Carbon has this genius of making a chemically stable, two-dimensional, one-atom-thick membrane in a three-dimensional world. And that, I believe, is going to be very important in the future of chemistry and technology in general.
Richard SmalleyRead
It turned out that the buckyball, the soccer ball, was something of a Rosetta stone of an infinite new class of molecules.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The buckyball symbolizes a breakthrough in understanding molecules and their potential.
In this quote, Richard Smalley highlights the significance of the buckyball, a molecular structure that resembles a soccer ball, in unlocking the mysteries of a vast new category of molecules. The comparison to a Rosetta Stone suggests that the buckyball serves as a key to deciphering complex molecular structures and their applications in various scientific fields.
Themes
BuckyballMoleculesScienceInnovationDiscovery
In practice
Example use cases
In a science class when discussing molecular structures.
More from Richard Smalley
All quotes βNature - how, we don't know - has technology that works in every living cell and that depends on every atom being precisely in the right spot. Enzymes are precise down to the last atom. They're molecules. You put the last atom in, and it's done. Nature does things with molecular perfection.
Richard SmalleyRead
Essentially, every technology you have ever heard of, where electrons move from here to there, has the potential to be revolutionized by the availability of molecular wires made up of carbon. Organic chemists will start building devices. Molecular electronics could become reality.
Richard SmalleyRead
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