most mundane level: scratch-proof glass and tiles that shed dirt and never need cleaning. On a more sophisticated level: precision drug-delivery systems; computers the size of a sugar cube that could hold the entire Library of Congress; and building blocks to produce new materials with the exact properties desired. Already super-strong drill bits are being produced by a company called Nanodyne.

In recent discussion in Washington, D.C., on a top-level panel on nanotechnology some of the participants included Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, National Science Foundation chief Mike Roco and Meya Meyyappan of NASA's Ames Nanotechnology Group. Gingrich was not exaggerating when he declared flatly, "Nanotechnology is the future of United States." The others agreed.

Japanese scientists have already developed a lead in nanoscale circuits. Engineers in Germany are busily using nanotechnology to protect surfaces from dirt and grime.

Bush has asked Congress to appropriate $679 million for 2003 to help us US maintain the lead in nanotechnology. This time the Europeans are determined not to be left behind. European governments, led by Germany, the U.K. and France, spent $164 million on nanotech in 2000. The European Union's Framework Program supports Nanotech above and beyond individual country's programs: For 2002-2006 the European Union has allocated $1.2 billion.

"Just imagine, materials with 10 times the strength of steel and only a fraction of the weight; shrinking all the information at the Library of Congress into a device the size of a sugar cube; detecting cancerous tumors that are only a few cells in size. My budget supports a major new national nanotechnology initiative worth $500 million."

• "Electronics: Nanotechnology is projected to yield annual production about $300 billion for the semiconductor industry and few times more for global integrated circuits sales within 10 to15 years.

• Pharmaceuticals: About half of all production will be dependent on nanotechnology - affecting over $180 billion per year in 10 to15 years.

• Chemical Plants: Nanostructured catalysts have applications in the petroleum and chemical processing industries, with an estimated annual impact of $100 billion in 10 to 15 years

Energy: In 10-15 years, projections indicate that such nanotechnology-based lighting advances have the potential to reduce worldwide consumption of energy by more than 10%, reflecting a savings of $100 billion dollars per year and a corresponding reduction of 200 million tons of carbon emissions."