Almost exactly five years after C60Buckminsterfullerene was discovered serendipitously during a series of graphite laser vaporization experiments which were designed to simulate the chemistry in a red giant carbon star, the molecule has been isolated in macroscopic amounts. This breakthrough has triggered an explosion of research into its chemical and physical properties. The molecule has already exhibited a wide range of novel phenomena which promise exciting applications. The discovery also has important implications for the nucleation pathways and structure-governing processes involved in the formation of carbon microparticles. The factors that led to the discovery of the molecule as well as elucidation of the structure are discussed as are the astrophysical and terrestrial implications of the recent advances.
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