nanoscience By potatoamerica 1931 TEM invented by Ernst Ruska and Max Knoll 1974 Norio Taniguchi coins nano-technology 1981 Heinrich Rohrer invents STM 1985 Richard Smalley, Robert Curl and Harold Kroto discover bucky ball 1986 AFM invented 1986 Eric Drexler independently uses "nanotechnology" in Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology grey goo 2000 Bill Clinton starts National Nanotechnology Initiative 2003 George Bush signs Nanotechnology Research and Development Act