July SEED salon: Nobel Laureate HARRY KROTO

Monday July 3, 5pm at the Odessa Club (above The Odessa Restaurant, at 13 Dame Court, Dublin 2). Voluntary contribution: 5 Euro

PROFESSOR SIR HAROLD W. KROTO, co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the discovery of Buckminsterfullerene, one of the founding figures in the field of nanotechnology and one of the world’s best-known science communicators will talk at the July SEED salon on the theme of ‘Science and Art Can Be One and the Same, Sometimes’.

In the last ten years, the soccer-ball shaped carbon-60 molecule Buckminsterfullerene, better known as the ‘Buckyball’, has become something of a superstar amongst molecules. Part of the reason is its eye-catching structure but it is also scientifically intriguing, and of critical importance in the emerging field of nanotechnology. It was for the discovery of this remarkable molecule that Professor Sir Harold W. Kroto was awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize for Chemistry along with Robert Curl and Richard Smalley.

Professor Kroto’s career has bridged art and science. Graphic design was his first love, only to be set aside in 1985 on the serendipitous discovery of Buckminsterfullerene (thus named for its resemblance to American designer and architect Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes), and his work has frequently emphasized the importance of aesthetic and design considerations in science. For this special SEED art-science salon, Professor Kroto will give an informal presentation, to be followed by an open discussion with artists and scientists. Professor Kroto will also be participating in a major international conference on nanoscience at Trinity College Dublin.

Kroto is currently Francis Eppes Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Florida State University, and is a founder of the Vega Science Trust, which broadcasts science programmes free over the internet. More information about Professor Kroto and his work can be found at http://www.kroto.info/ and on the Nobel Prize Website.

Please note that this salon is now BOOKED OUT. If you would like to be put on the SEED e-mail list to hear about future events please contact Eimear Bruen, ebruen@googlemail.com