On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 8:57 AM, Jan Visser <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Yes, that's another connection with Kroto. I like your Martian Math page. > Thanks also for the link to the page on "The Naming of > Buckminsterfullerene." Kroto, of course, got the Nobel in 1996 for his part > in the co-discovery of buckminsterfullerene, a form of pure carbon made up > of 60 carbon atoms, which you also mention on your Martian Math page. > I think it's highly apropos having buckminsterfullerene on "ET math" page given Dr. Kroto was scanning the intragalactic cosmos when he found this spectral peak in the C60 region. Many polymer chemists were sure it was just a long carbon chain, however Rice University in Texas had the laser power to simulate the cosmos in the lab, where C60 could be purified and studied in some detail. That the third allotrope of carbon is like a soccer ball was one of the great discoveries of the 20th century, led to carbon cage studies more generally, including of nanotubes. > > I have followed Kroto's work at Florida State University in setting up the > repository I mentioned over the past couple of years. Its growth has been > impressive. He has been very effective in mobilizing his friends and > colleagues from around the world to contribute. > > Jan > That's good to know about. I hang out with a bunch of Cal Tech alums (isepp.org), some of whom knew Linus Pauling, another Nobel, with a special collection at Oregon State University (shared with Ava). Our meeting house is Pauling's boyhood home, where his passion for chemistry really took off (or so we might speculate). That cuboctahedral packing of what look to be wooden balls in my user page gallery is actually from this OSU collection, photo taken when on tour. http://www.wikieducator.org/Image:Cuboctahedralpacking.jpg http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2008/11/excellent-adventure.html (more local history, field trip to OSU) Looking forward to more chatting, Kirby User:KirbyUrner (linked from Kirbyurner on Wikipedia) > > -- > Jan Visser, Ph.D. > President & Sr. Researcher, Learning Development Institute > E-mail: [email protected] > Check out: http://www.learndev.org and http://www.facebook.com/learndev > Blog: http://jvisser-ldi.blogspot.com/ > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] > On Behalf Of kirby urner > Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 5:23 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [WikiEducator] Re: Freely downloadable resources for science, > engineering and technology > > > On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 8:03 AM, Jan Visser <[email protected]> wrote: > > GEOSET (Global Educational Outreach for Science Engineering and > Technology) > > is a repository of freely downloadable educational resources in the area > of > > science, engineering and technology available at http://www.geoset.info/ > . > I > > thought it might interest members of our WE community. Nobel Laureate in > > Chemistry, Harry Kroto, has been instrumental in putting this together > and > > making it grow. Kroto participated in a panel discussion on NPR's Science > > Friday last September 25. Listen to him (or download the mp3 file) at > > http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/200909253. > > > > > > > > Jan > > > > This is interesting to me. I was tracking Kroto and others leading up > to the Nobel, looking over shoulder of one E.J. Applewhite.[1] Got to > meet the guy at first international conference on Buckyballs at Santa > Barbara, 1995. I include mention of said buckyballs on my Martian > Math page @ Wikieducator (nanotechnology section). > > Kirby > > [1] http://4dsolutions.net/synergetica/eja1.html > > > > > > > > -- >>> from mars import math http://www.wikieducator.org/Martian_Math --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
