By Ralph Derickson
Harry Kroto is a Nobel Prize-winning chemist who set
out to be a graphic designer but went into science
because his father thought he should have a proper
job and because he was good at it."
On TV' Web site.
Harry Kroto, a chemist whose work on Carbon 60 (commonly
known as "Bucky Balls") won him a Noble Prize in 1996,
will address the 25th American Carbon Society Conference
(ACSC) at 9 a.m. Sunday, July 15, in Lexington's Heritage
Hall. The University of Kentucky's Center for Applied
Energy Research organized this year's conference that
is set for July 15-19.
who is on the faculty of the University of Sussex,
has been described as a scientific humorist.
"Sir Harry Kroto is a Nobel Prize-winning chemist
who set out to be a graphic designer but went into
science because his father thought he should have
a proper job and because he was good at it," according
to the "Science on TV" Web site.
Kroto's major contribution to science was the discovery
of carbon-chain molecules in space and then, with
American scientists Richard Smalley and Robert Curl
Jr., the discovery of Carbon 60, which has led to
a new branch of chemistry related to carbon fiber
and other carbon-based materials.
appearance of Kroto in Lexington seems appropriate,
given that some of the nation's groundbreaking research
into carbon materials is taking place at the University
of Kentucky. UK is home to several carbon-materials
development projects, including methods aimed at economically
producing super strong conductive carbon nanotubes
for use in electronic appliances and aerospace components.
UK's projects were among only a few funded by special
grants from the National Science Foundation in 1998.
In addition, UK civil engineers are among the nation's
leaders in research related to the use of carbon-fiber
bridge reinforcements which resist corrosion and are
many times stronger than steel. The Federal Highway
Administration has funded this work since 1993.
American Carbon Committee, forerunner of ACSC, was
established in 1957 to organize U.S. conferences on
carbon. For further information about the conference,
search the conference's Web site at www.carbon2001.org.