Nobel prize laureate makes stop in Danville

Sir Harry Kroto, a 1996 Chemistry Nobel prize laureate, discusses design projects and other creative work he has done throughout his career in addition to his illustrious scientific achievements during a presentation at Averett University's student center Monday.

A Q&A with Kroto follows:

Q: What is nanotechnology? What possibilities does it open up?
A: Nanotechnology is nothing new. It’s just chemistry of the 21st century. Nanotechnology, there are several definitions. It’s atom-by-atom, molecule-by-molecule assembly of a complex organism or system. That’s what you are. You are the result of nanotechnology. You are a blueprint. You’ve been assembled. It’s not new. It’s as old as life itself. It’s not just little things. It’s engineering on a nano scale. It’s just got fantastic possibilities. The fantastic thing about science — it’s totally unpredictable.

Q; Why is your research important?
A: It was by accident. I was interested in what was going on in a star. It led to very interesting observations. All the carbon in your body was once inside a star. We simulated conditions and vaporized carbon…We discovered the C-60 molecule, a third form of carbon. The other forms are diamond and graphite. We discovered something important and what was important, it assembled by itself.

Q: What advice do you give to students interested in nanoscience?
A: Science is not what you know. It’s a way of looking at things. You have to learn how to discover what’s new and then find an area you find interesting. Science is not learning knowledge. It’s learning how to discover new knowledge. The problem is, there’s a disconnect between modern kids and science. The technology the kids have got now, like mobile phones, is so inscrutable. Not quite like looking on the inside of an old telephone.

Q: What advice do you give to teachers?
A: There are as many ways to teach as there are teachers and there are as many ways to learn as there are students. Everybody’s now so focused on grades and it’s a problem. The only thing you’ve got to do is catalyze the enthusiasm to do something creative. The problem is, you don’t have as many hooks. How many kids really ask themselves what goes inside a mobile phone?

Q: Final thoughts?
A: The school boards and parents’ boards, people should get off the teachers’ backs. They’ve got to teach method rather than stuff. They’ve got to foster creativity. They’ve got to teach how to discover new knowledge. By and large, I think teachers are under such terrible pressure now.