The ratio of a nanometer to a meter is roughly the same as the ratio of a golf ball to the Earth . Core Concepts from "Nanotechnology For Dummies"

Your fingernails grow approximately one nanometer every second .

Nanotechnology involves manipulating matter at the atomic and molecular scale, typically between . To put that in perspective, a single nanometer is one billionth of a meter . Mind-Boggling Scale Comparisons

A human hair is about 50,000 to 100,000 nanometers thick.

The popular guide Nanotechnology For Dummies by Richard Booker and Earl Boysen breaks the field down into several key areas: Nanotechnology For Dummies, 2nd Edition - Wiley