1. Context

In recent years, the term nanomaterial has come into common usage, but it is to some extent ambiguous; in any case, it needs to be clarified, as it does not necessarily refer, as its name suggests, to the nanometer, a distance little greater than the distance between neighboring atoms in a crystalline or molecular structure. To do this, we need to look back at developments in science and technology.

Let's start by recalling the developments that have taken place in terms of organization. Intramolecular organization had been known or at least suspected since the beginning of the previous century, but beyond that, the organization...