© 2004 Robert A. Freitas Jr. and Ralph C. Merkle. All Rights Reserved.

Robert A. Freitas Jr., Ralph C. Merkle, Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines, Landes Bioscience, Georgetown, TX, 2004.

Back Cover

“The entire manuscript is very impressive. It fills a vital need in the ongoing strengthening of the conceptual engineering of nanotechnology.” -- Ray Kurzweil, Ph.D., Kurzweil Technologies

“...a great resource and contribution to the field. Gathering all of this diverse information together in one place is extremely useful. It is a very good engineering book, but the topic is interesting and relevant across many more disciplines than just engineering, and achieving the goals set forth here will have impact far beyond engineering.” -- Chris G. Langton, Ph.D., Complex Systems Group, Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Professor, Santa Fe Institute, New Mexico (ret.)

“In one word: Wonderful! Erudite, comprehensive, and entertaining, this book is the definitive treatise on the subject. A bona fide MUST MUST MUST for anyone interested in the fascinating field of kinematic self-replication.” -- Moshe Sipper, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, Ben-Gurion University, Israel, and author of Machine Nature: The Coming Age of Bio-Inspired Computing

“Really magnificent as a resource. Truly superb.” -- James K. Gimzewski, Ph.D., Professor, University of California, Los Angeles

“Freitas and Merkle’s Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines is a substantial, in fact, game-changing contribution to the nanotechnology literature. It collects many excellent examples and approaches on the topic of self-replicating systems, and provides the essential scientific basis for comprehending the theoretical feasibility and control of molecular assemblers. This book lays the foundation for the molecular manufacturing of the future.” -- Neil Jacobstein, Chairman, Institute for Molecular Manufacturing, and CEO, Teknowledge Corporation

“...a superb work, ...a major contribution to the nascent field of self-replicating machines.” -- Daniel Mange, Ph.D., Professor, Logic Systems Laboratory, School of Computer and Communication Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland

“Very informative. This work captures the technology and history behind an important phase of both humanity’s evolution and that of our machines.” -- Scot Stride, Spacecraft Telecommunications Equipment Section, NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

“Very impressive! An excellent, excellent summary of everything that has ever been done in kinematic self-replication.” -- Tihamer Toth-Fejel, Research Engineer, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems

“A forthcoming book reviews the history of these and other efforts to understand self-replicating systems over the past fifty years. [KSRM] represents the most comprehensive review to date on the subject of self-replicating systems, and is an excellent reference book.” -- Gregory S. Chirikjian, Ph.D., Department of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University

“THE standard reference in the field.” -- Mark A. Bedau, Ph.D., Editor, Artificial Life, and Professor, Reed College

“A wonderful synopsis of the history of self-replicating machines!” -- Forrest Bishop, Chairman, Institute for Atomic Scale Engineering, and President of Interworld Productions LLC

“I find Section 5.11 extremely interesting, as I had not seen your Foresight Guidelines before. The idea which I found most interesting was the emphasis on encryption as a safeguard against hijacking.” -- Freeman J. Dyson, Ph.D., Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J.

“...a MAJOR contribution to an important area.” -- George Friedman, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Southern California

“...fills an important role in collecting together a wide range of discussions and proposals for machines that can build copies of themselves.” -- Tad Hogg, Ph.D., Hewlett-Packard Corp.

“A remarkable and valuable achievement. For anyone who wants to know about machine self-replication, this book will provide an excellent place to learn the history and present state of the field.” -- Richard A. Laing, Ph.D., Logic of Computers Group, Department of Computer and Communication Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (ret.)

Last updated on 1 August 2005