Almost twenty years after C60 was first conceived and five years after it was discovered, Buckminster-fullerene was finally isolated in 1990. Its structure has now been confirmed and the discovery has catalysed immense research activity worldwide and opened up whole new fields of science. The study of C60 began as a search for an understanding of the origins of carbon in space. But the Fullerenes have now come down to earth and promise to significantly change our view of the chemistry, physics and materials science of carbon.