The success of the buckyball at Rice University 25 years ago has earned its place of discovery, room 337 in the university’s Space Science Building, renown as a national historic chemical landmark.

Using intense X-rays, researchers captured a buckyball as it expanded, split and shed electrons under strong laser fields. Detailed scattering measurements showed how the molecule behaves at low, ...

First steps: from alchemy to chemistry? -- Robert Boyle: chemistry and experiment -- A German story: what burns, and how -- An enlightened discipline: chemistry as science and craft -- Different kinds ...