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Thomas Pownall

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{{Use British English|date=January 2013}}
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{{For|the divine|Thomas Pownall Boultbee}}
{{Infobox Governor
|name = Thomas Pownall
|image = Thomas Pownall.jpg
|order =
|office = [[Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay]]
|term_start = 3 August 1757
|term_end = 3 June 1760
|lieutenant =
|predecessor = [[Massachusetts Governor's Council]] (acting)
|successor = [[Thomas Hutchinson (governor)|Thomas Hutchinson]] (acting)
|order2 =
|office2 = Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey
|term_start2 = 13 May 1755
|term_end2 = 23 Sep 1757
|predecessor2 = ''Vacant''
|successor2 = ''Vacant''
|governor2 = [[Jonathan Belcher]]
|order3 =
|office3 = [[List of colonial governors of New Jersey|Acting Governor of the Province of New Jersey]]
|term_start3 = 22 Sep 1757
|term_end3 = 23 Sep 1757
|predecessor3 = [[John Reading (New Jersey)|John Reading]] {''President of Council''}
|successor3 = [[John Reading (New Jersey)|John Reading]] {''President of Council''}
|constituency_MP4 = [[Tregony (UK Parliament constituency)|Tregony]], [[Cornwall]]
|term_start4 = 1767
|term_end4 = 1774
|predecessor4 = [[William Trevanion]]
|successor4 = [[George Lane Parker]]
| alongside4 = [[Sir Abraham Hume, 1st Baronet|Sir Abraham Hume]] and [[John Grey (MP)|John Grey]]
|constituency_MP5 = [[Minehead (UK Parliament constituency)|Minehead]], [[Somerset]]
|term_start5 = December 1774
|term_end5 = 1780
|predecessor5 = [[Henry Fownes-Luttrell]]
|successor5 = [[Francis Fownes-Luttrell]]
| alongside5 = [[John Fownes-Luttrell]]
|birth_date = Baptised September 4, 1722 (New Style)
|birth_place =
|death_date = 25 February, {{death year and age|df=yes|1805|1722}}
|death_place = [[Bath, Somerset]], England
|party = [[British Whig Party|Whig]]
|spouse =
|profession =
|religion = [[Church of England|Anglican]]
|signature = ThomasPownallSignature.png
}}

'''Thomas Pownall''' (bapt. 4 September 1722 (New Style) – 25 February 1805) was a [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] politician and colonial official. He was governor of the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]] from 1757 to 1760, and afterward served in the [[Parliament of Great Britain|British Parliament]]. He travelled widely in the North American colonies prior to the [[American Revolutionary War]], opposed Parliamentary attempts to tax the colonies, and was a minority advocate of colonial positions until the Revolution.

Classically educated and well-connected to the colonial administration in [[London]], Pownall first travelled to North America in 1753, and spent two years exploring the colonies before being appointed Lieutenant Governor of [[Province of New Jersey|New Jersey]] in 1755. He became governor of Massachusetts in 1757 after helping engineer the recall of longtime Governor [[William Shirley]]. His administration was dominated by the [[French and Indian War]], in which Pownall was instrumental in raising Massachusetts provincial militia for the war effort. He opposed military interference in colonial administration, including attempts to quarter British troops in private homes, and had a generally positive relationship with the colonial assembly.

Returning to England in 1760, he continued to be interested in colonial affairs, publishing widely read materials on conditions in the colonies, including several editions of ''The Administration of the Colonies''. As a Member of Parliament he regularly advocated for colonial positions without much success, but supported the war effort once the Revolutionary War began. In the early 19th century he became an early advocate of the reduction or removal of trade barriers, and the establishment of a solid relationship between Britain and the United States. Several writers have proposed that Pownall was [[Junius]], a pseudonymous writer of letters critical of British governmental practices.

[[John Adams]] wrote, "Pownall was the most constitutional and national Governor, in my opinion, who ever represented the crown in this province."<ref>Adams, p. 243</ref>

==Early life==

Thomas Pownall was the eldest son of William and Sarah (Burniston) Pownall. Baptised 4 September 1722 (New Style) in [[Lincoln, England]], his father was a country gentleman and soldier whose poor health and early death in 1735 caused the family to fall upon hard times.<ref>Schutz, pp. 18–19</ref> Thomas was educated at [[Lincoln, England|Lincoln]] and at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], where he graduated in 1743.<ref>{{acad|PWNL739T|Thomas Pownall}}</ref> His education exposed him to classic and current philosophers, and the sciences. His first publication, a treatise on the origins of government published in 1752, began as notes developed at Cambridge.<ref>Schutz, pp. 26–28</ref>

During his years at Cambridge, his younger brother John acquired a job at the [[Board of Trade]], which oversaw British colonial affairs, and rapidly rose in the bureaucracy. The brothers were influential supporters of each other in their efforts to advance.<ref>Schutz, p. 20</ref> John secured a job for Thomas in the colonial office, where he was exposed to the possibilities for advancement and influence in colonial postings.<ref>Schutz, pp. 21–22</ref> In 1753 he went to America as private secretary to [[Danvers Osborn|Sir Danvers Osborne]], just appointed governor of New York. Osborne committed suicide several days after reaching New York, leaving Pownall without a job and a sponsor.<ref>Pownall, pp. 5, 41–42</ref> Pownall chose to remain in America, devoting himself to studying the condition of the American colonies. In the following months he travelled widely, from [[Province of Maryland|Maryland]] to [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts]]. He was introduced into the highest circles of leadership and society in the colonies, and established relationships with a number of influential people, including [[Benjamin Franklin]] and Massachusetts Governor [[William Shirley]].<ref>Schultz, pp. 34–35</ref>

[[Image:EvansPownallMap1755.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Evans-Pownall map of 1755]]
One item of importance that Governor Osborne had been instructed to deal with was rising discontent among the [[Iroquois]] whose territory abutted New York (and is now central and western [[Upstate New York]]). Pownall had studied the matter, and he was consequently invited by his Pennsylvania connections to attend the 1754 [[Albany Congress]] as an observer.<ref>Schultz, pp. 37–38</ref> His observations on the nature of colonial dealings with the Indians (including political infighting for control of the Indian trade, and the corrupt and fraudulent acquisition of Indian lands) led him to draft a number of proposals related to colonial administration. He proposed the establishment of a crown-appointed superintendent of Indian affairs, specifically [[Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet|William Johnson]], New York's commissioner for Indian affairs.<ref name=S41_8/><ref>Rogers, p. 24</ref> He also articulated visions for managing the expansion of the colonies to the west.<ref name=S41_8>Schultz, pp. 41–48</ref> After the conference he returned to Philadelphia. In this time he apparently cemented a close friendship with Franklin, with whom he began to invest in business ventures.<ref>Schutz, pp. 43–44</ref> Franklin, who had unsuccessfully proposed colonial union at the Albany conference, may have contributed to Pownall's writings, although the exact nature of his influence is unclear.<ref name="Schutz, p. 49">Schutz, p. 49</ref> While in Philadelphia he also established a close collaboration with cartographer [[Lewis Evans (surveyor)|Lewis Evans]], both of whom recognized the need for accurate maps of the inland regions of North America then being disputed with [[New France]] in the [[French and Indian War]].<ref>Schutz, p. 51</ref> The map Evans published in 1755 was dedicated to Pownall, and brought the latter wide publicity.<ref>Schutz, p. 53</ref> Pownall's recommendation of Johnson as superintendent of Indian affairs was also implemented by the crown in 1755.<ref>Rogers, p. 25</ref>

==Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey==
[[Image:William Shirley.JPG|thumb|left|upright|[[William Shirley]] was unseated as Massachusetts governor in part by Pownall's actions.]]
Pownall had been living at his own expense, in the hopes that a posting would eventually come his way. In May 1755 he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of [[Province of New Jersey|New Jersey]], with little responsibility beyond anticipating the death of the aging governor, [[Jonathan Belcher]],<ref>Schutz, p. 55</ref> and attending military conferences concerning the ongoing war. Belcher, however, proved to be longer lived than expected (he died in 1757), and Pownall was restless.<ref>Schutz, p. 58</ref> The military conferences drew him into an ongoing power struggle between Johnson and Shirley (who rose to become military commander-in-chief upon the death of General [[Edward Braddock]] in July 1755) over the management of Indian affairs.<ref name="Schutz, p. 49"/> Johnson capitalized on Pownall's concern over frontier security to draw him into his camp.<ref>Schutz, p. 60</ref> Pownall already harboured some dislike of Shirley over an earlier snub, and his reports to New York Governor Sir [[Charles Hardy]], combined with damaging allegations provided by other Johnson supporters, led to Shirley's dismissal as commander-in-chief.<ref>Schutz, pp. 60–67</ref> Pownall returned to England in early 1756, where he confirmed the Johnson allegations, and was rewarded with a post as "Secretary Extraordinary" (a title of Pownall's creation) to the new commander-in-chief, [[John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun|Lord Loudoun]].<ref>Schutz, pp. 68–69</ref>

While Pownall was in England, Shirley's reputation was further damaged by allegations (not apparently furthered by Pownall's action) that he had let military information fall into enemy hands, and the Board of Trade decided to recall him.<ref>Schutz, pp. 69–70</ref> Pownall was also offered the governorship of Pennsylvania by its proprietors; however, his demands for wide-ranging powers in the post led them to retract the offer. Pownall turned this to his own advantage, widely publicizing the fact that he had turned down the offer because of the "unreasonable, unenlightened attitude of the proprietors."<ref>Schutz, p. 71</ref>

[[Image:PownallPassaicFalls.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Pownall's drawing of the [[Passaic River]]'s [[Great Falls (Passaic River)|Great Falls]]]]
He accompanied Loudoun back to America in July 1756, but again returned to England to represent Loudoun in hearings on Shirley's military leadership.<ref>Schutz, pp. 74–78</ref> Loudoun also instructed him on his military plans and objectives.<ref>Schutz, p. 78</ref> In London he became closely involved in informing members of the new [[Pitt-Newcastle Ministry]] of the state of affairs in North America. His performance in these matters resulted in his appointment as governor of Massachusetts in March 1757.<ref>Schutz, pp. 78–83</ref> Although he was admired for his competence in colonial affairs, he was also criticised for his vanity and temper, as well as his role in bringing about Shirley's fall.<ref>Schutz, p. 84</ref>

==Governor of Massachusetts Bay==
Pownall arrived in [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] in early August. He was well received, and assumed his duties on August 3.<ref>Schutz, pp. 85–87</ref> He was immediately thrust into a war-related crisis: a French force was reported to be moving toward [[Fort William Henry]] in northern New York, and the military commander there had made an urgent call for militia. Pownall was energetic in organizing the militia, but the call to arms came too late: Fort William Henry fell after [[Siege of Fort William Henry|a brief siege]] that was followed by some of the worst Indian atrocities of the war.<ref>Schutz, pp. 89–96</ref>

[[Image:4thEarlOfLoudoun.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Pownall had a sometimes contentious relationship with [[John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun]]]]
In September 1757 Pownall travelled to New Jersey to attend the funeral of Governor Jonathan Belcher, and stopped in New York to meet with Loudoun. The commander-in-chief was upset that the Massachusetts General Court had not fully implemented a variety of demands he had made, and he held Pownall responsible. Pownall objected to the interference of the military in civilian affairs, the threat of which Loudoun used to implement his agenda, maintaining that it was necessary for the governor to lead, not drive, the provincial assembly.<ref>Schutz, pp. 105–108</ref> The meeting was acrimonious, and Loudoun afterward wrote a letter to London harshly criticising Pownall's position, calling his ideas on governance "high-handed".<ref>Schutz, pp. 109–110</ref> Loudoun encountered opposition in the General Court (the provincial assembly) to a demand that British troops be [[billet]]ed with civilians in Boston, and threatened to march additional troops into the province and take housing by force.<ref>Schutz, p. 115</ref> Pownall requested that the General Court accede in some way to Loudoun's demands, eventually signing a bill authorizing the quartering of troops in inns and other public spaces. This bill was unpopular, and Pownall was negatively cast in the local press as supportive of Loudoun and his policies.<ref>Rogers, pp. 86–87</ref> Pownall's exchanges with Loudoun, however, show that he was keenly aware of the colonists' position: "the inhabitants of this province are intitled to the [[Rights of Englishmen|natural rights of English born subjects]] ... the enjoyment of these rights ... will animate and encourage them to resist ... a cruel, invading enemy".<ref>Schutz, p. 116</ref> He was equally clear on the relationship between the royal governor and his assembly: "a governor must endeavour ''to lead'' those people for he cannot ''drive'' them and must lead them step by step as he can ''gett[sic] footing''."<ref>Schutz, pp. 116–117</ref> He was so committed to these ideas that he offered to resign; however Loudoun encouraged him to remain in the post.<ref>Schutz, p. 117</ref> Pownall would later author portions of the 1765 [[Quartering Acts|Quartering Act]], a Parliamentary bill whose implementation was widely resisted in the colonies.<ref>Rogers, p. 88</ref>

In January 1758 Pownall wrote several letters to [[William Pitt the Elder|William Pitt]], outlining the difficult issues surrounding relations between the colonial government and both the military and civil administrations of the British establishment.<ref>Schutz, pp. 118–119</ref> He specifically recommended that London offer to pay more of the colonial expenses of the war; the implementation of this idea led to significantly increased militia recruitment in the remaining years of the war, including 7,000 men from Massachusetts for the 1758 campaign.<ref>Schutz, p. 128</ref> Pownall was able to move a bill through the General Court implementing reforms of the militia system. The bill did not include all of the changes Pownall sought in order to achieve a more flexible and less costly organization, and its terms also centered more power over the militia in the hands of local officials (reducing the governor's control).<ref>Schutz, pp. 121–123</ref>

[[File:Governor Thomas Pownall order to Lieut Col John Hawke to beat his drum for enlistments.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Order by Pownall authorizing Lieut. Col. John Hawke to beat his drum for enlistments for regiment for the invasion of Canada, 1758]]
Despite these reforms, recruiting for the militia proved difficult, and recruiting parties were often harassed and stoned, leading to rioting on several occasions.<ref>Schutz, p. 130</ref> Pownall was, however, successful in recruiting the province's full quota of militia, and his energetic assistance in the war effort earned him approbation from William Pitt, the Board of Trade, and the new commander-in-chief, [[James Abercrombie (British Army general)|James Abercrombie]].<ref>Schutz, p. 151</ref> Flush with success, Pownall proposed to General [[Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst|Jeffery Amherst]] the idea of establishing a fort on [[Penobscot Bay]] to contest potential French movements in the area.<ref>Schutz, p. 152</ref> The area had been the site of periodic frontier raids since 1755, including a major attack on [[St. George, Maine|St. George]] in spring 1758.<ref>Bourque, pp. 200–203</ref> This idea developed into a major expedition to the area, which received not only Amherst's approval but that of the assembly. Pownall led the expedition, oversaw the construction of [[Fort Pownall]], and counted it as a major success of the year.<ref>Schutz, p. 166–172</ref> Its success kicked off a minor land rush in the area.<ref name=S174>Schutz, p. 174</ref>

Although Pownall's start in power was a little rocky, his popularity in the province grew as his term progressed. He assiduously saw to the needs of its many fishermen, successfully convincing military authorities to eliminate burdensome red tape, and courted local merchants. He invested in ventures managed by [[Thomas Hancock (merchant)|Thomas]] and [[John Hancock]], and was lauded by a group of Massachusetts merchants upon his departure.<ref>Schutz, pp. 155–156</ref> A bachelor, he was reported to be a ladies' man and highly engaged in the social scene.<ref>Schutz, p. 154</ref> Although he was not strongly religious, he regularly attended Anglican services, but was also a frequent visitor to local Congregational services.<ref>Schutz, p. 157</ref> He successfully finessed contentious issues surrounding the recruitment, deployment, and provisioning of militia, negotiating compromises between military and provincial demands.<ref>Schutz, pp. 162–166</ref> He did, however, have a strained relationship with his lieutenant governor, Thomas Hutchinson. The two men never trusted each other, and Pownall regularly excluded Hutchinson from his inner council meetings, instead sending him on missions, for example to deal with militia recruitment issues.<ref>Waters and Schutz, p. 556</ref> One of Pownall's last acts before leaving the colony was to approve the appointment of [[James Otis, Sr.]], a longtime Hutchinson adversary, as speaker of the assembly.<ref>Waters and Schutz, p. 557</ref>

In the later months of 1759 Pownall wrote a letter to William Pitt requesting leave to return to England because "I might be of some service" there.<ref name=S174/> Biographer John Schutz speculates that the underlying reason for Pownall's request were related to frustration with his exclusion from the major military actions of the later war years, and possibly his desire to acquire a more significant post, such as a governor-generalship of conquered [[New France]].<ref name=S175/> Historian Bernard Bailyn is of the opinion that Pownall's divisive dislike and distrust of Shirley supporters like Thomas Hutchinson and ensuing local political infighting contributed to the request, as did his difficult relationships with the military commanders.<ref name="Bailyn, p. 44">Bailyn, p. 44</ref> Whatever the reason, the Board of Trade engaged in a reshuffling of colonial positions after [[George II of Great Britain|King George II]] died, and Pownall was given the governorship of [[Province of South Carolina|South Carolina]], and permission to first take leave in England. His departure from Boston was delayed by militia recruiting issues and the need to deal with the aftermath of a major fire in the city, and he did not leave until June 1760.<ref name=S175>Schutz, p. 175</ref>

==''The Administration of the Colonies''==
Although he held the governorship of South Carolina, he never actually went there. He characterised his term in Massachusetts as "arduous", and informed the colonial office in November 1760 that he would only accept another governorship if the recently crowned [[George III of Great Britain|King George III]] directly ordered it.<ref>Schutz, pp. 182, 197</ref> Pitt appointed him to the military commissary's office in the [[Electorate of Hanover]], where he served until the [[Seven Years' War]] ended in 1763. The position did not further his career ambitions in colonial administration, however, and led to allegations of financial irregularities (of which he was cleared).<ref name=S197>Schutz, p. 197</ref>

Upon his return to England he prepared for publication a treatise entitled ''The Administration of the Colonies''. First published anonymously in 1764, Pownall revised the work and republished the work several times between 1765 and 1777.<ref>Schutz, pp. 181, 194, 293</ref> The work, a dry and complex treatise on the situation in North America that included commentary on the burgeoning tensions in the [[Thirteen Colonies]], was intended by Pownall to explore how the colonies could properly be incorporated into a larger empire.<ref>Schutz, pp. 182–194</ref>

Pownall's work identified him as supportive of American liberty. Although he feared that Britain was losing control of its colonies, he wrote that the Americans were entitled to the same rights of representative government as their fellow subjects in England, Scotland, and Wales. At the same time, he insisted that the military protection that the colonists received from Britain created equally extensive obligations to help pay for some of the cost. He was also convinced of the need for a strong, central legislature capable of making common policies that would be binding for every member of the British empire, including the fractious provinces in North America. Pownall eventually decided that the only solution lay in creating an imperial parliament with representatives from both Britain and the colonies.<ref>Pownall, ''Administration of the Colonies'', 4th edn, 1768, p. 174</ref> Although he was not the only British commentator to embrace the idea of an imperial parliament, most Americans found it anathema, so much so that [[John Dickinson (delegate)|John Dickinson]] singled out his centralized plan of legislative reform for particular criticism in his influential ''[[Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania]]'' (1768).<ref>http://www.bernardoconnor.org.uk/Everton/Thomas%20Pownall.htm</ref>

==Colonial supporter==
Pownall continued to communicate with political allies in Massachusetts, and was on several occasions called to appear before Parliamentary committees to comment on colonial affairs.<ref>Schutz, p. 198</ref> He considered returning to Massachusetts if a post could be found, and began investing in property in [[Nova Scotia]], extending his colonial property interests beyond those he had been granted in Maine during his governorship. In 1765 he married Harriet Fawkener, widow of [[Everard Fawkener]] and daughter to Lieutenant General [[Charles Churchill (British Army lieutenant-general)|Charles Churchill]], giving him a connection to the aristocratic [[Duke of Marlborough (title)|Dukes of Marlborough]].<ref>Schutz, p. 199</ref> Pownall raised her four children as his own. A gracious and intelligent woman, she became a partner in advancing his political career, hosting social events and encouraging his intellectual pursuits. She may have encouraged him to stand for Parliament in 1767, when he won a seat representing [[Tregony (UK Parliament constituency)|Tregony]].<ref>Schutz, p. 200</ref>

[[Image:Benjamin Franklin 1759.jpg|thumb|right|[[Benjamin Franklin]] was a friend and frequent correspondent of Pownall's.]]
He renewed correspondence with officials in Massachusetts in the hopes of winning appointment as an agent representing the province's interests, but was unsuccessful.<ref>Schutz, p. 202</ref> He regularly received visitors from the colonies, and Benjamin Franklin, his old friend from Pennsylvania, was a frequent guest.<ref>Schutz, p. 203</ref> He observed with alarm the rise in tension in the colonies and the missteps of Parliamentary leadership and colonial administration that exacerbated rather than reduced them.<ref>Schutz, p. 213</ref> He used his position in Parliament to highlight the colonial objections to the Quartering Act of 1765 and other unpopular legislation. When troops were sent to Boston in 1768 after protests against the [[Townshend Acts]] turned violent, he took to the floor of Parliament, warning that the connections between Britain and the colonies were unraveling, and that the end result could be a permanent breach.<ref>Schutz, pp. 219–220</ref>

Pownall was opposed to Prime Minister [[Frederick North, Lord North|North]]'s partial repeal in 1770 of the hated Townshend Acts, in which the tax on tea was retained as a symbol of Parliamentary power. In debate on the act, Pownall pointed out that retention of the tax would be a "millstone" around English necks rather than a yoke on American ones, and that it would lead to civil war. His speech was delivered March 5, 1770, the day of the [[Boston Massacre]].<ref>Schutz, p. 226</ref> Dispirited by his view that Parliament failed to understand the American colonial issues, he urged his colonial correspondents to continue to press constitutional issues and avoid violence.<ref>Schutz, pp. 228–229</ref>

Colonial American issues then briefly subsided from the stage. In 1772 Pownall introduced legislation reforming food production and distribution in Great Britain. It passed the House of Commons, but was amended by the Lords, leading the Commons to reject the amended bill as a violation of its prerogatives. The bill passed the next year, and was called "Governor Pownall's Bill". It received much praise, including some from influential figures such as [[Adam Smith]]. Pownall was also honoured with membership in the [[Society of Antiquaries of London|Society of Antiquaries]] and the [[Royal Society]].<ref>Schutz, pp. 230–232</ref>

==Revolution==
Following the [[Boston Tea Party]] in December 1773, Parliament passed a [[Coercive Acts|series of bills]] designed to punish Massachusetts. Pownall was unable to sway opinion toward more conciliatory measures. He was also implicated in the [[Hutchinson Letters Affair]] as someone who may have delivered private letters of Thomas Hutchinson to Benjamin Franklin, although Franklin never identified his source for the letters. Pownall was unable to retain his seat: in 1774 he was voted out of office.<ref>Schutz, pp. 234–236</ref> Seeking to remain active, Pownall ended up appealing to Lord North, who secured a seat for him in a by-election, representing [[Minehead (UK Parliament constituency)|Minehead]]. This apparent turn towards Toryism alarmed a number of Pownall's colonial supporters; there is also some evidence that North may have engineered Pownall's defeat in order to gain his support.<ref>Schutz, p. 237</ref><ref>Pownall, p. 264</ref>

[[Image:Nathaniel Dance Lord North.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Frederick North, Lord North|Lord North]], portrait by [[Nathaniel Dance-Holland|Nathaniel Dance]]]]
Pownall supported Prime Minister North's attempts at reconciliation in debates leading to the start the [[American War of Independence|War of Independence]]. However, once hostilities began in April 1775, his conciliatory views were dismissed by war-supporting Tories (who opposed them) as well as by Whigs (who saw his proposals as attempts to undercut their positions).<ref>Schutz, p. 241</ref> Pownall remained nominally in support of North until 1777, when he openly made declarations in support of the peace party.<ref>Schutz, p. 242</ref> The entry of France into the war on the American side returned him firmly to the pro-war Tory position.<ref>Schutz, p. 254</ref> His support was, however, nuanced: he continued to argue for some sort of conciliation with the Americans, while remaining resolutely patriotic with respect to the French. He was not alone among British politicians in being unable reconcile these positions, and refused to stand for reelection in 1780.<ref>Schutz, pp. 255–256</ref>

During the war years he published several revisions to ''The Administration of the Colonies'', updating and expanding the work to reflect changing conditions. He also worked to update and revise the Evans map, soliciting data and updated maps from colonial correspondents.<ref>Schutz, p. 244</ref> He withdrew to some extent in the later years following the death of his wife in 1777, but continued to appear in Parliament.<ref>Schutz, p. 252</ref>

==Post-war years==
In July 1780 Pownall anonymously published an essay titled ''A Memorial Most Humbly Addressed to the Sovereigns of Europe''. This widely published document gained Pownall attention throughout Europe; the anonymity of its author was compromised by the use of extended passages from ''Administration of the Colonies''. The essay propounded instructions to Europe's leaders on how to deal with a newly independent United States, pointing out that America's independence and rapid population growth would have a transformative effect on world trade. He proposed that European leaders meet to establish worldwide regulations for what was essentially free trade.<ref>Schutz, pp. 257–260</ref>

Pownall continued to maintain an interest in the United States after the war ended, although he never returned.<ref>Schutz, p. 264</ref> He sought without success a commission in the Massachusetts militia, mostly as a formality so that he could present it during his European travels. He continued to write essays (new ones and revisions to older ones), and published an updated version of his 1755 map.<ref name=S265>Schutz, p. 265</ref> He contributed articles to the journal of the [[Antiquarian Society of London]], to which he had been elected in 1768.<ref>Schutz, pp. 272–273</ref> Among his writings he proposed more rigorous approaches to [[archaeology]] (then largely the province of amateur "gentleman collectors"), more directly tying it to the study of history.<ref>Schutz, p. 273</ref>

[[Image:Francisco de Miranda by Tovar y Tovar.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Francisco de Miranda]], activist for Latin American independence (portrait by [[Martín Tovar y Tovar]])]]
In his later years Pownall was introduced to [[Francisco de Miranda]], a Venezuelan colonial general who favored Latin American independence from Spain. According to historian William Spence Robertson, significant arguments advanced by Miranda in his later efforts are traceable to Pownall's influence. Pownall also assisted Miranda explicitly, cultivating connections in the British government as he attempted to advance the independence agenda.<ref>Schutz, pp. 282–283</ref> Pownall's last major work was a treatise again arguing for free trade, and explicitly calling for British support of Latin American independence as a way to open those markets to British and American trade.<ref>Schutz, pp. 284–285</ref> Pownall died at [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] on 25 February 1805, and was interred in the church at [[Walcot, Bath|Walcot]].<ref>Schutz, p. 286</ref>

==Family and legacy==
Pownall married twice. His first wife was Harriet Churchill, widow of Sir [[Everard Fawkener]] and illegitimate daughter of Lieutenant General [[Charles Churchill (British Army lieutenant-general)|Charles Churchill]]. In 1784 Pownall married Hannah (Kennet) Astell, acquiring in the process significant estates and the trappings of landed gentry.<ref>Stewart Baldwin, "The English Ancestry of George1 Pownall of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with Notes on Thomas1 Pownall, Governor of Massachusetts Bay and South Carolina", ''The American Genealogist'', 76(2001):81–93, 217–26; Edward J. Davies, "Further Notes on Governor Thomas1 Pownall", ''The American Genealogist'', 77(2002):190–94.</ref><ref>Schutz, pp. 265–268</ref>

The towns of [[Pownal, Maine]] and [[Pownal, Vermont]] are named after Thomas Pownall.<ref name="Bailyn, p. 44"/> [[Dresden, Maine]] was once named Pownalborough in his honour;<ref>{{cite book|last=Allen|first=Charles|title=History of Dresden, Maine|year=1977|publisher=Jennie and Eleanor Everson|location=Dresden, ME|oclc=4042151|origyear=1931}} p. 265</ref> this recognition survives in the [[Pownalborough Courthouse]], an historic property built there in 1761.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}, reference #70000052</ref>

==Junius==
{{main|Identity of Junius}}
Between 1769 and 1772 a series of letters was published in London's ''[[Public Advertiser]]'', authored by someone using the pseudonym [[Junius]]. Many of the letters contained accusations of [[corruption]] and abuse of power on the part of British government officials,<ref name=Bowyer>{{cite journal|title=Junius, Philip Francis and Parliamentary Reform|last=Bowyer|first=T. H|journal=Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned With British Studies|issue=Vol. 27, No. 3|date=Autumn 1995|jstor=4051735|page=397}}</ref> subjects Pownall also spoke and wrote about.<ref>Pownall, pp. 336–337</ref> [[Identity of Junius|The identity of Junius]] has since been the subject of contemporary and historical debate.<ref name=Bowyer/> In 1854 Frederick Griffin wrote ''Junius Uncovered'', in which he advanced the argument that Pownall was Junius; this argument was again raised by Pownall descendant Charles A. W. Pownall in his 1908 biography of Pownall.<ref>Pownall, p. 324; Charles Pownall advances his case that Thomas Pownall is Junius in chapter 12 of his biography (pp. 308ff).</ref> Modern scholars dispute the notion, currently favoring [[Philip Francis (English politician)|Philip Francis]] as the writer of the letters based on several lines of evidence.<ref name=Bowyer/>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
{{commons category}}
*{{cite book|last=Adams|first=John|authorlink=John Adams|title=The Works of John Adams, Volume 10|publisher=Little, Brown|year=1856|oclc=64221253|location=Boston}}
*{{cite book|last=Bailyn|first=Bernard|title=The Ordeal of Thomas Hutchinson|location=Cambridge, MA|year=1974|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-64160-0|oclc=6825524}}
*{{cite book|last=Bourque|first=Bruce|title=Twelve Thousand Years: American Indians in Maine|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|location=Lincoln, NE|year=2001|isbn=978-0-8032-1310-4|oclc=44860928}}
*{{cite book|last=Pownall|first=Charles A. W|title=Thomas Pownall, Governor of Massachusetts Bay, Author of the Letters of Junius|publisher=Henry Stevens, Sons & Stiles|year=1908|oclc=317572928|url=http://archive.org/details/thomaspownallgov00pown}}
*{{cite book|last=Rogers|first=Alan|title=Empire and liberty: American Resistance to British Authority, 1755–1763|publisher=University of California Press|year=1974|location=Berkeley, CA|isbn=978-0-520-02275-1|oclc=1229325}}
*{{cite book|last=Schutz|first=John|title=Thomas Pownall, British Defender of American Liberty; a Study of Anglo-American Relations in the Eighteenth Century|id={{hdl|2027/mdp.39015027048787}}|publisher=A. H. Clark|location=Glendale, CA|year=1951|oclc=296382778}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Waters|first1=John|last2=Schutz|first2=John|title=Patterns of Massachusetts Colonial Politics: The Writs of Assistance and the Rivalry between the Otis and Hutchinson Families|journal=The William and Mary Quarterly|issue=Third Series, Volume 4, No. 24|date=October 1967|jstor=1919470}}

==External links==
* [http://www.mass.gov/portal/government-taxes/laws/interactive-state-house/historical/governors-of-massachusetts/royal-colony-of-massachusetts-1692-1774/thomas-pownall-1722-1805.html Official Massachusetts Governor Biography]
* {{worldcat id|id=lccn-n80-38455}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box
|before=[[Massachusetts Governor's Council]] (acting)
|title=[[Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay]]
|years=3 August 1757 – 3 June 1760
|after=[[Thomas Hutchinson (governor)|Thomas Hutchinson]] (acting)
}}
{{S-par|gb}}
{{Succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Tregony (UK Parliament constituency)|Tregony]]
| with = [[Sir Abraham Hume, 1st Baronet]] 1767–1768
| with2 = [[John Grey (MP)|John Grey]] 1768–1774
| years = 1767–1774
| before = [[William Trevanion]]
| after = [[George Lane Parker]]
}}
{{Succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Minehead (UK Parliament constituency)|Minehead]]
| with = [[John Fownes Luttrell]]
| years = 1774–1780
| before = [[Henry Fownes Luttrell]]
| after = [[Francis Fownes Luttrell]]
}}
{{S-end}}

{{Governors of Massachusetts}}
{{Governors of New Jersey}}
{{Lieutenant Governors of New Jersey}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2010}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2010}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=2821444}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME =Pownall, Thomas
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = British colonial official, Governor of Massachusetts Bay Province
| DATE OF BIRTH = baptised 4 September 1722
| PLACE OF BIRTH = Lincolnshire, England
| DATE OF DEATH = 25 February 1805
| PLACE OF DEATH =[[Bath, Somerset]], England
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pownall, Thomas}}
[[Category:Colonial governors of Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Lieutenant Governors of New Jersey]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:People from Lincolnshire]]
[[Category:1722 births]]
[[Category:1805 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London]]
[[Category:British MPs 1768–74]]
[[Category:British MPs 1774–80]]

Graue Schmiere

2013-06-29T05:06:56Z

PC-XT: Disambiguated: Mercury → Mercury (planet)

{{MolecNano}}
'''Grey goo''' (alternatively spelled '''gray goo''') is a hypothetical [[doomsday event|end-of-the-world]] scenario involving [[molecular nanotechnology]] in which out-of-control [[self replication|self-replicating]] robots consume all matter on [[Earth]] while building more of themselves,<ref>{{cite web |title=Grey Goo is a Small Issue |url=http://www.crnano.org/BD-Goo.htm |date=2003-12-14 |accessdate=2009-12-28 |publisher=[[Center for Responsible Nanotechnology]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Nanotechnology pioneer slays "grey goo" myths |url=http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/06/040609072100.htm |date=2006-07-06 |accessdate=2009-12-28 |work=Nanotechnology |publisher=[[Institute of Physics]]}}</ref> a scenario that has been called ''[[ecophagy]]'' ("eating the environment").<ref name="freitas">{{cite web|title=Some Limits to Global Ecophagy by Biovorous Nanoreplicators, with Public Policy Recommendations|first=Robert A.|last=Freitas Jr.|url=http://www.rfreitas.com/Nano/Ecophagy.htm|date=2000-04-00|accessdate=2009-12-28}}</ref> The original idea assumed machines designed to have this capability, while popularizations have assumed that machines might somehow gain this capability by accident.

Self-replicating machines of the macroscopic variety were originally described by mathematician [[John von Neumann]], and are sometimes referred to as [[Self-replicating machine|von Neumann machines]].
The term ''grey goo'' was coined by nanotechnology pioneer [[K. Eric Drexler|Eric Drexler]] in his 1986 book ''[[Engines of Creation]]''.<ref>{{cite book |title= Apocalypse 2012 |last= Joseph |first= Lawrence E. |authorlink= |year= 2007 |publisher= Broadway |location= New York |isbn= 978-0-7679-2448-1 |page= 6 |url= }}</ref> In 2004 he stated "I wish I had never used the term 'grey goo'."<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1038/429591b |pmid=15190320 |title=Nanotech takes small step towards burying 'grey goo' |year=2004 |last1=Giles |first1=Jim |journal=Nature |volume=429 |issue=6992 |pages=591}}</ref> ''Engines of Creation'' mentions "grey goo" in two paragraphs and a note, while the popularized idea of grey goo was first publicized in a mass-circulation magazine, ''[[Omni (magazine)|Omni]]'', November 1986 [http://metamodern.com/b/wp-content/uploads/docs/OMNI_TINYTECH.pdf].

==Definition==

The term was first used by molecular nanotechnology pioneer [[Eric Drexler]] in his book ''[[Engines of Creation]]'' (1986). In Chapter 4, ''Engines Of Abundance'', Drexler illustrates both [[exponential growth]] and inherent limits (not grey goo) by describing nanomachines that can function only if given special raw materials:

<blockquote>Imagine such a replicator floating in a bottle of chemicals, making copies of itself…the first replicator assembles a copy in one thousand seconds, the two replicators then build two more in the next thousand seconds, the four build another four, and the eight build another eight. At the end of ten hours, there are not thirty-six new replicators, but over 68 billion. In less than a day, they would weigh a ton; in less than two days, they would outweigh the Earth; in another four hours, they would exceed the mass of the Sun and all the planets combined — if the bottle of chemicals hadn't run dry long before.</blockquote>

In a [[History (U.S. TV channel)|History Channel]] broadcast, a contrasting idea (a kind of grey goo) is referred to in a futuristic [[End time|doomsday]] scenario:
"In a common practice, billions of nanobots are released to clean up an oil spill off the coast of Louisiana. However, due to a programming error, the nanobots devour all carbon based objects, instead of just the hydrocarbons of the oil. The nanobots destroy everything, all the while, replicating themselves. Within days, the planet is turned to dust." {{Citation needed|date=July 2007}}

Drexler describes grey goo in Chapter 11 of ''Engines Of Creation'':

<blockquote>Early assembler-based replicators could beat the most advanced modern organisms. 'Plants' with 'leaves' no more efficient than today's solar cells could out-compete real plants, crowding the biosphere with an inedible foliage. Tough, omnivorous 'bacteria' could out-compete real bacteria: they could spread like blowing pollen, replicate swiftly, and reduce the biosphere to dust in a matter of days. Dangerous replicators could easily be too tough, small, and rapidly spreading to stop — at least if we made no preparation. We have trouble enough controlling viruses and fruit flies.</blockquote>

Drexler notes that the geometric growth made possible by self-replication is inherently limited by the availability of suitable raw materials.

Drexler used the term "grey goo" not to indicate color or texture, but to emphasize the difference between "superiority" in terms of human values and "superiority" in terms of competitive success:

<blockquote>Though masses of uncontrolled replicators need not be grey or gooey, the term "grey goo" emphasizes that replicators able to obliterate life might be less inspiring than a single species of crabgrass. They might be "superior" in an evolutionary sense, but this need not make them valuable.
</blockquote>

[[Bill Joy]], one of the founders of Sun Microsystems, discussed some of the problems with pursuing this technology in his now-famous 2000 article in ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'' magazine, titled "[[Why the Future Doesn't Need Us]]". In direct response to Joy's concerns, the first quantitative technical analysis of the [[ecophagy]] scenario was published in 2000 by nanomedicine pioneer [[Robert Freitas]].<ref name="freitas"/>

==Risks and precautions==
Drexler more recently conceded that there is no need to build anything that even resembles a potential runaway replicator. This would avoid the problem entirely. In a paper in the journal ''Nanotechnology'', he argues that self-replicating machines are needlessly complex and inefficient. His 1992 technical book on advanced nanotechnologies ''[[Nanosystems|Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation]]''<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.e-drexler.com/d/06/00/Nanosystems/toc.html |title=Nanosystems: molecular machinery, manufacturing, and computation |first=K. Eric |last=Drexler |publisher=Wiley |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-471-57518-4}}</ref> describes manufacturing systems that are desktop-scale factories with specialized machines in fixed locations and conveyor belts to move parts from place to place. None of these measures would prevent a party from creating a weaponized grey goo, were such a thing possible.

In [[United Kingdom|Britain]], [[Prince Charles]] called upon the [[Royal Society]] to investigate the "enormous environmental and social risks" of nanotechnology in a planned report, leading to much media commentary on grey goo. The Royal Society's report on nanoscience was released on 29 July 2004, and declared the possibility of self-replicating machines to lie too far in the future to be of concern to regulators.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nanotec.org.uk/finalReport.htm| title=Nanoscience and nanotechnologies: opportunities and uncertainties| publisher=The Royal Society| accessdate=2011-08-23}}</ref>

More recent analysis has shown that the danger of grey goo is far less likely than originally thought{{by whom|date=December 2011}}.<ref>{{cite press release| url=http://www.crnano.org/PR-IOP.htm| date=9 June 2004| title=Leading nanotech experts put 'grey goo' in perspective| publisher=Center for Responsible Nanotechnology| accessdate=2006-06-17}}</ref> However, other long-term major risks to society and the environment from nanotechnology have been identified.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.crnano.org/dangers.htm| title= Current Results of Our Research| publisher=Center for Responsible Nanotechnology| accessdate=2006-06-17}}</ref> Drexler has made a somewhat public effort to retract his grey goo hypothesis, in an effort to focus the debate on more realistic threats associated with knowledge-enabled nanoterrorism and other misuses.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3788673.stm| title=Nanotech guru turns back on 'goo'| publisher= BBC News|accessdate=2012-03-30|first=Paul|last=Rincon|date=2004-06-09}}</ref>

In Chris Phoenix and Eric Drexler's paper ''Safe Exponential Manufacturing'', which was published in a 2004 issue of ''Nanotechnology'', it was suggested that creating manufacturing systems with the ability to self-replicate by the use of their own energy sources would not be needed.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Phoenix|first=Chris|coauthors=Eric Drexler|title=Safe Exponential Manufacturing|journal=Nanotechnology|year=2004|month=August|publisher=IOP Publishing Ltd.}}</ref> The Foresight Institute also recommended embedding controls in the molecular machines. These controls would be able to prevent anyone from purposely abusing nanotechnology, and therefore avoid the grey goo scenario.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.foresight.org/guidelines/current.html| title=Foresight Guidelines for Responsible Nanotechnology Development| publisher= Foresight Institute and IMM|accessdate=2012-05-07}}</ref>

==Ethics and Chaos==

Grey goo is a useful construct for considering low probability, high impact outcomes from emerging technologies. Thus, it is a useful tool in the [[ethics of technology]]. Vallero <ref>{{cite book |title=Biomedical Ethics for Engineers: Ethics and Decision Making in Biomedical and Biosystem Engineering|first=Daniel|last=Vallero |publisher=Academic Press |year=2007 |isbn=9780080476100}}</ref> applied it as a worst case scenario thought experiment for technologists contemplating possible risks from advancing a technology. This requires that a [[decision tree]] or [[event tree]] include even extremely low probability events if such events may have an extremely negative and irreversibile consequence, i.e. application of the [[precautionary principle]]. Dianne Irving <ref>{{cite journal |title=Science, the formation of conscience and moral decision theory|last1=Irving |first1=Dianne|journal=Proceedings of the Guadalupan Appeal: The Dignity and Status of the Human Embryo, Mexico City, Mexico|date=October 28, 1999}}</ref> admonishes that "any error in science will have a rippling effect....". Vallero adapted this reference to chaos theory to emerging technologies, wherein slight permuations of initial conditions can lead to unforeseen and profoundly negative downstream effects, for which the technologist and the new technology's proponents must be held accountable.

==Limitations==
Grey goo nanobots need a source of energy to drive their replication. For efficiency reasons, the energy would likely come from oxidation and other chemical reactions on the organic matter itself—a process which in organic life is known as [[digestion]]—rather than from an external power source.

In such a scenario, grey goo replication is [[Self-limiting (biology)|self-limiting]]. The more organic material that the grey goo consumes, the less remains available for further consumption. After exhausting available organic material within a local area, grey goo would experience a [[Overshoot (population)|population crash]] in that area, slowing or ending its outward spread.

Some organic organisms may prove more resistant than others to grey goo. As with all [[environmental stress]]es, [[natural selection]] would favor their survival, and amplification of their resistance [[Phenotypic trait|traits]].

If grey goo nanobots could also [[Evolution|evolve]] through the course of their replications, they might gain the ability to consume one another, as an additional source of energy to drive replication. Further from there, they could evolve resistance to consumption by grey goo nanobots. Under such [[evolutionary pressure]], grey goo nanobots would become subject to [[speciation]], inter-species [[competition]], and specialization to occupy [[ecological niche]]s. However, engineered machines such as Drexler has proposed are fundamentally simpler and less susceptible to evolution than biological systems.

==Popular culture==

The term ''grey goo'' is often used in a futuristic or [[science fiction]] context, as the required technologies do not yet exist. In the worst postulated scenarios (requiring large, space-capable machines), matter beyond Earth would also be turned into goo (with ''goo'' meaning a large mass of replicating nanomachines lacking large-scale structure, which may or may not actually appear goo-like). The disaster is posited to result from a deliberate [[doomsday device]], or from an accidental [[mutation]] in a self-replicating nanomachine used only for other purposes, but designed to operate in a natural environment. Notable examples of such a work can be found in the novels ''The Reproductive System'' by [[John Thomas Sladek|John Sladek]] (1968), ''[[Blood Music (novel)|Blood Music]]'' and ''[[The Forge of God]]'' by [[Greg Bear]] (1985), the 2002 [[Michael Crichton]] novel ''[[Prey (novel)|Prey]]'' and [[Wil McCarthy|Wil McCarthy's]] novel ''[[Bloom (novel)|Bloom]]''. Use of the idea is also featured in the television shows [[Futurama]] (in the episode "[[Benderama]]") and [[Justice League Unlimited]] (in S1E10, "Dark Heart"). The Replicators of [[Stargate SG-1]] appear to be loosely based on the concept. The [[The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008 film)|2008 remake of ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'']] deals with a grey goo scenario as well as Disney's animated series [[Gargoyles]] in the episode [[Walkabout]]. In [[Battle Angel Alita: Last Order]], the surface of [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] is covered in rogue nanomachines from a Grey Goo event and subsequently spawns a being of dubious morphology known as Anomaly.

An alternative ''pink goo'' scenario is the end of the world in the [[Jasper Fforde]] novel ''[[Lost in a Good Book]]'', where a nanotechnology 'Dream Topping making machine' turns all matter on earth into a pink [[dessert]] similar to [[Angel Delight]]. The Dream Topping is taken back in time to the beginning of earth, where it supplies the organic nutrients needed to create life.

[[Denial-of-service attack]]s in the virtual world [[Second Life]] which work by continually replicating objects until the server crashes are referred to as ''grey goo'' attacks.<ref>{{cite news |title=Second life plagued by 'grey goo' attack |work=[[The Register]] |url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/24/secondlife_greygoo_attack/ |date=2006-12-24 |accessdate=2009-12-28 |first=Robert |last=Lemos}}</ref> This is a reference to the self-replicating aspects of grey goo. It is one example of the widespread convention of drawing analogies between certain Second Life concepts and the theories of radical nanotechnology.<ref>Colin Milburn, [http://spontaneousgenerations.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/SpontaneousGenerations/article/view/4895/2084 "Atoms and Avatars: Virtual Worlds as Massively-Multiplayer Laboratories"], ''Spontaneous Generations'' 2 (2008): 63–89.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Self-reconfiguring modular robot]]
* [[Programmable matter]]
* [[Utility fog]]
* [[Smartdust]]
* [[Claytronics]]
* [[Ice-nine]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
<div class="references-small">
*[[Lynn Margulis]] and [[Dorion Sagan]]—''What Is Life?'' (1995). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-81087-5
*Bill Bryson ''[[A Short History of Nearly Everything]]'' (2003)
*[http://www.archive.org/details/NickSzabosEssayGreenGoo-LifeInTheEraOfHumaneGenocide Green Goo—Life in the Era of Humane Genocide] by Nick Szabo
*[http://www.etcgroup.org/upload/publication/174/01/comm_greengoo77.pdf Green Goo: Nanotechnology Comes Alive!]
*[http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,64235,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_5 Green Goo: The New Nanothreat] from ''Wired''
</div>

== External links ==
* [http://lifeboat.com/ex/global.ecophagy Some Limits to Global Ecophagy by Biovorous Nanoreplicators, with Public Policy Recommendations]
* [http://www.crnano.org/papers.htm#Goo Safe exponential manufacturing] Paper critical of "grey goo," summarized in article [http://www.physorg.com/news170.html Nanotechnology pioneer slays "grey goo" myths]
* [http://www.nanotec.org.uk/finalReport.htm Online edition of the Royal Society's report ''Nanoscience and nanotechnologies: opportunities and uncertainties'']
* [http://www.nanotech-now.com/goo.htm Goo and Paste Directory]
* [http://www.nanotec.org.uk/ UK Government & Royal Society commission on Nanotechnology and Nanoscience]
* [http://people.ee.duke.edu/~dwyer/courses/ece299.05/Drexler%20vs%20Smalley.pdf Nanotechnology: Drexler and Smalley make the case for and against 'molecular assemblers'] ([[Richard Smalley]] argues that laws of chemistry imply it will be impossible to ever create "self-replicating nanobots" whose abilities to assemble molecules are significantly different than those of biological self-replicators. Some pro-nanobot responses to Smalley's argument can be found at [http://www.imm.org/publications/sciamdebate2/smalley/ Debate About Assemblers — Smalley Rebuttal], [http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-drexler-smalley-debate-on-molecular-assembly The Drexler-Smalley debate on molecular assembly], [http://www.crnano.org/Debate.htm Of Chemistry, Nanobots, and Policy], and [http://www.foresight.org/nano/istherev.html Is the Revolution Real?])
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/plain/A879933 Nanotechnology and the Grey Goo Problem]
* [http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/03/evilnanotech/ Be Amazing!] – Humorous animation that involves a grey goo scenario

{{Doomsday}}

[[Category:Artificial life]]
[[Category:Environmental disasters]]
[[Category:Doomsday scenarios]]