THE NOBEL PRIZES

Question 1

The Nobel Prizes are given under whose will?

Answer 1

The Nobel Prizes are given under the will of “Alfred Bernhard Nobel” who died in 1896. He was a noted Swedish chemist and engineer who discovered “Nitroglycerin” and its use in the manufacturing of dynamite.

Question 2

In how many fields the Nobel prizes are given?

Answer 2

The Nobel prizes are given in the SIX fields.
Peace
Physics
Chemistry
Medicine
and Literature were started in 1901.The Nobel prize for ‘Economics’ was instituted in 1967 by the Swedish Bank (Sveriges Riksbank), in celebration of its 300th anniversary and was given for the first time in 1969.
These prizes are the most prestigious awards in the world. These are supported by Nobel Foundation (US $ 58,960,000) set up in 1900.

Question 3

Who adjudicate Nobel prizes and when these prizes are presented

Answer 3

These prizes are presented annually on December 10, the death anniversary of the founder “Alfred Bernhard Nobel” and the festival day of the foundation.
The prizes awarding bodies (adjudicators) are:
1. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards the prizes in Physics and Chemistry.
2. The Nobel Assembly of Karolinska Chirugical (Sweden)awards the prize in Medicine (Phys-iology).
3. The Swedish Academy of Literature awards the prize in Literature.
4. The Committee of the Norwegian Parliament awards the prize for Peace. The Panel consist of five parliamentarians.
5. The Bank of Sweden awards the prize in Econ-omics.

Question 4

Name the Indian/Indian Descent Nobel Laureates

Answer 4

1. Rabindranath Tagore–Literature (Gitanjali)–1913
2. C V Raman–Physics (Raman Effect)–1930
3. Hargobind Khorana (of Indian Descent)–Medicine (Genetic Code)–1968
4. Mother Teresa–Peace–1979
5. Subramanian Chandrasekhar (of Indian Descent)–Physics (Chandrasekhar’s Limit)–1983
6. Amartya Sen–Economics (Welfare Economics)–1998
7. Sir V S Naipaul (of Indian Descent)–Literature–2001
8. Venkatraman Ramakrishna (of Indian Descent)–Chemistry (Ribosomes)–2009

Question 5

Nobel Laureates 2012

Answer 5

1. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS
   Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland “for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems”
2. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY
   Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian K. Kobilka “for studies of G-protein-coupled receptors”
3. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE
   Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka “for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent”
4. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE
   Mo Yan “who with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary”
5. THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
   European Union (EU) “for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe”
6. THE PRIZE IN ECONOMIC SCIENCES
   Alvin E. Roth and Lloyd S. Shapley “for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design”

Question 6

Nobel Laureates 2011

Answer 6

1. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS
   Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt and Adam G. Riess “for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae”
2. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY
   Dan Shechtman “for the discovery of quasicrystals”
3. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE
   Bruce A. Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann “for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity”
   THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE
   Ralph M. Steinman “for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity”
4. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE
   Tomas Tranströmer “because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality”
5. THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
   Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkol Karman “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work”
6. THE PRIZE IN ECONOMIC SCIENCES
   Thomas J. Sargent and Christopher A. Sims “for their empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy”

Question 7

Nobel Laureates 2010

Answer 7

1. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS
   Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov “for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene”
2. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY
   Richard F. Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki “for palladium-catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis”
3. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE
   Robert G. Edwards “for the development of in vitro fertilization”
4. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE
   Mario Vargas Llosa “for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual’s resistance, revolt, and defeat”
5. THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
   Liu Xiaobo “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China”
6. THE PRIZE IN ECONOMIC SCIENCES
   Peter A. Diamond, Dale T. Mortensen and Christopher A. Pissarides “for their analysis of markets with search frictions”

Question 8

Nobel Laureates 2009

Answer 8

1. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS
   Charles Kuen Kao “for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication”
   THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS
   Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith “for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor”
2. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY
   Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath “for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome”
3. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE
   Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak “for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase”
4. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE
   Herta Müller “who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed”
5. THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
   Barack H. Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”
6. THE PRIZE IN ECONOMIC SCIENCES
   Elinor Ostrom “for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons”
   THE PRIZE IN ECONOMIC SCIENCES
   Oliver E. Williamson “for his analysis of economic governance, especially the boundaries of the firm”

Question 9

Nobel Laureates 2008

Answer 9

1. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS
   Yoichiro Nambu “for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics”
   THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS
   Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa “for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature”
2. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY
   Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie and Roger Y. Tsien “for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, GFP”
3. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE
   Harald zur Hausen “for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer”
   THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE
   Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier “for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus”
4. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE
   Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio “author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization”
5. THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
   Martti Ahtisaari “for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts”
6. THE PRIZE IN ECONOMIC SCIENCES
   Paul Krugman “for his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity”

Question 10

The FIRST Nobel Laureates 1901

Answer 10

1. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS
   Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen “in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by the discovery of the remarkable rays subsequently named after him”
2. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY
   Jacobus Henricus van ‘t Hoff “in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by the discovery of the laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic pressure in solutions”
3. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE
   Emil Adolf von Behring “for his work on serum therapy, especially its application against diphtheria, by which he has opened a new road in the domain of medical science and thereby placed in the hands of the physician a victorious weapon against illness and deaths”
4. THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE
   Sully Prudhomme “in special recognition of his poetic composition, which gives evidence of lofty idealism, artistic perfection and a rare combination of the qualities of both heart and intellect”
5. THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
   Jean Henry Dunant and Frédéric Passy

Question 11

Nobel Prize Awarded Women

Answer 11

The Nobel Prize and Prize in Economic Sciences have been awarded to women 44 times between 1901 and 2012. Only one woman, Marie Curie, has been honoured twice, with the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics and the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This means that 43 women in total have been awarded the Nobel Prize between 1901 and 2012.

Question 12

What was the prize motivation for the 1903 Nobel Laureate (Nuclear Physics) Marie Curie

Answer 12

Prize motivation: “in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel”

Field: Nuclear physics

Question 13

What was the prize motivation for the 1911 Nobel Laureate (Nuclear chemistry) Marie Curie

Answer 13

Prize motivation: “in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element”

Field: Nuclear chemistry

Question 14

Nobel Prize Awarded Organizations

Answer 14

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded 24 times to organizations between 1901 and 2012. 21 individual organizations have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, as UNHCR, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, has received the Nobel Peace Prize twice, in 1954 and 1981, and the work of Comité international de la Croix Rouge (International Committee of the Red Cross) (ICRC) has been honoured three times, in 1917, 1944 and 1963.

Question 15

First Organisation to receive the Nobel prize

Answer 15

Institut de droit international (Institute of International Law)

Founded: 1873 in Ghent, Belgium

Role: Scientific society

Field: Peace movement, world organizing

Question 16

Who is the youngest Nobel Laureate?

Answer 16

Lawrence Bragg / Age 25 / Physics 1915

Question 17

Who is the oldest Nobel Laureate?

Answer 17

Leonid Hurwicz / Age 90 / Economic Sciences 2007

Question 18

Why are the individuals and organisations awarded a Nobel Prize called Nobel Laureates?

Answer 18

The word “Laureate” refers to being signified by the laurel wreath.
In Greek mythology, the god Apollo is represented wearing a laurel wreath on his head. A laureal wreath is a circular crown made of branches and leaves of the bay laurel (In latin: Laurus nobilis). In Ancient Greece, laurel wreaths were awarded to victors as a sign of honour - both in athletic competitions and in poetic meets.

Question 19

Name Two Nobel Laureates who have declined the Nobel Prize?

Answer 19

Jean-Paul Sartre, awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature, declined the prize because he had consistently declined all official honours.

Le Duc Tho, awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. They were awarded the Prize for negotiating the Vietnam peace accord.
Le Doc Tho said that he was not in a position to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, citing the situation in Vietnam as his reason.

Question 20

Who is the Oldest living Nobel Laureate?

Answer 20

The Nobel Laureate who has lived to the oldest age is Rita Levi-Montalcini, who was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She celebrated her 103rd anniversary on 22 April 2012!

Question 21

What is the average age of Nobel Laureates in all category?

Answer 21

The average age of all Nobel Laureates in all prize categories between 1901 and 2011 is 59 years.

Question 22

Years when the Nobel Prize have not been awarded

Answer 22

Since the start, in 1901, there are some years when the Nobel Prizes have not been awarded. The total number of times are 50. Most of them during World War I (1914-1918) and II (1939-1945). In the statutes of the Nobel Foundation it says: “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.”

Question 23

Four Nobel Laureates have been forced by authorities to decline the Nobel Prize

Answer 23

Adolf Hitler forbade three German Nobel Laureates, Richard Kuhn, Adolf Butenandt and Gerhard Domagk, from accepting the Nobel Prize. All of them could later receive the Nobel Prize Diploma and Medal, but not the prize amount.

Boris Pasternak, the 1958 Nobel Laureate in Literature, initially accepted the Nobel Prize but was later coerced by the authorities of the Soviet Union, his native country, to decline the Nobel Prize.

Question 24

Three Nobel Laureates have been under arrest at the time of the award

Answer 24

German pacifist and journalist Carl von Ossietzky
Burmese politician Aung San Suu Kyi
Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo

Question 25

Multiple Nobel Laureates

Answer 25

1. J.Bardeen
    Physics 1956
    Physics 1972
2. M.Curie
    Physics 1903
    Chemistry 1911
3. L.Pauling
    Chemistry 1954
    Peace 1962
4. F.Sanger
    Chemistry 1958
    Chemistry 1980
5. ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross)
    Peace 1917
    Peace 1944
    Peace 1963
6. UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee)
    Peace 1954
    Peace 1981