Richard E. Smalley was born in Akron, Ohio, on June 6, 1943. Smalley's mother, Esther Virginia Rhoads, was from a furniture manufacturing family. Smalley credits his mother with sparking his interest in science. He spent many hours with her collecting samples from a local pond and looking at them under the microscope. His mother taught him to love literature and nature and the practical skill of mechanical drawing. His father, Frank Dudley Smalley, Jr., was the CEO of a trade journal for farm implements, Implement and Tractor. His father taught him machinery repair as well as woodworking.

Several more events inspired Smalley to become a scientist. One was the launching of Sputnik in 1957. Another was his aunt, Dr. Sara Jane Rhoads, who was one of the first women in the United States to achieve a full professorship in chemistry. Smalley used to refer to this bright, active woman as "the...