From RICHARD SMALLEY
The short piece titled ‘A new field of carton chemistry is born’ nicely
captures the nearly overwhelming feeling of excitement many of us have,
now that Kratschmer, Huffman and their students have prepared the first
macroscopic samples of C60 (Buckminsterfullerene) (Science, 13
October). However, introduction of our colleague, Harry Kroto, as ‘the discoverer
of the molecule’ sounds rather strange here at Rice University where the
discovery was made in 1985. I believe it is safe to say now that we all
feel that critical contributions were made by each of the authors of the
original paper (Nature, vol 318, p 162), and that there was no preeminent
discoverer.
Richard Smalley Rice University Houston, Texas, US
