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Thursday, 18 June 2009
Professor Sir Harry Kroto, Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry,
returned to his old school to deliver a day of workshops and talks
aimed at inspiring an interest in Science amongst the region's
young people. Sir Harry, arguably the world's best known
Chemist, addressed over 1,000 pupils from across the region during
his busy day at Bolton School. The day of fun activities and
lectures was part of the Ogden Trust Science Partnership, an
initiative between local schools and universities which aims to
promote science and engineering to young people.
Primary schools from across the region were treated to a short
talk from Sir Harry and his co-presenter for the day, Dr Jonathan
Hare, a freelance research scientist who has been involved in the
Rough Science and Hollywood Science TV programmes. Pupils
then set about the hands-on task of building representations of the
carbon molecule, C60 Buckminsterfullerene or "buckyballs", that Sir
Harry discovered and that led to him being awarded the Nobel
Prize for Chemistry in 1996.
In the afternoon, secondary schools learnt about the life of Sir
Harry and his passion for science and art and design and of the
importance of pursuing a wide range of interests. He talked
about how his interest in how things work has always driven him and
he has marvelled at how science has changed the world. He now works
towards using the power of science to help solve the world's
problems. Dr Hare's presentation "Hollywood Science"
investigated whether some of the stunts in films actually stood up
to scientific investigation, giving, as an example, when James Bond
uses air from a tyre to breathe underwater.
Throughout the day Sir Harry showed a natural engagement with
the pupils and really did prove to be a wonderful
communicator. He said: "It was fantastic to talk to these
young children - the students I address are usually much
older. Spreading the word about how science can help, indeed
save, humanity is critical. I have had a wonderful day and it
was a real honour to have a Chemistry building named after me."
After the work with local schools, there was a naming ceremony,
as Bolton School's Chemistry block became the Kroto Chemistry
Building. Sir Harry then met with governors before attending a
special Ogden Trust Science Partnership dinner held at the School,
at which he was the guest speaker.
During his busy schedule, Sir Harry took time out to talk to a
variety of local media and reminisced about his early life in
Bolton. His parents had moved from Berlin in 1937 and Harry
was born in 1939 in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. At the age of
one year old he moved with his family to Bolton and with the help
of a Leverhulme Grant of £8 per term, Harry studied at Bolton
School. He recalled living in one of the poorest areas of
Bolton and walking to school past the mills churning out
smoke. He realises now his refugee parents must have made big
sacrifices for him to attend the School.
At school he enjoyed nearly all subjects, but his favourite was
Art and Design and he took extra Art lessons. He also played
tennis and was the School's gymnastics captain. Sir Harry
said he was not the brightest boy in the year (Sir Ian McKellen was
in the same year group) but he put his success down to hard work -
he remembered his mother keeping him up until midnight on occasions
to complete his homework. He went on to the University of
Sheffield where he obtained a first class degree in Chemistry and
then a PhD. He spent the majority of his career at the
University of Sussex where he built his reputation as an eminent
Chemist.
Talking about his life today, Sir Harry worried that greater
numbers of people than ever were ignorant about science and this
was very dangerous for humanity. However, he felt the East
was now setting the agenda in terms of taking science
seriously. He said that he and fellow Nobel Prize Winners are
treated like rock stars when they visit. Six weeks' ago he
was in China and a 200 seater lecture theatre squeezed 500 students
in, most of them standing and some of whom had queued from 7.00am
in the morning for a 10.00am start. Similarly, when he visits
Japan and South Korea, the whole schools turn out to greet him.
After spending 37 years at the University of Sussex, he moved to
Florida State University in 2005. He now spends 9 months a
year in the US and 3 months in England. He still travels
extensively and lectures; he was very recently in Jordan, Spain and
Switzerland. However, aged 69, he is now focussing more of
his efforts on using the Internet as a learning tool. His
work with the Vega Science Trust has seen him and other
scientists put presentations and learning materials online
which can be viewed worldwide at: http://vega.org.uk/
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