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...as told by Jonathan Hare

In December 1996 I was lucky to be part of the Sussex group which accompanied Harry Kroto to Sweden for the awarding of the Nobel Prize for chemistry. This is my account of the historic event.

The Kroto Contingent

The Location

The Nobel prize was awarded in Stockholm, Sweden. The Sussex team stayed at the Grand Hotel near the centre of the city.

The Prize is Announced: Harry Kroto’s Nobel Prize 9th October 1996

Before lunch ...
Harry, Bernd Eggen, Gill Watson and I went for lunch at the Gardener Arts Centre (Sussex University). Just before we went to lunch Bernd checked the WWW for news of the Nobel prize, however they did not give out the news till later, so we left it and went to eat.

Just a normal lunchtime
At lunch we chatted about who might get THE prize and Harry suggested Dick Zare. I remember listening to the conversation with some interest but I was actually happy to eat my cake and drink the coffee - I wasn't thinking about the possibility that Harry might win although it had been mentioned in previous years.

The Web and Bernd's reaction
After lunch we came back to the lab and Bernd looked up the latest info on the Web. The three of us stood there waiting to see who had won. As the page came into view Bernd gave a mighty yell and ran out of the room. Harry and I looked at each other a bit puzzled trying to work out why Bernd was so excited. The words on the screen seemed to hide from us, then we both saw it - HARRY KROTO! Bernd came rushing back into the lab with a bottle of champagne and I got some glasses, Harry and I were both a bit dazed - was it really true?

What we read on the web site information :
"The Royal Swedish Academy of Science has decided to award the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly to

• Professor Robert F. Curl, Jr., Rice University, Houston, USA,
• Professor Sir Harold W. Kroto, University of Sussex, Brighton, U.K., and
• Professor Richard E. Smalley, Rice University, Houston, USA,

for their discovery of fullerenes."

The answer phone
The next thing I remember was "must check the answer phone". On the machine was a collection of messages one of which was from the Royal Swedish Academy, a kindly but sober voice informing Sir Harry that he had been chosen as a joint winner of the 1996 Nobel prize for Chemistry.

Phone calls, faxes and interviews
Soon after listening to the message on the answer phone I rushed around playing it to people. I ran into David Walton's office without knocking and said "listen to this!" I can remember how Dave's eyes lit up. Almost immediately the phone calls and faxes started to pour in .... it felt like a number of birthdays and Christmas days rolled into one!

All pictures courtesy of Jonathan Hare and his Creative Science Centre.