Richard Smalley
A visionary chemist who helped discover soccer-ball-shaped carbon molecules, kicking off the modern era of nanotechnology.
1943–2005 (age 62)·American chemist and Nobel laureate·Birthday: June 6·The Silent Generation
Biography
Richard Smalley was a man who thought in structures, in the elegant architecture of atoms. At Rice University in the 1980s, he built a machine designed to vaporize materials with a laser and study the resulting clusters. It was with this tool, alongside Robert Curl and Harold Kroto, that he stumbled upon a carbon molecule with 60 atoms arranged in a perfect, hollow sphere—a molecular soccer ball. They named it buckminsterfullerene, after the geodesic dome architect. The discovery of "buckyballs" was more than a chemical novelty; it unveiled a whole new form of carbon, beyond graphite and diamond, and ignited the field of nanotechnology. Smalley became its most passionate evangelist, envisioning a future where molecular machines could build materials atom-by-atom. He argued fiercely for the potential of nanotech to solve global problems like energy scarcity, even as he battled the leukemia that would ultimately take his life.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
Richard was born in 1943, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Richard Was Born
The biggest hits of 1943
#1 Movie
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Best Picture
Casablanca
Richard's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1943Born
Allies invade Sicily; Battle of Stalingrad ends
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $3,290Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I've Heard That Song Before" — Harry JamesBest Picture: Casablanca
1948Started school
Israel declares independence; Berlin Blockade begins
Gas: $0.26/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Twelfth Street Rag" — Pee Wee HuntBest Picture: Hamlet
1956Became a teenager
Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $10,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Heartbreak Hotel" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: Around the World in 80 Days
1959Could drive
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1961Could vote
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1964Turned 21
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1973Turned 30
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1983Turned 40
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1993Turned 50
European Union officially established
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $86,600Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"I Will Always Love You" — Whitney HoustonBest Picture: Schindler's List
2003Turned 60
US invades Iraq; Human Genome Project completed
Gas: $1.59/galHome: $146,000Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"In Da Club" — 50 CentBest Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2005Died at 62
Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans; YouTube launches
Gas: $2.30/galHome: $167,500Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"We Belong Together" — Mariah CareyBest Picture: Crash
Key Achievements
- Co-discovered the C60 molecule, buckminsterfullerene, for which he shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
- His work pioneered the systematic study of nanoscale materials and cluster chemistry.
- Was a founding director of Rice University's Carbon Nanotechnology Laboratory.
- Became a leading voice in U.S. science policy, advocating strongly for federal investment in nanotechnology research.
Did You Know?
The apparatus used to discover buckyballs was nicknamed the "AP2" (Apparatus for Purgatory 2).
He was an accomplished clarinetist and considered a career in music before choosing chemistry.
Smalley publicly debated futurist Eric Drexler on the feasibility of molecular assemblers, or "nanobots."
The street leading to the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology at Rice is named "Buckyball Way."
“When a scientist says something is possible, they're probably underestimating how long it will take. But if they say it's impossible, they're probably wrong.”
