The Charisma of C 60 Buckminsterfullerene
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Buckminsterfullerene Harold W. Kroto, Guest Editor
In 1990, almost exactly five years after C60 Buckminsterfullerene (see Figure 1) was discovered serendipitously during a series of graphite laser vaporization experiments designed to simulate the chemistry in a red giant carbon star, the molecule was isolated in macroscopic amounts. This breakthrough has triggered an explosion of research, and the molecule has already exhibited a wide range of novel phenomena which promise exciting applications. In addition to generating intense experimental interest in its physicochemical properties, the molecule holds a particular fascination for theoreticians; indeed the existence of the molecule was predicted in 1970, some 15 years before its discovery in 1985. It is interesting to consider the intrinsic aesthetic aspects of this molecule which are responsible for the extraordinary charisma it has for scientists and nonscientists alike. Ancient Greek ideas about chemistry— which claimed that all matter is composed of earth, fire, air, water, and (ultimately) the ether—were based on the aesthetic conviction that the five regular Platonic solids had uniquely fundamental significance. From our 20th century perspective, the ideas might appear somewhat naive, but at a spiritual level they are deeply perceptive. The Greeks not only developed the fundamental concept of elements that would combine in numerous ways to form compounds but also chose symmetric structures that map directly onto abstract branches of mathematics (such as group or symmetry theory and topology) that underpin our modern quantum-level descriptions of atoms and molecules. We now know that the chemical elements may be classified according to Mendeleev's periodic table, their positions governed by the symmetry relations inherent in the three dimensions and related to the spherical harmonics. When the enigmatic fourth dimension is included, the strangely abstract Pauli Exclusion Principle materializes to complete our explanation (though perhaps not necessarily our complete understanding) of the
MRS BULLETIN/NOVEMBER 1994
properties of matter at the chemical level. According to the nuclear shell model, it is also useful to use physical pictures in which the atomic nuclei have structures and symmetries not unlike those of the Platonic regular and Archimedian semiregular solids. Amazingly, we realize that the Greeks appear to have had a deep understanding of how the fundamental laws of nature might operate. It is in similar symmetry-based concepts that modern scientists seek an overall understanding of the ultimate laws which govern the universe.
The observation that the elegant physical forms underlying the laws of nature possess an intrinsic, almost abstract, capacity to stimulate and delight our senses has fascinating implications. From studies of visual stimuli, it appears that specific components in the brain are tuned to detect specific geometric patterns (or symmetries). Indeed it may be that all sensory impulses are assimilated as convolutions of sets of suc
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