Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. Search this
Names:
Nobel Voices: Celebrating 100 Years of the Nobel Prize (Exhibition). Search this
Extent:
0.75 Cubic feet (4 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Oral history
Videotapes
Interviews
Betacam sp (videotape format)
Photographs
Date:
2001-10-01
Summary:
Approximately five hours of video footage documenting Harold Kroto, chemist and Nobel Laureate (Chemistry, 1996) discussing carbon structures called "bucky balls" named after architect Buckminster Fuller's geodesic domes. Kroto describes properties and mathematical principles represented by these structures and he discusses his background and winning the Nobel Prize.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains five (5) hours of original (BetaCam SP), master (BetaCam SP), reference videos (VHS) and one (1) audio cassette documenting Harold Kroto, chemist and Nobel Laureate (Chemistry, 1996). Kroto discusses carbon structures called "bucky balls" named after architect Buckminster Fuller's geodesic domes and describes properties and mathematical principles represented by these structures. Kroto also discusses his background and winning the Nobel Prize. Audience participants are students from Queen Anne School (Upper Marlboro, Maryland) and Nysmith School for the Gifted (Herndon, Virginia). There are two sets of reference viewing copies; the Innovative Lives Presentation was filmed using two different camera angles (camera 1 and camera 2). The content is the same.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into three series.
Series 1, Original Videos and Audio Cassette, 2001
Series 2, Master Videos, 2001
Series 3, Reference Videos and Audio Cassette, 2001
Biographical / Historical:
Harry Kroto (1939-) was born in Wisbech, Cambridegshire, England and raised and educated in Bolton, Lancashire, England. He attended Bolton School where he studied art, geography, gymnastics, and woodwork. He later graduated from the University of Sheffield earning a BSc degree (1958-1961) and a Ph.D. (1961-1964) in chemistry. Kroto's doctorate work focused on "Spectroscopy of Free Radicals Produced by Flash Photolysis." Kroto's postdoctoral work in electronic and microwave spectroscopy was conducted at the National Research Council in Ottawa, Canada, and at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey studying liquid phase interactions by Raman Spectroscopy. In 1967, Kroto joined the staff at the University of Sussex (Brighton) where he became a professor in 1985 and in 1991 was made Royal Society Research Professor. At Sussex, Kroto began exploring the possible source of carbon chains in space. Based on this research along with his colleagues Robert Curl and Richard Smalley, both of Rice University, Kroto received the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of "fullerenes." Named after architect Buckminster Fuller's soccer-ball shaped geodesic dome, fullerenes are formed when vaporized carbon condenses in an atmosphere of inert gas.
The Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation was founded in 1995 at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History through a generous gift from the Lemelson Foundation. The Center's mission is: to document, interpret, and disseminate information about invention and innovation; to encourage inventive creativity in young people; and to foster an appreciation for the central role invention and innovation play in the history of the United States. The Innovative Lives series brings together museum visitors and, especially, school aged children, and American inventors to discuss inventions and the creative process and to experiment and play with hands-on activities related to each inventor's product. This collection was recorded by the Innovative Lives Program of the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
Provenance:
This collection was recorded by the Innovative Lives Program of the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation on October 1, 2001.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions. Signed release forms on file.
