Harry Kroto Innovative Lives Presentation and Interview
name: label: Creator
content: Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
label: Names
content: Nobel Voices: Celebrating 100 Years of the Nobel Prize (Exhibition).
topic: label: Topic
content: Nobel Prizes
label: Topic
content: Chemists -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Chemistry -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Slides
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: 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.
creator: label: Creator
content: Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Harry Kroto Innovative Lives Presentation and Interview
abstract: label: Summary
content: 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.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Harry Kroto (1939-) was born in Wisbech, Cambridegshire, England and raised and educated in Bolton, Lancashire, England.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.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.75 Cubic feet (4 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2001-10-01
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: This videohistory was created by the Innovative Lives Program of the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. Transferred to the Archives Center, October 1, 2001.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0792
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Oral history
label: Type
content: Videotapes
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Betacam sp (videotape format)
label: Type
content: Photographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: 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
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Alison Oswald, archivist, November 2001.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Oral history -- 2000-2010
label: Genre/Form
content: Videotapes
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews -- 2000-2010
label: Genre/Form
content: BetaCam SP (videotape format)
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: 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.