Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1993

C60 Buc kmi ns t e r f u l l e r ene , the Celestial Sphere that Fell to Earth The Faculty o f Science organized the eighth 30th anniversary lecture on 23rd November. Prof. Harold Kroto, co-discoverer of C60, spoke on 'C60Buckminsterfullerene, the Celestial Sphere that Fell t o Earth'. Prof. Kroto, Royal Society Research Professor of the School of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences at the University of Sussex, UK, discovered C60, the third allotropic form of carbon (after graphite and diamond), i n 1985. It has been named Buckminsterfullerene because the molecular structure resembles the basic pattern of the geodesic domes devised by Buckminster Fuller. Made up of 60 carbon atoms and displaying an elegant symmetry i n its structure, Buckminsterfullerene was 'Molecule of the Year 1991' and has inspired immense research interest among chemists, physicists, and materials scientists . According to Prof. Kroto, it has vast potentials for the synthesis of novel compound s and promises exciting applications. Prof. Kroto believed it wou ld take at least five to ten years for the properties of C60 to be fully understood, and pointed out that application research into C60might help the development of high temperature superconductors and ferromagnets. Anniversary Conferences • The Second International Conference on Chinese Palaeography was organized by the Depa r tmen t of Chinese Language and Literature from 28th to 30th October. Over 60 scholars and experts discussed Zhanguo characters, and oracle and b r onze inscriptions • Some 80 dramatists and scholar s attended the I n t e r na t i onal S ymp o s i um on Contemporary Play-writing i n the Chinese Language (1st to 5th December) organized by the Sir Run Run Shaw H a l l w i t h sponsorship from the Wei Lun Foundation. 香港中文大學邵逸夫堂主辦 當代華文戲劇創作國際研討會 一九九三年十二月一至五日 30th Anniversary Celebrations 4