Before the class begins, students are asked to read a novel with a nanotechnological theme such as "The Diamond Age" by Neal Stephenson, "Queen City Jazz" by Kathleen Ann Goonan, or "Prey" by Michael Crichton. This introduces the way nanotechnology is portrayed in popular literature

The class starts by reading three essays. The first is The 1959 talk of Richard Feynman entitled, "There is plenty of room at the bottom" which is often looked at as the begiining of the modern field of nanotechnology. Next up is K. Eric Drexler's "Engines of Creation" which is a book looking at possible applications of nanotechnology (some realistic and some perhaps more fanciful in nature). Finally student read Bill Joy's piece, "Why the future doesn't need us" from Wired Magazine, which looks at the possibility of nanotechnology destroying the planet. This material starts to give students an idea of what nanotechnology actually is, and what role it may play in society

The next phase of the course looks at biology for inspiration in the field of nanotechnology. We look at process like transcription and translation as well as molecular motors and the olfactory system to see where and how people who study nanotechnology often find their inspiration

The major part of the course looks at research in the field of nanotechnology. We use almost exclusively peer reviewed journal articles and concentrate on seminal papers in the field. Chemistry is a rather linear subject at the college level (eight out of ten courses are required, and many of them in a particular sequence) and this overview of research topics allows students to see what the can use their degrees for if they choose to pursue a job in chemistry. As one advances in chemistry they must make the transition of learning from text books to learning from primary sources of information, and this course helps students with that transition.

Finally, we force students to develop their writing and rhetorical skills by writing at least two ten page papers on different topics and giving a twentyfive minute presentation on one of those two papers. The papers require students to find multiple primary sources and interpret their contributions and significance. This gives students the opportunity to pursue personal interests within the framework of the course and improve their communication skills.