Krimel, Many thanks for this summary. Much better than the Wikipedia article on carbon for the great unwashed like me. Makes me wonder what the probability is that such a versatile element exists at all. :-) In any case, I appreciate your taking the time to answer. Always a quality experience to learn something new.
> [Krimel] > This is not a subject about which I even pretend to any expertise but I > believe your assessment of carbon's susceptibility to chance is correct. As > I understand it carbon's position on the periodic table puts it midway > between metal and non metals. As a result it can form chemical bonds with > just about any other element. It is so versatile in this respect that > Organic chemistry is a branch of the science of chemistry that studies > exclusively compounds of carbon. All life is based on organic chemistry or > compounds of carbon. > > Carbon has the ability to be a part of such an enormous number of static > patterns and yet still be susceptible to dynamic change. It is intimately > involved in the transduction of a host of energy patterns in the environment > from one form to another. The most striking example of this is the > transduction of light energy from the sun into chemical energy in plants. > Photosynthesis occurs as light is transduced into sugars. The sugar acts as > a battery storing the sun's energy so that it can be release later. > > Carbon has many other interesting properties as well. You note diamonds and > coal. Compounds of graphite, another form of carbon, are now used to make a > host of light weight but very strong and durable products. Fullerenes or > Bucky balls are composed of 60 carbon atoms arranged in a shape rather like > a geodesic dome. (Invented by Buckminster Fuller, hence the name) These > carbon molecules have marvelous properties that are only now being > discovered and studied but they include the ability to form into long and > sturdy tubes that may form the basis for nanotechnological engineering in > the future. Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
