Book excerpt: The success, growth, and virtually limitless applications of nanotechnology depend upon our ability to manipulate nanoscale objects, which in turn depends upon developing new insights into the interactions of electric fields, nanoparticles, and the molecules that surround them. In the first book to unite and directly address particle electrokinetics and nanotechnology, Nanoelectromechanics in Engineering and Biology provides a thorough grounding in the phenomena associated with nanoscale particle manipulation. The author delivers a wealth of application and background knowledge, from using electric fields for particle sorting in lab-on-a-chip devices to electrode fabrication, electric field simulation, and computer analysis. It also explores how electromechanics can be applied to sorting DNA molecules, examining viruses, constructing electronic devices with carbon nanotubes, and actuating nanoscale electric motors. The field of nanotechnology is inherently multidisciplinary-in its principles, in its techniques, and in its applications-and meeting its current and future challenges will require the kind of approach reflected in this book. Unmatched in its scope, Nanoelectromechanics in Engineering and Biology offers an outstanding opportunity for people in all areas of research and technology to explore the use and precise manipulation of nanoscale structures.