From "The Challenges Facing Nanotechnology", on Ockham’s Razor:
Let us now examine nanotechnology, and assess the hurdles it must overcome before it becomes a society-transforming revolution. In our view there are four major issues:
Feasibility: can we do what we claim we can do, or is it as fantastic as the Nanobot?
Secondly, economic value: does it change the economy in any way? Does it open new sources of wealth?
Third, safety: is it safe, or does it create new dangers we don’t yet know how to handle?
And finally, necessity: do we really need to do it? And have we a choice about it?
These are the major questions all new sciences should face, and nanotechnology is no different.