Editing Robert Freitas

{{Short description|American nanotechnologist (born 1952)}}
{{infobox scientist
| name              = Robert Freitas
| image             =
| caption           = Robert at Zyvex in 2002
| birth_name        = Robert A. Freitas Jr.
| birth_date        = {{birth year and age|1952}}
| birth_place       = [[Camden, Maine]], U.S.
| education         = [[Harvey Mudd College]] ([[BSc]])<br>[[Santa Clara University School of Law]] ([[Juris Doctor|JD]])
| occupation        = Nanotechnologist
| spouse            = {{marriage|Nancy|1974}}
| awards            = [[Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology]] (2009)
| fields            = [[Nanotechnology]]
| website           = {{URL|http://www.rfreitas.com}}
}}
'''Robert A. Freitas Jr.''' (born 1952) is an American [[nanotechnologist]].

==Early life and education==
Freitas was born in [[Camden, Maine]]. His father worked in agriculture, and his mother was a homemaker. Freitas married Nancy, his [[childhood sweetheart]], in 1974.<ref name="Wolf 2022">{{cite web | last=Wolf | first=Aschwin de | title=Alcor Member Profile: Robert A. Freitas Jr. | website=Alcor - Life Extension Foundation - Cryonics | date=21 June 2022 | url=https://www.alcor.org/alcor-member-profile-robert-a-freitas-jr/ | access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref>

In 1974, Freitas earned a bachelor's degree in [[physics]] and [[psychology]] from [[Harvey Mudd College]]. In 1978, he received a [[Juris Doctor]] (J.D.) degree from the [[Santa Clara University School of Law]]. He has written over 150 technical papers, book chapters, and popular articles on scientific, engineering, and legal topics.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Templeton|first=Graham|title='Xenology' by Robert Freitas: the Backstory|url=https://www.inverse.com/article/30886-robert-freitas-alien-life-xenology-book-qa|work=Inverse|date=May 10, 2017|access-date=2020-08-27|language=en}}</ref>

==Career==
Freitas interests include [[nanorobotics]],<ref name="Lifeboat Foundation 2010">{{cite web | title=Lifeboat Foundation Interview: Robert A. Freitas Jr | website=Lifeboat Foundation | date=4 April 2010 | url=https://lifeboat.com/ex/interview.robert.a.freitas.jr | access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref> how nanotechnology can extend the life of humans,<ref name="Boeing 2006">{{cite web | last=Boeing | first=Niels | title="Die Medizin wird digital" | website=MIT Technology Review | date=20 April 2006 | url=https://www.heise.de/meinung/Die-Medizin-wird-digital-278373.html | language=de | access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref> [[Self-replicating machine|self-replicating machines]],<ref name="Nanotech.biz 2006">{{cite web | title=Interview with Robert Freitas | website=Nanotech.biz | date=18 February 2006 | url=http://www.nanotech.biz/i.php?id=robertfreitas | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061213095655/http://www.nanotech.biz/i.php?id=robertfreitas | archive-date=13 December 2006 | url-status=live | access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref> and [[Cryonics]].<ref name="Wolf 2022" />

[[File:Advanced Automation for Space Missions - Cover.png|thumb|Figure 5.29.— proposed demonstration of simple robot self-replication in "Advanced Automation for Space Missions"]]
Freitas introduced the concept of "[[sentience]] quotient" in the late 1970s.<ref name="Freitas">{{cite journal |author=Freitas, R.A. Jr. |date=April 1984 |title=Xenopsychology |journal=[[Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact]] |volume=104 |pages=41–53}}</ref>

In 1980, Freitas and William Gilbreath were participants in a NASA study regarding "Advanced Automation for Space Missions,"<ref>{{cite book |title=Advanced Automation for Space Missions |date=1982 |publisher=NASA Scientific and Technical Information Branch |location=NASA.gov |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19830007077/downloads/19830007077.pdf |access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref> and presented the feasibility of self-replicating machines in space, using advanced artificial intelligence and automation technologies.<ref name="Freitas Gilbreath 2013">{{cite web | last1=Freitas | first1=R. A. Jr. | last2=Gilbreath | first2=W. P. | title=Advanced Automation for Space Missions | website=NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) | date=4 September 2013 | url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19830007077 | access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=IJCAI'81: Proceedings of the 7th international joint conference on Artificial intelligence - Volume 2 |url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.5555/1623264 |journal=Guide Proceedings |access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref>

Freitas began writing his ''Nanomedicine'' book series in 1994.<ref name="Peterson 2000">{{cite web | last=Peterson | first=Chris | title=Foresight Update 38 Page 2 | website=foresight.org | date=31 January 2000 | url=https://foresight.org/Updates/Update38/Update38.2.html#Interview | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510073428/https://foresight.org/Updates/Update38/Update38.2.html#Interview | archive-date=10 May 2021  | access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref>  Volume I was published in October 1999 by [[Landes Bioscience]] while Freitas was a Research Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing. Volume IIA was published in October 2003 by Landes Bioscience.<ref name="IMM">{{cite web | title=Robert A. Freitas Jr, Senior Research Fellow | website=Institute for Molecular Manufacturing | date=22 September 2007 | url=http://www.imm.org/about/freitas/ | access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref>

In 2004, Freitas and [[Ralph Merkle]] coauthored and published ''Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines'', a comprehensive survey of the field of physical and hypothetical [[self-replicating machines]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6G3tbmMcpR4NWp5cnZDRi1samc/view|title=Book review of Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines by Robert A. Freitas, Jr. and Ralph C. Merkle. Artificial Life Journal. 2006 Winter;12(1):187-188.|access-date=2017-06-18}}</ref>

In 2009, Freitas was awarded the [[Feynman Prize]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258189907|title=Socio/intellectual patterns in nanoscale research: Feynman Nanotechnology Prize laureates, 1993-2007. Social Science Information 2010;49:615-638.|access-date=2017-06-18}}</ref> in theoretical [[nanotechnology]]. Afterwards, he was granted the first patent for a [[Mechanosynthesis]] tool, which he developed while working at [[Zyvex]]. The tool is theoretically to be used in [[molecular engineering]].<ref name="Foresight Institute 2010">{{cite web | title=Freitas awarded first mechanosynthesis patent | website=Foresight Institute | date=12 April 2010 | url=https://foresight.org/freitas-awarded-first-mechanosynthesis-patent/ | access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref><ref name="Andrew 2000">{{cite journal | last=Andrew | first=Alex M. | title=NANOMEDICINE, VOLUME 1: BASIC CAPABILITIES, by Robert A. Freitas Jr., Landes Bioscience, Austin, Texas, 1999, xxi + 509 pp., ISBN 1-57059-645-X Index  | journal=Robotica | publisher=Cambridge University Press (CUP) | volume=18 | issue=6 | year=2000 | issn=0263-5747 | doi=10.1017/s0263574700212824 | pages=687–689}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Ecophagy]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* ''Robert A. Freitas Jr.'', Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic Capabilities (Landes Bioscience, 1999) {{ISBN|1-57059-645-X}}
* ''Robert A. Freitas Jr.'', Nanomedicine, Vol. IIA: Biocompatibility (Landes Bioscience, 2003) {{ISBN|1-57059-700-6}}
* ''Robert A. Freitas Jr., [[Ralph Merkle|Ralph C. Merkle]]'', Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines (Landes Bioscience, 2004) {{ISBN|1-57059-690-5}}
* ''Robert A. Freitas Jr.'', Nanomedicine: Biocompatibility (S Karger Pub, 2004) {{ISBN|3-8055-7722-2}}
* ''Robert A. Freitas Jr.'', Cryostasis Revival: The Recovery of Cryonics Patients through Nanomedicine (Alcor Life Extension Foundation, 2022) {{ISBN|978-0-9968153-5-2}}

==External links==
{{wikisource author}}
* [http://www.rfreitas.com/ Robert Freitas' personal website]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Freitas, Robert}}
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:Cryonicists]]
[[Category:American nanotechnologists]]
[[Category:American people of Portuguese descent]]
[[Category:American transhumanists]]
[[Category:Harvey Mudd College alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Camden, Maine]]
[[Category:Santa Clara University alumni]]