[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 32 (Thursday, March 13, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S2273]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    CONGRATULATIONS TO PROFS. ROBERT F. CURL AND RICHARD E. SMALLEY

  Mr. GRAMM. Mr. President, I would like to congratulate Profs. Robert 
F. Curl and Richard E. Smalley of Rice University in Houston for their 
work in the field of molecular chemistry. Along with Prof. Harold Kroto 
of England, Professors Curl and Smalley were awarded the 1996 Nobel 
Prize in chemistry for their discovery of the third molecular form of 
carbon.
  Professor Curl, a native Texan from Alice, and Professor Smalley are 
codiscoverers of the carbon molecule called Buckminsterfullerene. It 
was named after R. Buckminster Fuller, the architect famous for his 
geodesic domes, because this new molecule closely resembles his 
designs. In fact, the term used to describe these molecules is 
``buckyballs.''
  This breakthrough discovery by Professors Curl and Smalley promises 
to revolutionize the world we live in. This new carbon molecule will 
have scientific and practical applications across a wide variety of 
fields, from electrical conduction to the delivery of medicine into the 
human body. These extremely stable molecules are impervious to 
radiation and chemical destruction, and can be joined to form carbon 
nanotubes which are 10,000 times smaller than a human hair, yet 100 
times stronger than steel. Buckyballs will establish a whole new class 
of materials for the construction of many products, from airplane wings 
and automobile bodies to clothing and packaging material.
  The work of Professors Curl and Smalley is just one example of the 
excellent work being done at Rice University and at the many other fine 
research institutions in Texas. Rice University has long been a premier 
research center, and with the new Center for Nanoscale Science and 
Technology, Rice is the first university in the United States to focus 
on submicroscopic methods for fabricating new structures on the atomic 
and molecular scale. As Professor Smalley himself described it, ``This 
is the ultimate frontier in the game of building things.''
  Given that nanoscale science and technology requires an 
interdisciplinary approach, Rice University is the ideal setting for 
this new center for nanoscale research. The collaborative scientific 
approach, which is common at Rice but less customary at larger research 
institutions, encourages the sort of scientific breakthroughs 
exemplified by the discovery of buckyballs. These discoveries are 
essential if we are to guarantee that America will remain the world 
leader in research. We must be sure we do all we can to support our 
Nation's scientists, because our Nation's future depends upon the work 
of people like Professor Smalley and Professor Curl.
  Once again, I congratulate Professor Robert Curl and Professor 
Richard Smalley, as well as Rice University, for earning the Nobel 
Prize in chemistry. Their contribution to the body of scientific 
knowledge has been invaluable and will touch the lives of millions.

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