Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Foresight Institute Newsletter Collection, 1987-2004

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0863
Creators:
Foresight Institute. (Palo Alto, California)
Lubar, Steven D.
Dates:
1986-2004
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.3 Cubic feet
Repository:
The collection contains an almost complete set of the quarterly newsletter Foresight Background and its successor Foresight Update from 1987 to January, 2004. Also included are five issues of Foresight Briefing. The Foresight Institute of Palo Alto, California, studies transformative technologies.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The collection contains an almost complete set of the quarterly newsletter Foresight Background and its successor Foresight Update from 1987 to January, 2004. Foresight Update is now a weekly newsletter. Also included are five issues of Foresight Briefing, a newsletter containing single, in-depth articles. The newsletters contain essays, reviews of nanotechnology research, student prizes, question-and-answer sets, reference information, in-depth full length articles, and advertisements for nano-related scientific companies and legal services. Miscellaneous mailings from the Foresight Institute to members, such as contribution requests, announcements of upcoming events, and publication offers are included.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Collection is arranged into two series.
Series 1, Newsletters, 1989-2004
Series 2, Miscellaneous materials, 1986-2002 and undated

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Started by Dr. Eric Drexler in 1986 in Palo Alto, California, the non-profit Foresight Institute's mission is to anticipate and meet the future challenges of advances in technology. The Institute seeks to increase knowledge about advances, and to encourage and enable free and open discussion and study of them. Its primary focus is on "molecular nanotechnology, the coming ability to build materials and products with atomic precision." It was the first organization to educate society about the benefits and risks of nanotechnology. The Institute hosts regular conferences on nanotechnology subjects, and it publishes articles, books, and a quarterly newsletter entitled Foresight Update (formerly Foresight Background). The Institute awards annual prizes in two categories, entitled the Foresight Institute Feynman Award, in honor of physicist Richard Feynman. One award is given for experimental research and the other for theory in advances in nanotechnology.

Administration

Author
Alison Oswald
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated by Steven F. Lubar, former curator in the National Museum of American History's Division of the History of Technology (now Division of Work and Industry) in 2004.
Custodial History
Steven F. Lubar, former curator at the National Museum of American History, was a member and subscriber to the newsletter.
Existence and Location of Copies
Electronic copies of
Foresight Update
, June 1987-Spring 2007 and
Foresight Nanotech Institute Weekly News Digest
, June 2005-Present are online at: http://www.foresight.org/
Processing Information
Processed by Alison Oswald, archivist, October, 2010.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Conditions Governing Use
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: reproduction fees may apply.
Preferred Citation
Foresight Institute Newsletter Collection, dates, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Nanotechnology Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Newsletters -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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