The chemist who found football-shaped molecules in the stars
In short: In 1985, Harry Kroto discovered buckminsterfullerene, a carbon molecule shaped like a soccer ball. This breakthrough revealed a new form of carbon and proved that these complex structures could form spontaneously in the atmospheres of red giant stars, forever linking laboratory chemistry to the vastness of interstellar space.
Harry Kroto’s journey into molecular discovery began with an interest in spectroscopy. While working at the University of Sussex, he and colleague John Nixon conducted research that led to the birth of phosphaalkene and phosphaalkyne chemistry. By the mid-1970s, laboratory microwave measurements conducted with David Walton revealed something startling: long linear carbon chains were not just theoretical constructs but existed in significant abundances within interstellar space and the atmospheres of carbon-rich red giants.
This connection between Earth-bound labs and deep space set the stage for his most famous achievement. In 1985, Kroto and his co-investigators—including Robert Curl and Richard Smalley—used lasers to examine graphite. They simulated the chemical reactions occurring in stellar atmospheres and observed that stable C60 molecules could form spontaneously from condensing carbon vapour. This discovery of buckminsterfullerene, named after Buckminster Fuller due to its geodesic symmetry, introduced a new allotrope of carbon alongside diamond and graphite.
Kroto's influence extended far beyond the laboratory. A staunch humanist and atheist, he was a vocal critic of religious dogma and a supporter of the British Humanist Association. He dedicated much of his later career to science education, co-founding the Vega Science Trust to create high-quality science programming and launching Geoset to provide free, downloadable teaching modules. His life's work bridged the gap between the microscopic mechanics of atoms and the macroscopic wonders of the cosmos.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Harry Kroto
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