"The problems of the future are, I believe, very serious-and I'm not as optimistic as I used to be. You see, I am a child of the sixties who had the great fortune to grow up so optimistic."
As he spoke those words, Nobel laureate Sir Harold W. Kroto stood before a crowd of some 5,000 people gathered at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., for the 37th annual Nobel Conference. This year's meeting was a special one, celebrating of the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prizes. The college had commissioned a symphony from Emmy-Award-winning composer Steve Heitzeg, and two special banquets were being prepared. One dinner would replicate the first Nobel Prize dinner served in 1901 in Stockholm, complete with a string quartet, Swedish toasts, dancers, and almost exactly the same four-course meal. The centerpiece of the conference-the presentations-were intended to be focused on the future.
When...
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