Most Beautiful Molecule: The Discovery of the Buckyball

Houston, Texas, 1985. Two industrious chemists discover a previously unknown form of carbon and christen it buckminsterfullerene, for its striking resemblance to American architect Richard Buckminster Fuller's geodesic domes. This unusual molecule - also known as the buckyball - is composed of 60 carbon atoms arranged in a hollow sphere, with hexagonal and pentagonal configurations similar to those found on a soccer ball. The discovery of buckminsterfullerene - by American physicist and chemist Richard Smalley and British physical chemist Harry Kroto - rocked the scientific community. After all, generations believed graphite and diamond to be the only pure forms of carbon. How had this third form gone undetected? In fact, the actual discovery was merely the beginning of an intense - and ongoing - quest to master this newest form of the most basic of elements. Confirmation would take five years and launch an unprecedented flood of investigation and investment. The unique physical structure of buckminsterfullerene - a "cage" into which atoms of other materials may be inserted - had huge commercial potential and inspired scientists, industrial laboratories, and corporations alike. Backed by such giants as AT&T, DuPont, Exxon, and IBM, a highly competitive search for practical applications began - and continues. Possibilities range from the creation of a revolutionary rocket fuel to nanotechnology - the construction of microscopic "molecular machines" - to developments in the fight against AIDS.