Nobel Web

Willis Eugene Lamb suffers a fate common to most Nobel Prize winners. Outside of his field, atomic physics, his name is seldom heard and almost never recognized.

Lamb was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1955 for groundbreaking work on the “fine structure” of the hydrogen spectrum. He discovered what became immediately known as the “Lamb Shift,” a minute variation in energy levels between states of an atom of hydrogen. His work proved crucial to the emerging science of quantum electrodynamics- a field Read the rest of this entry »

Enrico Fermi was an Italian born physicist who received a Noble Prize in Physics for his work demonstrating that slow neutrons could cause nuclear reactions and nuclear reactions can result in the creation of new elements. Awarded since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Physics is one of the most important awards in the Physics community. Working at the University of Chicago, Fermi created the first chain reacting nuclear pile also known as Chicago pile-1.This was the first man made self-sustaining nuclear reaction and this breakthrough formed the foundation of the Manhattan Project.

Through his Read the rest of this entry »

Niels Bohr was born in Denmark in 1885. He would move forward to become one of the most groundbreaking physicists of his generation. His work culminated with his model of the structure of an atom in 1913 and his winning of the Nobel Prize for science in 1922.

The Bohr model of the atom made a direct comparison to the universe. In his model, the center was a small positively charged nucleus that used electrostatic forces that attracted electrons to revolve around it. This model was somewhat worked prior by a British physicist named Read the rest of this entry »

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) is remembered for his brilliant mind as well as his eccentricities. Growing up in Germany, Italy and Switzerland, Einstein hated school, was at best an average student, and in part was self-educated. By age 30, however, he was regarded as one of the world’s leading physicists.

Soon after receiving his doctorate from the University of Zurich in 1905, Einstein wrote a hypothesis on the photoelectric effect. Einstein theorized that light consists of energy particles (photons) generated by moving charges (electromagnetic radiation). Einstein’s concept was discredited and misunderstood by most of his peers. It was proved through experimentation Read the rest of this entry »

The International Committee of the Red Cross has officially won the Nobel Prize three times. Its founder, Henry Dunant, has won the Nobel Prize one time. No other organization has been honored more.
The story really begins in 1901, when Henry Dunant witnessed the Battle of Solferino during the second War of Italian Independence. Mr. Dunant was devastated by the amount of suffering that surrounded him during that war. Everywhere young solder’s bodies lay with injuries, and scattered among them were many who had Read the rest of this entry »

The Nobel Prize is only awarded to the best and the brightest and by definition, applicants must be researching something global and helpful, not simply, say, bastrop electricity company choices. While saving money on electricity may be great for the researcher himself his academic achievement must have some type of general application. Here are a few of the other rules for a successful Nobel campaign:
You must be nominated by someone qualified: The Read the rest of this entry »

Wilhelm Roentgen was a German citizien living in Munich Germany. He did get a diploma in mechanical engineer in 1868, and one year later he made his doctor of philosophy. He started to assist August Kundt , a professor of physics. Shortly after his marriage he moved to Strasbourg with August Kundt, and became a tutor.

He became a rector of the University of Wuerzburg in 1894 and one year later he discovered xrays which made him famous. X rays are in these times very important part of the medicine all over the world, and make it easier to find illnesses early Read the rest of this entry »

On December 17, 2010 David Wu (Democrat representative of Oregon’s 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives) wrote:

Never imprison a writer. Prison walls just amplify his words, just as confining an explosive charge only magnifies the effects of the explosion

in comment to China’s denouncement of Liu Xiaobo and winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Beautiful words.We hope the empty chair that represented the jailed writer during the award ceremony served to further underscore the magnification of what has only begun to be explored.

Just as the Nobel Peace Price has been awarded since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has also been awarded. As described in Nobel’s will, a portion of the awards he bequeathed was to be dedicated to “the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction.” Since its inception, 103 Nobel Prizes in Literature have been awarded. It was not awarded on seven occasions (in 1914, 1918, 1935, 1940, 1941, 1942, and 1943) since the statutes of the Nobel Foundation state: “If none of the works under consideration is found to be of the importance indicated in the first paragraph, the prize money shall be reserved until the following year. If, even then, the prize cannot be awarded, the amount shall be added to the Foundation’s restricted funds.” The youngest Literature Laureate to date is Rudyard Kipling who Read the rest of this entry »

It’s obvious that not just anyone can become a Nobel Laureate. A prize of such magnitude and tradition is a great honor that should not be taken lightly. The brilliant Alfred Nobel realized the importance of choosing the right laureates, and addressed who he wanted to be responsible for choosing the winners in his will. He designated The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to determine the Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry laureates, the Karolinska Institute to determine the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureates, the Swedish Academy to determine the Nobel Prize in Literature laureates, and a Committee of five people elected by the Norwegian Parliament to determine the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences: This independent organization’s goal is to promote sciences and strengthen their influence in society. The academy is comprised of ten classes which each represent a scientific subject field, and six research institutes. Read the rest of this entry »