The news of the discovery of hollow, football-shaped molecules of
carbon was
met with scepticism by many scientists. Theoretically no third form of
carbon
could exist. Then in 1990, a method was found of making what was dubbed
“buckminsterfullerene� in tangible amounts. The world of chemistry was
turned on
its ear. Now out in paperback, Perfect Symmetry by Jim Baggott
(Oxford
University Press, £9.99, ISBN 0 19 855789 2) describes a theory of
momentous serendipity and its consequences, not forgetting the sometimes
squabbling scientists concerned.
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