The start of the 21st century will be remembered as the era in which nanotechnology flowered.

We are seeing new technologies, ideas and things emerge in profusion, all of which are destined to bring about big changes in our everyday lives. But let's not forget that the groundwork had to be laid for this flowering of nanotechnology. It was about fifty years ago that the word "nanotechnology" was coined, and the latter half of the twentieth century could be considered as its incubation period.