Thursday, July 15, 2010

Preliminary Examination of Civil Services Exam syllabus


Electrical Circuits-Theory and Applications
Circuit components, network graphs, KCL, KVL; circuit analysis methods : nodal analysis, mesh analysis; basic network theorems and applications; transient analysis : RL, RC and RLC circuits; sinusoidal steady state analysis; resonant circuits and applications; coupled circuits and applications; balanced 3-phase circuits. Two port networks, driving point and transfer functions; poles and zeros of network functions.
Signals & Systems Representation of continuous-time and discrete-time signals & system's ; LTI systems; convolution; impulse response; time-domain analysis of LTI systems based on convolution and differential/difference equations. Fourier transform, Laplace transform, Z-transform, Transfer function. Sampling and recovery of signals.
Control Systems Elements of control systems; block-diagram representations; open-loop & closed-loop systems; principles and applications of feed-back. LTI systems : time domain and transform domain analysis. Stability : Routh Hurwitz criterion, root-loci, Nyquist's criterion. Bode-plots, Design of lead-lag compensators; Proportional, PI, PID controllers.
E.M. Theory Electro-static and magneto-static fields; Maxwell's equations; e.m. waves and wave equations; wave propagation and antennas; transmission lines; micro-wave resonators, cavities and wave guides.
Electrical Engineering Materials Electrical/electronic behaviour of materials : conductivity; free-electrons and band-theory; intrinsic and extrinsic semi-conductor, p-n junction; solar cells, super-conductivity. Dielectric behaviour of materials : polarization phenomena; piezo-electric phenomena. Magnetic materials: behaviour and application.
Analog Electronics Diode circuits: rectifiers filters, clipping and clamping, zener diode and voltage regulation. Bipolar and field effect transistors (BJT, JFET and MOSFET) : Characteristics, biasing and small signal equivalent circuits. Basic amplifier circuits; differential amplifier circuits. Amplifiers : analysis, frequency response. Principles of feedback; OPAMP circuits; filters; oscillators.
Digital Electronics Boolean algebra; minimisation of Boolean function; logic gates, digital IC families (DTL, TTL, ECL, MOS, CMOS). Combinational circuits : arithmetic circuits, code converters, multiplexers and decoder's. Sequential circuits : latches and flip-flops, counters and shift-registers. Comparators, timers, multivibrators. Sample and hold circuits; ADCs and DACs. Semiconductor memories.
Communication Systems Fourier analysis of signals : amplitude, phase and power spectrum, auto-correlation and cross-correlation and their Fourier transforms. Analog modulation systems : amplitude and angle modulation and demodulation systems, spectral analysis; superheterodyne receivers. Pulse code modulation (PCM), differential PCM, delta modulation. Digital modulation schemes : amplitude, phase and frequency shift keying schemes (ASK, PSK, FSK). Multiplexing : time-division, frequency-division. Additive Gaussian noise : characterization using correlation, probability density function, power spectral density, Signal-to-noise ratio calculations for AM and FM. Elements of digital communication systems : source coding, channel coding; digital modulation & demodulation. Elements of Information theory, channel capacity. Elements of satellite and mobile communication; principles of television engineering; radar engineering and radio aids to navigation.
Computers and Microprocessors Computer organization : number representation and arithmetic, functional organization, machine instructions, addressing modes, ALU, hardwired and microprogrammed control, memory organization. Elements of microprocessors : 8-bit microprocessors -architecture, instruction set, assembly level programming, memory, I/O interfacing, microcontrollers and applications.
Measurement and Instrumentation Error analysis; measurement of current voltage, power, energy, power-factor, resistance, inductance, capacitance and frequency; bridge measurements. Electronic measuring instruments: multimeter, CRO, digital voltmeter, frequency counter, Q-meter, spectrum-analyser, distortion-meter. Transducers: thermocouple, thermistor, LVDT, strain-guages, piezo-electric crystal. Use of transducers in measurement of non-electrical quantities. Data-acquisition systems.
Energy Conversion Single-phase transformer : equivalent circuit, phasor-diagram, tests, regulation and efficiency; three-phase transformer; auto transformer. Principles of energy conversion-d.c. generators and motors: Performers characteristics, starting and speed control armature reaction and commutation; three-phase induction motor; performance characteristics, starting and speed control. Single-phase induction motor. Synchronous generators: performance characteristics, regulation, parallel operation. Synchronous motors: starting characteristics, applications; synchronous condensor. FHP motors, permanent magnet and stepper motors, brushless d.c. motors, single-phase motors.
Power Systems Electric power generation : thermal, hydro, nuclear. Transmission line parameters: steady-state performance of overhead transmission lines and cables. Distribution systems : insulators, bundle conductors, corona and radio interference effects; per-unit quantities; bus admittance and impedance matrices; load flow; voltage control and power factor correction. Economic operation. Principles of over current, differential and distance protection; solid state relays, circuit breakers, concept of system stability. HVDC transmission.
Power Electronics and Electric Drives Semiconductor power devices : diode, transistor, thyristor, triac, GTO and MOSFET, static characteristics, principles of operation; triggering circuits; phase controlled rectifiers; bridge converters-fully controlled and half controlled; principles of thyristor chopper and inverter. Basic concept of speed control of DC and AC motor drives.
Elements of IC Fabrication Technology Overview of IC Technology. Unit steps used in IC fabrication : wafer cleaning, photo-lithography, wet and dry etching, oxidation, diffusion, ion-implantation, CVD and LPCVD techniques for deposition of poly-silicon, silicon, silicon-pnitride and silicon dioxide; metallisation and passivation.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Preliminary Examination of Civil Services Exam syllabus

* General Science.
* Current events of national and international importance
* iaspapers.info/category/history" title='Read more about History'>History of India and Indian National Movement
* Indian and World iaspapers.info/category/geography" title='Read more about Geography'>Geography
* Indian Polity and Economy
* General Mental Ability

 Questions on General Science will cover general appreciation and understanding of science including matters of everyday observation and experience, as may be expected of a well educated person who has not made a special study of any particular scientific discipline.
In current events, knowledge of significant national and international events will be tested. In iaspapers.info/category/history" title='Read more about History'>History of India, emphasis will be on broad general understanding of the subject in its social, economic and political aspects.
Questions on the Indian National Movement will relate to the nature and character of the nineteenth century resurgence, growth of nationalism and attainment of Independence. In iaspapers.info/category/geography" title='Read more about Geography'>Geography, emphasis will be on iaspapers.info/category/geography" title='Read more about Geography'>Geography of India.
Questions on the iaspapers.info/category/geography" title='Read more about Geography'>Geography of India will relate to physical, social and economic iaspapers.info/category/geography" title='Read more about Geography'>Geography of the country, including the main features of Indian agricultural and natural resources.
Questions on Indian Polity and Economy will test knowledge of the country’s political system and Constitution of India, Panchayati Raj, Social Systems and economic developments in India.
On general mental ability, the candidates will be tested on reasoning and analytical abilities.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Commonwealth of Independent States

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) (Russian: Содружество Независимых Государств, СНГ, tr. Sodruzhestvo Nezavisimykh Gosudarstv, SNG) is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union.
The CIS is comparable to a very loose association of states and in no way comparable to a federation, confederation or supra-national organisation such as the old European Community. It is more comparable to the Commonwealth of Nations. Although the CIS has few supranational powers, it is more than a purely symbolic organization, possessing coordinating powers in the realm of trade, finance, lawmaking, and security. It has also promoted cooperation on democratization and cross-border crime prevention. As a regional organization, CIS participates in UN peacekeeping forces.[3] Some of the members of the CIS have established the Eurasian Economic Community with the aim of creating a full-fledged common market.

History

The organization was founded on 8 December 1991 by the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine, when the leaders of the three countries met in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha Natural Reserve, about 50 km (30 miles) north of Brest in Belarus and signed a Creation Agreement (Russian: Соглашение, Soglasheniye) on the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the creation of CIS as a successor entity to the USSR.[4] At the same time they announced that the new alliance would be open to all republics of the former Soviet Union, as well as other nations sharing the same goals. The CIS charter stated that all the members were sovereign and independent nations and thereby effectively abolished the Soviet Union.
On 21 December 1991, the leaders of eight additional Soviet Republics – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan – agreed to join the CIS, thus bringing the number of participating countries to 11.[5] Georgia joined two years later, in December 1993.[6] As of that time, 12 of the 15 former Soviet Republics participated in the CIS. Three former Soviet Republics, the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, chose not to join.
In March 2007, Igor Ivanov, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, expressed his doubts concerning the usefulness of CIS, and emphasizing that the Eurasian Economic Community became a more competent organization to unify the biggest countries of the CIS.[7] In May 2009 the six countries Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine joined the Eastern Partnership, a project which was initiated by the European Union (EU).

Military structures

When Boris Yeltsin became Russian Defence Minister on 7 May 1992, Yevgeny Shaposhnikov, the man appointed as Commander-in-Chief of the CIS Armed Forces, and his staff, were ejected from the MOD and General Staff buildings and given offices in the former Warsaw Pact Headquarters at 41 Leningradsky Prospekt[8] on the northern outskirts of Moscow.[9] Shaposhnikov resigned in June 1993.
In December 1993, the CIS Armed Forces Headquarters was abolished.[10] Instead, 'the CIS Council of Defence Ministers created a CIS Military Cooperation Coordination Headquarters (MCCH) in Moscow, with 50 per cent of the funding provided by Russia.'[11] General Viktor Samsonov was appointed as Chief of Staff.

[edit] Membership status of CIS countries

The Creation Agreement remained the main constituent document of the CIS until January 1993, when the CIS Charter (Russian: Устав, Ustav) was adopted.[12] The charter formalized the concept of membership: a member country is defined as a country that ratifies the CIS Charter (sec. 2, art. 7). Turkmenistan has not ratified the charter and changed its CIS standing to associate member as of 26 August 2005 in order to be consistent with its UN-recognized international neutrality status.[13][14] Although Ukraine was one of the three founding countries and ratified the Creation Agreement in December 1991, Ukraine did not to ratify the CIS Charter and is not a member of the CIS[6][15].
Country Signed Ratified Charter ratified Membership Status
 Armenia 21 December 1991 18 February 1992 16 March 1994 official member
 Azerbaijan 21 December 1991 24 September 1993 14 December 1993 official member
 Belarus 8 December 1991 10 December 1991 18 January 1994 official member
 Kazakhstan 21 December 1991 23 December 1991 20 April 1994 official member
 Kyrgyzstan 21 December 1991 6 March 1992 12 April 1994 official member
 Moldova 21 December 1991 8 April 1994 27 June 1994 official member
 Russia 8 December 1991 12 December 1991 20 July 1993 official member
 Tajikistan 21 December 1991 26 June 1993 4 August 1993 official member
 Turkmenistan 21 December 1991 26 December 1991 Not ratified unofficial associate member
 Ukraine 8 December 1991 10 December 1991 Not ratified de facto participating; officially not a member
 Uzbekistan 21 December 1991 1 April 1992 9 February 1994 official member
Between the years of 2003 and 2005, three CIS member states experienced a change of government in a series of colour revolutions: Eduard Shevardnadze was overthrown in Georgia, Viktor Yushchenko was elected in Ukraine, and, lastly, Askar Akayev was toppled in Kyrgyzstan. In February 2006, Georgia officially withdrew from the Council of Defense Ministers, with the statement that "Georgia has taken a course to join NATO and it cannot be part of two military structures simultaneously",[16][17] but it remained a full member of the CIS until August 2009, one year after officially withdrawing in the immediate aftermath of the 2008 South Ossetia war.

[edit] Former members

Country Signed Ratified Charter ratified Withdrawn Effective
 Georgia 3 December 1993 19 April 1994 18 August 2008 17 August 2009
Following the South Ossetian war in 2008, President Saakashvili announced during a public speech in the capital city Tbilisi that Georgia would leave the CIS[18] and the Georgian Parliament voted unanimously (on 14 August 2008) to withdraw from the regional organization.[19] On 18 August 2008 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia sent a note to the CIS Executive Committee notifying it of the aforesaid resolutions of the Parliament of Georgia and Georgia’s withdrawal from CIS.[20] In accordance with the CIS Charter (sec. 1, art. 9),[12] Georgia's withdrawal came into effect 12 months later, on 18 August 2009.[21][22]

[edit] Executive Secretaries of CIS

Meeting of CIS leaders in Bishkek in 2008
Name Country Term
Ivan Korotchenya  Belarus 26 December 1991 - 29 April 1998
Boris Berezovsky  Russia 29 April 1998 - 4 March 1999
Ivan Korotchenya (acting)  Belarus 4 March - 2 April 1999
Yury Yarov  Russia 2 April 1999 - 14 June 2004
Vladimir Rushailo  Russia 14 June 2004 - 5 October 2007
Sergei Lebedev  Russia since 5 October 2007

[edit] Recent events

Following the withdrawal of Georgia, the presidents of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan skipped the Oct 2009 meeting of the CIS.[23]

Population (2007) GDP 2006 (USD) GDP 2007 (USD) growth (2007) per capita (2007)
Belarus 9,724,163 36,961,815,474 45,275,738,770 8.6% 4,656
Kazakhstan 15,408,161 81,003,864,916 104,849,915,344 8.7% 6,805
Kyrgyzstan 5,346,111 2,834,168,893 3,802,570,572 8.5% 711
Russia 141,941,200 989,427,936,676 1,294,381,844,081 8.1% 9,119
Tajikistan 6,727,377 2,142,328,846 2,265,340,888 3.0% 337
Uzbekistan 26,900,365 17,077,480,575 22,355,214,805 9.5% 831
EAEC total 207,033,990 1,125,634,333,117 1,465,256,182,498 30.17% 7,077
Azerbaijan 8,631,512 20,981,929,498 33,049,426,816 25.1% 3,829
Georgia 4,357,857 7,745,249,284 10,172,920,422 12.3% 2,334
Moldova 3,667,469 3,408,283,313 4,401,137,824 3.0% 1,200
Ukraine 46,289,475 107,753,069,307 142,719,009,901 7.9% 3,083
GUAM total 62,861,573 139,888,538,550 186,996,463,870 33.68% 2,975
Armenia 3,072,450 6,384,452,551 9,204,496,419 13.8% 2,996
Turkmenistan 4,977,386 6,928,560,446 7,940,143,236 11.6% 1,595
Grand total 277,863,109 1,278,421,583,732 1,668,683,151,661 30.53% 6,005

Collective Security Treaty Organisation

The logo of the CSTO.
     CSTO members     GUAM members     Other CIS members
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) (Russian: Организация Договора о Коллективной Безопасности) or simply the Tashkent Treaty (Russian: Ташкентский договор) first began as the CIS Collective Security Treaty[31] which was signed on 15 May 1992, by Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, in the city of Tashkent. Azerbaijan signed the treaty on 24 September 1993, Georgia on 9 December 1993 and Belarus on 31 December 1993. The treaty came into effect on 20 April 1994.

[edit] Renewal

The CST was set to last for a 5-year period unless extended. On 2 April 1999, only six members of the CSTO signed a protocol renewing the treaty for another five year period -- Azerbaijan, Georgia and Uzbekistan refused to sign and withdrew from the treaty instead. Organization was named CSTO on 7 October 2002 in Tashkent. Nikolai Bordyuzha was appointed secretary general of the new organization. During 2005, the CSTO partners conducted some common military exercises. In 2005, Uzbekistan withdrew from GUAM and on 23 June 2006, Uzbekistan became a full participant in the CSTO and its membership was formally ratified by its parliament on 28 March 2008.[32] The CSTO is an observer organization at the United Nations General Assembly.
The charter reaffirmed the desire of all participating states to abstain from the use or threat of force. Signatories would not be able to join other military alliances or other groups of states, while aggression against one signatory would be perceived as an aggression against all. To this end, the CSTO holds yearly military command exercises for the CSTO nations to have an opportunity to improve inter-organization cooperation. The largest-scale CSTO military exercise held to date were the "Rubezh 2008" exercises hosted in Armenia where a combined total of 4,000 troops from all 7 constituent CSTO member countries conducted operative, strategic, and tactical training with an emphasis towards furthering efficiency of the collective security element of the CSTO partnership.[33]

[edit] Recent events

In May 2007 the CSTO secretary-general Nikolai Bordyuzha suggested Iran could join the CSTO saying, "The CSTO is an open organization. If Iran applies in accordance with our charter, we will consider the application."[34] If Iran joined it would be the first state outside the former Soviet Union to become a member of the organization.
On 6 October 2007, CSTO members agreed to a major expansion of the organization that would create a CSTO peacekeeping force that could deploy under a U.N. mandate or without one in its member states. The expansion would also allow all members to purchase Russian weapons at the same price as Russia.[35] CSTO signed an agreement with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, to broaden cooperation on issues such as security, crime, and drug trafficking.[36]
On 29 August 2008, Russia announced it would seek CSTO recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Three days before, on 26 AugHelpust, Russia recognized the independence of Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.[37] On 5 September 2008, Armenia assumed the rotating CSTO presidency during a CSTO meeting in Moscow, Russia.[38]
In October 2009 Ukraine refused permission for the CIS Anti-Terrorist Center to hold anti-terrorist exercises on its territory because Ukraine's constitution bans foreign military units from operating on its territory.[39]

Amnesty International organisation

Amnesty International
Amnesty International logo.svg
Type Non-profit
NGO
Founded July 1961 by Peter Benenson in the United Kingdom
Headquarters Global
General secretariat in London
Key people Salil Shetty, Irene Khan, Seán MacBride, Martin Ennals, Peter Benenson, Thomas Hammarberg, Eric Baker, Arthur Fern, Ian Martin and Pierre Sané
Services Media attention, direct-appeal campaigns, research, lobbying
Method Protecting human rights
Members 2.2 million members and supporters
Motto It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.[1]
Website www.amnesty.org

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Amnesty International
Amnesty International logo.svg
Type Non-profit
NGO
Founded July 1961 by Peter Benenson in the United Kingdom
Headquarters Global
General secretariat in London
Key people Salil Shetty, Irene Khan, Seán MacBride, Martin Ennals, Peter Benenson, Thomas Hammarberg, Eric Baker, Arthur Fern, Ian Martin and Pierre Sané
Services Media attention, direct-appeal campaigns, research, lobbying
Method Protecting human rights
Members 2.2 million members and supporters
Motto It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.[1]
Website www.amnesty.org
Amnesty International (commonly known as Amnesty and AI) is an international non-governmental organisation. Its stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."[2]
Founded in London in 1961, AI draws attention to human rights abuses and campaigns for compliance with international laws and standards. It works to mobilise public opinion to exert pressure on governments that perpetrate abuses.[2] The organisation was awarded the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize for its "campaign against torture",[3] and the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 1978.[4]
In the field of international human rights organisations (of which there were 300 in 1996),[5] Amnesty has the longest history and broadest name recognition, and "is believed by many to set standards for the movement as a whole."[5]
There are seven key areas which Amnesty deals with:
  • Women's Rights,
  • Children's Rights,
  • Ending Torture,
  • Abolition of the death penalty
  • Rights of Refugees
  • Rights of Prisoners of Conscience
  • Protection of Human dignity.

    Country focus


    Rank Country #Press Releases  % Total
    1 United States 136 4.24
    2 Israel (inc. West Bank and Gaza Strip) 128 3.99
    3 Indonesia and East Timor 119 3.71
    3 Turkey 119 3.71
    4 People's Republic of China 115 3.58
    5 Serbia and Montenegro 104 3.24
    6 United Kingdom 103 3.21
    7 India 85 2.65
    8 USSR and Russian Federation 80 2.49
    9 Rwanda 64 2.00
    10 Sri Lanka 59 1.84

    Source: Ronand et al. (2005:568)[5] Data for 1986–2000
    Rank Country #Reports  % Total
    1 Turkey 394 3.91
    2 USSR and Russian Federation 374 3.71
    3 People's Republic of China 357 3.54
    4 United States 349 3.46
    5 Israel (inc. West Bank and Gaza Strip) 323 3.21
    6 South Korea 305 3.03
    7 Indonesia and East Timor 253 2.51
    8 Colombia 197 1.96
    9 Peru 192 1.91
    10 India 178 1.77

    Source: Ronand et al. (2005:568)[5] Data for 1986–2000
Amnesty International Sections, 2005
The AI Canadian headquarters in Ottawa 
  • Amnesty International Sections, 2005
    Algeria; Argentina; Australia; Austria; Belgium (Dutch speaking); Belgium (French speaking); Benin; Bermuda; Canada (English speaking); Canada (French speaking); Chile; Côte d’Ivoire; Denmark; Faroe Islands; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Guyana; Hong Kong; Iceland; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Japan; Korea (Republic of); Luxembourg; Mauritius; Mexico; Morocco; Nepal; Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Peru; Philippines; Poland; Portugal; Puerto Rico; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Taiwan; Togo; Tunisia; United Kingdom; United States of America; Uruguay; Venezuela
  • Amnesty International Structures, 2005
    Belarus; Bolivia; Burkina Faso; Croatia; Curaçao; Czech Republic; Gambia; Hungary; Malaysia; Mali; Moldova; Mongolia; Pakistan; Paraguay; Slovakia; South Africa; Thailand; Turkey; Ukraine; Zambia; Zimbabwe
  • IEC Chairpersons
    Seán MacBride, 1965–1974; Dirk Börner, 1974–1977; Thomas Hammarberg, 1977–1979; José Zalaquett, 1979–1982; Suriya Wickremasinghe, 1982–1985; Wolfgang Heinz, 1985–1996; Franca Sciuto, 1986–1989; Peter Duffy, 1989–1991; Annette Fischer, 1991–1992; Ross Daniels, 1993–1997; Susan Waltz, 1996–1998; Mahmoud Ben Romdhane, 1999–2000; Colm O Cuanachain, 2001–2002; Paul Hoffman, 2003–2004; Jaap Jacobson, 2005; Hanna Roberts, 2005–2006; Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You, 2006–2007; Peter Pack, 2007–present
  • General Secretaries

General Secretary Office
Peter BenensonUnited Kingdom Peter Benenson 1961–1966
Eric BakerUnited Kingdom Eric Baker 1966–1968
Martin EnnalsUnited Kingdom Martin Ennals 1968–1980
Thomas HammarbergSweden Thomas Hammarberg 1980–1986
Avery BrundageUnited Kingdom Ian Martin 1986–1992
Pierre SanéSenegal Pierre Sané 1992–2001
Irene KhanBangladesh Irene Khan 2001–2010
Claudio CordoneItaly Claudio Cordone 2010-2010
Salil ShettyIndia Salil Shetty 2010 –

Nobel Prize

Nobel Prize

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (Redirected from Nobel prize)
Jump to: navigation, search
The Nobel Prize
A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing 
left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" 
then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) 
"NAT•" then "MDCCCXXXIII" above, followed by 
(smaller) "OB•" then "MDCCCXCVI" below.
Awarded for Outstanding contributions in Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, and Physiology or Medicine.

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, identified with the Nobel Prize, is awarded for outstanding contributions in Economics.
Presented by Swedish Academy
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Karolinska Institutet
Norwegian Nobel Committee
Country Sweden, Norway
First awarded 1901
Official website http://nobelprize.org
The Nobel Prizes (Swedish: sing., Nobelpriset; pl., Nobelprisen, Norwegian: Nobelprisen) are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. They were established in 1895 by the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite. The prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace were first awarded in 1901. The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was instituted by Sveriges Riksbank in 1968 and first awarded in 1969. Although this is not technically a Nobel Prize, its announcements and presentations are made along with the other prizes. Each Nobel Prize is widely regarded as the most prestigious award in its field.[1]
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards the Nobel Prize in Physics, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and the Swedish Academy grants the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Nobel Peace Prize is not awarded by a Swedish organisation but by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Each recipient, or laureate, is presented with a gold medal, a diploma, and a sum of money which depends on the Nobel Foundation's income that year. In 2009, each prize was worth 10 million SEK (c. US$1.4 million). The prize can not be awarded posthumously, nor may a prize be shared among more than three people. These strict rules have deprived worthy nominees of an award. The awarding committees have also been criticised for failing to award the Peace Prize to Mahatma Gandhi and other high-profile candidates.

Contents

[hide]

History

A black and white photo of a bearded man in his 
fifties sitting in a chair.
Alfred Nobel had the unpleasant surprise of reading his own obituary, titled The merchant of death is dead, in a French newspaper.
Alfred Nobel (About this sound listen ) was born on 21 October 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden, into a family of engineers.[2] He was a chemist, engineer, and inventor. In 1895 Nobel purchased the Bofors iron and steel mill, which he converted into a major armaments manufacturer. Nobel amassed a fortune during his lifetime, most of it from his 355 inventions, of which dynamite is the most famous.[3] In 1888, Alfred had the unpleasant surprise of reading his own obituary, titled ‘The merchant of death is dead’, in a French newspaper. As it was Alfred's brother Ludvig who had died, the obituary was eight years premature. Alfred was disappointed with what he read and concerned with how he would be remembered. This inspired him to change his will.[4] On 10 December 1896 Alfred Nobel died in his villa in San Remo, Italy, at the age of 63 from a cerebral haemorrhage.[5]
To the surprise of many, Nobel's last will requested that his fortune be used to create a series of prizes for those who confer the "greatest benefit on mankind" in physics, chemistry, peace, physiology or medicine, and literature.[6] Nobel wrote several wills during his lifetime. The last was written over a year before he died, signed at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris on 27 November 1895.[7][8] Nobel bequeathed 94% of his total assets, 31 million SEK (c. US$186 million in 2008), to establish the five Nobel Prizes.[9] Because of the level of scepticism surrounding the will, it was not until 26 April 1897 that it was approved by the Storting in Norway.[10] The executors of his will were Ragnar Sohlman and Rudolf Lilljequist, who formed the Nobel Foundation to take care of Nobel's fortune and organise the prizes.[11]
The members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee that were to award the Peace Prize were appointed shortly after the will was approved. The other prize-awarding organisations followed: the Karolinska Institutet on 7 June, the Swedish Academy on 9 June, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on 11 June.[12] The Nobel Foundation reached an agreement on guidelines for how the prizes should be awarded. In 1900, the Nobel Foundation's newly created statutes were promulgated by King Oscar II.[6] In 1905, the Union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved, which meant the responsibility for awarding Nobel Prizes was split between the two countries. Norway's Nobel Committee became responsible for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize and Swedish institutions remained responsible for the other prizes.[10]

Nobel Foundation

A paper with stylish handwriting on it with the
 title "Testament"
Alfred Nobel's will stated that 94% of his total assets should be used to establish the Nobel Prizes.
The Nobel Foundation was founded as a private organisation on 29 June 1900, to manage the finances and administration of the Nobel Prizes.[13] In accordance with Nobel's will, the primary task of the Foundation is to manage the fortune Nobel left. Another important task of the Nobel Foundation is to market the prizes internationally and to oversee informal administration related to the prizes. The Foundation is not involved in the process of selecting the Nobel laureates.[14][15] In many ways the Nobel Foundation is similar to an investment company, in that it invests Nobel's money to create a solid funding base for the prize and the administrative activities. The Nobel Foundation is exempt from all taxes in Sweden (since 1946) and from investment taxes in the United States (since 1953).[16] Since the 1980s, the Foundation's investments have become more profitable and as of 31 December 2007, the assets controlled by the Nobel Foundation amounted to 3.628 billion Swedish kronor (c. US$560 million).[17]
According to the statutes, the Foundation should consist of a board of five Swedish or Norwegian citizens, with its seat in Stockholm. The Chairman of the Board should be appointed by the King in Council, with the other four members appointed by the trustees of the prize-awarding institutions. An Executive Director is chosen from among the board members, a Deputy Director is appointed by the King in Council, and two deputies are appointed by the trustees. However, since 1995 all the members of the board have been chosen by the trustees, and the Executive Director and the Deputy Director appointed by the board itself. As well as the board, the Nobel Foundation is made up of the prize-awarding institutions (the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Nobel Assembly, the Swedish Academy, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee), the trustees of these institutions, and auditors.[17]

First prizes

A black and white photo of a bearded man in his
 fifties sitting in a chair.
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen received the first Physics Prize for his discovery of X-rays.
Once the Nobel Foundation and its guidelines were in place, the Nobel Committee began collecting nominations for the inaugural prizes. When they had received all forms they sent a list of preliminary candidates to the prize-awarding institutions. The Norwegian Nobel Committee had appointed prominent figures including Jørgen Løvland, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Johannes Steen to give the Nobel Peace Prize credibility.[18] The committee awarded the Peace Prize to two prominent figures in the growing peace movement around the end of the 19th century. Frédéric Passy was co-founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and Henry Dunant was founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross.[19][20][21]
The Nobel Committee's Physics Prize shortlist cited Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen's discovery of X-rays and Philipp Lenard's work on cathode rays. The Academy of Sciences selected Röntgen for the prize.[22][23] In the last decades of the 19th century many chemists had made significant advances in their subject. Thus, with the Chemistry Prize, the Academy "was chiefly faced with merely deciding the order in which these scientists should be awarded the prize."[24] For the first prize the Academy received 20 nominations, eleven of them for Jacobus van't Hoff.[25] Van't Hoff was awarded the prize for his contributions in chemical thermodynamics.[26][27]
The Swedish Academy chose the poet Sully Prudhomme for the first Nobel Prize in Literature. A group including 42 Swedish writers, artists and literary critics protested against this decision, having expected Leo Tolstoy to win.[28] Some, including Burton Feldman, have criticised this prize because they consider Prudhomme a mediocre poet. Feldman's explanation is that most of the Academy members preferred Victorian literature and thus selected a Victorian poet.[29] The first Physiology or Medicine Prize went to the German physicist and microbiologist Emil von Behring. During the 1890s, von Behring developed an antitoxin to treat diphtheria, which until then was causing thousands of deaths each year.[30][31]

World War II

In 1938 and 1939, Adolf Hitler's Third Reich forbade three laureates from Germany (Richard Kuhn, Adolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt, and Gerhard Domagk) from accepting their prizes.[32] Each man was later able to receive the diploma and medal.[33] Even though Sweden was officially neutral during World War II, the prizes were awarded irregularly. In 1939 the Peace Prize was not awarded. No prize was awarded in any category from 1940–42, due to the occupation of Norway by Germany. In the subsequent year, all prizes were awarded except those for literature and peace.[34]
During the occupation of Norway, three members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee fled into exile. The remaining members escaped persecution from the Nazis when the Nobel Foundation stated that the Committee building in Oslo was Swedish property. Thus it was a safe haven from the German military, which was not at war with Sweden.[35] These members kept the work of the Committee going but did not award any prizes. In 1944 the Nobel Foundation, together with the three members in exile, made sure that nominations were submitted for the Peace Prize and that the prize could be awarded once again.[32]

Prize in Economic Sciences

Sveriges Riksbank celebrated its 300th anniversary in 1968 by donating a large sum of money to the Nobel Foundation. The following year, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded for the first time. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences became responsible for selecting laureates. The first laureates for the Economics Prize were Jan Tinbergen and Ragnar Frisch "for having developed and applied dynamic models for the analysis of economic processes."[36][37] Although not technically a Nobel Prize, it is identified with the award; its winners are announced with the Nobel Prize recipients, and the Prize in Economic Sciences is presented at the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony.[38] The Board of the Nobel Foundation decided that after this addition, it would allow no further new prizes.[39]

Recent laureates

In 2008 the Physiology or Medicine Prize was shared among three virologists. French team Luc Montagnier and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi together shared half the prize for discovering that the virus now known as HIV causes AIDS.[40] Harald zur Hausen shared the prize for his discovery that the human papilloma virus causes cervical cancer.[41][42] The Chemistry Prize was shared among three biologists;[43] Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie and Roger Tsien isolated and developed the green fluorescent protein from a jellyfish.[44] The GFP has important applications in many areas of cell biology and biotechnology.[45] Martti Ahtisaari received the Peace Prize "for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts."[46][47] The Physics Prize was awarded to Yoichiro Nambu, Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics.[48][49] Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio received the Literature Prize and was described as an "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilisation."[50][51] The Economics Prize was awarded to Paul Krugman for his work on international trade and economic geography.[52][53]
In 2009 the Chemistry Prize was awarded to Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas Steitz, and Ada Yonath, for their work on the structure and function of the ribosome.[54] The Physics Prize was awarded to Charles K. Kao for his research on the transmission of light through optical fibres and to Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith for inventing a sensor that turns light into electrical signals, which made inventions such as the digital camera possible.[55][56] Elinor Ostrom and Oliver E. Williamson were awarded the Economics Prize for "their work in economic governance, especially the commons." Ostrom was the first woman to receive the Economics Prize.[57][58] The Physiology or Medicine Prize was awarded to Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, and Jack W. Szostak for their research on telomeres.[59] The Literature Prize was awarded to Herta Müller "who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed."[60][61] The President of the United States, Barack Obama, was awarded the Peace Prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."[62][63]
A shoulder and 
head picture of a woman in her fifties sitting in a chair.
Herta Müller, author of books such as Everything I Possess I Carry With Me received her prize for literature for depicting the "landscape of the dispossessed."
Two women in their fifties sitting at a
 table with a microphone on it. The woman to the left is dressed in red 
and is smiling. The woman to the right is wearing glasses and dark 
clothes.
Carol Greider (left) and Elizabeth Blackburn (right) received the Physiology or Medicine Prize in 2009 for their research on telomeres.
Head shot of a smiling man with glasses outdoors.
Jack W. Szostak who shared the Physiology or Medicine Prize with Carol Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn
Portrait shot of a smiling
 man dressed in a suit.
Charles K. Kao who won 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics for his research in optical fibres

Award process

The award process is similar for each Nobel Prize, the main difference is the individuals who can make nominations for each prize.[64]
Announcement Nobelprize Chemistry 2009-3.ogv
The announcement of the laureates in Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009 by Gunnar Öquist, permanent secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Announcement Nobelprize Literature 2009-1.ogv
2009 Nobel Prize in Literature announcement by Peter Englund in Swedish, English and German

Nominations

Nomination forms are sent by the Nobel Committee to about 3000 individuals, usually in September the year before the prize is awarded. These individuals are often academics working in a relevant area. For the Peace Prize, inquiries are sent to governments, members of international courts, professors and rectors, former Peace Prize laureates and current or former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The deadline for the return of the nomination forms is 31 January of the year of the award.[64][65] The Nobel Committee nominates about 300 potential laureates from these forms and additional names.[66] The nominees are not publicly named, nor are they told that they are being considered for the prize. All nomination records for a prize are sealed for 50 years from the awarding of the prize.[67][68]

Selection

The Nobel Committee then prepares a report, drawn from the advice of experts in the relevant fields. This, along with the list of preliminary candidates, is submitted to the prize-awarding institutions.[69] The institutions meet to choose the laureate or laureates in each field by a majority vote. Their decision, which cannot be appealed, is announced immediately after the vote.[70] A maximum of three laureates and two different works may be selected per award. Except for the Peace Prize, which can be awarded to institutions, the awards can only be given to individuals.[71] If the Peace Prize is not awarded, the money is split among the scientific prizes. This has happened 19 times so far.[72]

Posthumous nominations

Although posthumous nominations are not permitted, individuals who died in the months between their nomination and the decision of the prize committee were originally eligible to receive the prize. This occurred twice: the 1931 Literature Prize awarded to Erik Axel Karlfeldt, and the 1961 Peace Prize awarded to UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld. Since 1974, laureates must be alive at the time of the October announcement. There has been one laureate, William Vickrey, who died after the prize was announced but before it could be presented.[73]

Recognition time lag

Nobel's will provides for prizes to be awarded in recognition of discoveries made "during the preceding year". During the early years, the awards usually recognised recent discoveries.[74] However, some of these early discoveries were later discredited.[n 1] To avoid this embarrassment, the awards increasingly recognised scientific discoveries that had withstood the test of time.[76][77][78] According to Ralf Pettersson, former chairman of the Nobel Prize Committee for Physiology or Medicine, "the criterion ‘the previous year’ is interpreted by the Nobel Assembly as the year when the full impact of the discovery has become evident."[77]
A room with pictures on the walls. In the 
middle of the room there is a wooden table with chairs around it.
The committee room of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
The interval between the award and the accomplishment it recognises varies from discipline to discipline. The Literature Prize is typically awarded to recognise a cumulative lifetime body of work rather than a single achievement.[79][80] The Peace Prize can also be awarded for a lifetime body of work. For example 2008 winner Martti Ahtisaari was awarded for his work to resolve international conflicts.[81][82] However, they can also be awarded for specific recent events.[83] For instance, Kofi Annan was awarded the 2001 Peace Prize just four years after becoming the Secretary-General of the United Nations.[84] Similarly Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin, and Shimon Peres received the 1994 award, about a year after they successfully concluded the Oslo Accords.[85]
Awards for physics, chemistry, and medicine require that the significance of the achievement is "tested by time." In practice, the lag between the discovery and the award is typically 20 or more years. For example, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar shared the 1983 Physics Prize for his 1930s work on stellar structure and evolution.[86][87] Not all scientists live long enough for their work to be recognised. Some discoveries can never be considered for a prize if their impact is realised after the discoverers have died.[88][89][90]

Award ceremonies

Two men standing on a stage. The man to the 
left is clapping his hands and looking towards the other man. The second
 man is smiling and showing two items to an audience not seen on the 
image. The items are a diploma which includes a painting and a box 
containing a gold medal. Behind them is a blue pillar clad in flowers.
A man in his fifties standing behind a desk 
with computers on it. On the desk is a sign reading "Kungl. 
Vetensk. Akad. Sigil".
Left: Barack Obama after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo City Hall from the hands of Norwegian Nobel Committee Chairman Thorbjorn Jagland; Right: Giovanni Jona-Lasinio presenting Yoichiro Nambu's Nobel Lecture at Aula Magna, Stockholm in 2008
Apart from the Peace Prize, the Nobel Prizes are presented in Stockholm, Sweden, at the annual Prize Award Ceremony on 10 December, the anniversary of Nobel's death. The recipients' lectures are normally held in the days prior to the award ceremony. The Peace Prize and its recipients' lectures are presented at the annual Prize Award Ceremony in Oslo, Norway, usually on 10 December. The award ceremonies and the associated banquets are typically major international events.[91][92] The Prizes awarded in Sweden's ceremonies' are held at the Stockholm Concert Hall, with the Nobel banquet following immediately at Stockholm City Hall. The Nobel Peace Prize ceremony has been held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute (1905–1946); at the auditorium of the University of Oslo (1947–1989); and at Oslo City Hall (1990–).[93]
The highlight of the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm occurs when each Nobel Laureate steps forward to receive the prize from the hands of the King of Sweden. In Oslo, the Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee presents the Nobel Peace Prize in the presence of the King of Norway.[92][94] Since 1902, the King of Sweden has presented all the prizes, except the Peace Prize, in Stockholm. At first King Oscar II did not approve of awarding grand prizes to foreigners, but is said to have changed his mind once his attention had been drawn to the publicity value of the prizes for Sweden.[95]

Nobel banquet

A set table with a white table cloth. There are 
many plates and glasses plus a menu visible on the table.
At the Nobel Peace Prize banquet the 250 guests, including the laureate and the King and Queen of Norway, are treated to a five-course meal.
After the award ceremony in Sweden a banquet is held at the Stockholm City Hall, which is attended by the Swedish Royal Family and around 1,300 guests. The banquet features a three-course dinner, entertainment and dancing and is extensively covered by local and international media.[92] Before 1930, the banquet in Sweden was held in the ballroom of Stockholm’s Grand Hotel.[93]
The Nobel Peace Prize banquet is held in Oslo at the Grand Hotel after the award ceremony. As well as the laureate, other guests include the President of the Storting, the Prime Minister and (since 2006) the King and Queen of Norway. In total there are about 250 guests attending who all are treated a five-course meal.[96] For the first time in its history, the banquet was cancelled in Oslo in 1979 because the laureate Mother Teresa refused to attend, saying the money would be better spent on the poor. Mother Teresa used the US$7,000 that was to be spent on the banquet to hold a dinner for 2,000 homeless people on Christmas Day.[97][98]

Nobel lectures

According to the statutes of the Nobel Foundation, each laureate is required to give a public lecture on a subject related to the topic of their prize.[99][100] These lectures normally occur during Nobel Week[n 2] before the award ceremony, but this is not mandatory. The laureate is only obliged to give the lecture within six months of receiving the prize. Some have happened even later. For example, US president Theodore Roosevelt won the Peace Prize in 1906 but gave his lecture in 1910, after his term in office.[101] The lectures are organised by the same association who selected the laureates.[102]

Prizes

Medals

The Nobel Prize medals, minted by Myntverket in Sweden and the Mint of Norway since 1902, are registered trademarks of the Nobel Foundation.[103] Each medal features an image of Alfred Nobel in left profile on the obverse. The medals for physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, and literature have identical obverses, showing the image of Alfred Nobel and the years of his birth and death. Nobel's portrait also appears on the obverse of the Peace Prize medal and the medal for the Economics Prize, but with a slightly different design. For instance, the laureate's name is engraved on the rim of the Economics medal.[104] The image on the reverse of a medal varies according to the institution awarding the prize. The reverse sides of the medals for chemistry and physics share the same design.[105]
A heavily decorated paper with the name 
"Fritz Haber" on it.
Laureates receive a heavily decorated diploma together with a gold medal and the prize money. Here Fritz Haber's diploma is shown, which he received for the development of a method to synthesise ammonia.
All medals made before 1980 were struck in 23 carat gold. Since then they have been struck in 18 carat green gold plated with 24 carat gold. The weight of each medal varies with the value of gold, but averages about 175 grams (0.39 lb) for each medal. The diameter is 66 millimetres (2.6 in) and the thickness varies between 5.2 millimetres (0.20 in) and 2.4 millimetres (0.094 in).[106] Because of the high value of their gold content and tendency to be on public display, Nobel medals are subject to medal theft.[107][108][109] During World War II, the medals of German scientists Max von Laue and James Franck were sent to Copenhagen for safekeeping. When Germany invaded Denmark, chemist George de Hevesy dissolved them in aqua regia, to prevent confiscation by Nazi Germany and to prevent legal problems for the holders. After the war, the gold was recovered from solution, and the medals re-cast.[110]

Diplomas

Nobel laureates receive a diploma directly from the hands of the King of Sweden or the Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Each diploma is uniquely designed by the prize-awarding institutions for the laureate that receives it.[104] The diploma contains a picture and text which states the name of the laureate and normally a citation of why they received the prize. None of the Nobel Peace Prize laureates has ever had a citation on their diplomas.[111][112]

Award money

The laureate is given a sum of money when they receive the prize, in the form of a document confirming the amount awarded.[104] The amount of prize money may differ depending on how much money the Nobel Foundation can award that year. The purse has increased since the 1980s, when the prize money was 880 000 SEK (c. 2.6 million SEK or US$350 000 today). In 2009, the monetary award was 10 million SEK (US$1.4 million).[113][114] If there are two winners in a particular category, the award grant is divided equally between the recipients. If there are three, the awarding committee has the option of dividing the grant equally, or awarding one-half to one recipient and one-quarter to each of the others.[115][116][117] It is not uncommon for recipients to donate prize money to benefit scientific, cultural, or humanitarian causes.[118][119]

Controversies and criticisms

Controversial recipients

Criticisms of the Nobel Prizes include cases where the Nobel Committees have been accused of having a political agenda, or of missing out more deserving candidates. They have also been accused of Eurocentrism, especially in their award of the Literature Prize.[120][121][122]
When Henry Kissinger was announced to be awarded the Peace Prize two of the Norwegian Nobel Committee members resigned in protest.
One of the most controversial Peace Prizes was the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Barack Obama.[123] Nominations had closed only eleven days after Obama took office as President.[72] Obama himself stated that he did not feel he deserved the award,[124][125] and that he did not feel worthy of the company the award would place him in.[126] Past winners of the Peace Prize were divided, some saying that Obama deserved the award, and others saying he had not yet earned it. Obama's award, along with the previous Peace Prizes for Jimmy Carter and Al Gore, prompted accusations of a left-wing bias.[127]
Among the most criticised Nobel Peace Prizes was the one awarded to Henry Kissinger and Lê Ðức Thọ, who later declined the prize.[128] This led to two Norwegian Nobel Committee members resigning. Kissinger and Thọ were awarded the prize for negotiating a ceasefire between North Vietnam and the United States in January 1973. However, when the award was announced hostilities still occurred from both sides.[129] Many critics were of the opinion that Kissinger was not a peace-maker but the opposite; responsible for widening the war.[67][130]
Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, and Yitzhak Rabin received the Peace Prize in 1994 for their efforts in making peace between Israel and Palestine.[67][131] According to journalist Caroline Frost many issues, such as the plight of Palestinian refugees, had not been addressed[132] and no lasting peace was established between Israel and Palestine.[133] Immediately after the award was announced one of the five Norwegian Nobel Committee members denounced Arafat as a terrorist and resigned.[134] Additional misgivings of Arafat were widely expressed in various newspapers.[135]
The award of the 2004 Literature Prize to Elfriede Jelinek drew a protest from a member of the Swedish Academy, Knut Ahnlund. Ahnlund resigned, alleging that selecting Jelinek had caused "irreparable damage to all progressive forces, it has also confused the general view of literature as an art." The reason he stated was that Jelinek's works were "a mass of text shovelled together without artistic structure."[136][137] The 2009 Literature Prize to Herta Müller also generated criticism. According to The Washington Post many US literary critics and professors had never heard of her before.[138] This made many feel that the prizes were too Eurocentric.[139]
In 1949, the Portuguese neurologist Antonio Egas Moniz received the Physiology or Medicine Prize for his development of the prefrontal leucotomy. The previous year Dr. Walter Freeman had developed a version of the procedure which was faster and easier to carry out. Due in part to the publicity surrounding the original procedure, Freeman's procedure was prescribed without due consideration or regard for modern medical ethics. Endorsed by such influential publications as The New England Journal of Medicine, lobotomy became so popular that about 5,000 lobotomies were performed in the United States in the three years immediately following Moniz's receipt of the Prize.[140][141]

Overlooked achievements

James Joyce, one of the controversial omissions of the Literature Prize
The Norwegian Nobel Committee confirmed that Mahatma Gandhi was nominated for the Peace Prize in 1937–39, 1947 and a few days before he was assassinated in January 1948.[142] Later members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee expressed regret that he was not given the prize.[143] In 1948, the year of Gandhi's death, the Nobel Committee declined to award a prize on the Norwegian grounds that "there was no suitable living candidate" that year.[143][144] Later, when the Dalai Lama was awarded the Peace Prize in 1989, the chairman of the committee said that this was "in part a tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi."[145] Other high profile individuals with widely recognised contributions to peace have been missed out. As well as Gandhi, Foreign Policy lists Eleanor Roosevelt, Václav Havel, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Sari Nusseibeh, Corazon Aquino and Liu Xiaobo as people who "never won the prize, but should have."[146]
The Literature Prize also has criticised omissions. Adam Kirsch has suggested that many notable writers have missed out on the award for political or extra-literary reasons. The heavy focus on European and Swedish authors has been a subject of criticism.[147][148] The Eurocentric nature of the award was acknowledged by Peter Englund, the 2009 Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, as a problem with the award and was attributed to the tendency for the academy to relate more to European authors.[149] Notable writers that have been overlooked for the Literature Prize include; Émile Zola, Jorge Luis Borges, Marcel Proust, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, August Strindberg, John Updike, Arthur Miller, Graham Greene and Mark Twain.[150][151][152]
The strict rule against awarding a prize to more than three people at once is also controversial.[153] When a prize is awarded to recognise an achievement by a team of more than three collaborators one or more will miss out. For example, in 2002, the prize was awarded to Koichi Tanaka and John Fenn for the development of mass spectrometry in protein chemistry, an award that did not recognise the achievements of Franz Hillenkamp and Michael Karas of the Institute for Physical and Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Frankfurt.[154][155] Similarly, the prohibition of posthumous awards fails to recognise achievements by an individual or collaborator who dies before the prize is awarded. In 1962, Francis Crick, James D. Watson, and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the Physiology or Medicine Prize for discovering the structure of DNA. Rosalind Franklin, a key contributor in that discovery, died of ovarian cancer four years earlier.[156]

Emphasis on discoveries over inventions and theories

Alfred Nobel left his fortune to finance annual prizes to be awarded "to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind." He stated that the Nobel Prizes in Physics should be given "to the person who shall have made the most important 'discovery' or 'invention' within the field of physics." Nobel did not emphasise discoveries, but they have historically been held in higher respect by the Nobel Prize Committee than inventions: 77% of the Physics Prizes have been given to discoveries, compared with only 23% to inventions. Christoph Bartneck and Matthias Rauterberg, in papers published in Nature and Technoetic Arts, have argued this emphasis on discoveries has moved the Nobel Prize away from its original intention of rewarding the greatest contribution to society.[157][158]
An example where discovery has been preferred over theory is Albert Einstein's prize. His 1921 Physics prize recognised his discovery of the photoelectric effect rather than his Special Theory of Relativity.[159][160][161] Historian Robert Friedman proposes that this may be due to the Nobel Prize Committee's discrimination against theoretical science.[162]

Specially distinguished laureates

A black and white portrait of a woman in profile.
Maria Skłodowska-Curie, one of four people who have received the Nobel Prize twice

Multiple laureates

Four people have received two Nobel Prizes. Maria Skłodowska-Curie received the Physics Prize in 1903 for the discovery of radioactivity and the Chemistry Prize in 1911 for the isolation of pure radium.[163] Linus Pauling won the 1954 Chemistry Prize for his research into the chemical bond and its application to the structure of complex substances. Pauling also won the Peace Prize in 1962 for his anti-nuclear activism, making him the only winner of two unshared prizes. John Bardeen received the Physics Prize twice: in 1956 for the invention of the transistor and in 1972 for the theory of superconductivity.[164] Frederick Sanger received the prize twice in Chemistry: in 1958 for determining the structure of the insulin molecule and in 1980 for inventing a method of determining base sequences in DNA.[165][166]
Two organisations have received the Peace Prize multiple times. The International Committee of the Red Cross received it three times: in 1917 and 1944 for its work during the world wars, and in 1963 during the year of its centenary.[167][168][169] The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has won the Peace Prize twice for assisting refugees: in 1954 and 1981.[170]

Family laureates

The Curie family has received the most prizes, with five. Maria Skłodowska-Curie received the prizes in Physics (in 1903) and Chemistry (in 1911). Her husband, Pierre Curie, shared the 1903 Physics prize with her.[171] Their daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, received the Chemistry Prize in 1935 together with her husband Frederic Joliot-Curie. In addition, the husband of Maria Curie's second daughter, Henry Labouisse, was the director of UNICEF when it won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965.[172]
Although no family matches the Curie family's record, there have been several with two laureates. Gunnar Myrdal received the Economics Prize in 1974 and his wife, Alva Myrdal, received the Peace Prize in 1982.[173] J. J. Thomson was awarded the Physics Prize in 1906 for showing that electrons are particles. His son, George Paget Thomson, received the same prize in 1937 for showing that they also have the properties of waves.[174] William Henry Bragg together with his son, William Lawrence Bragg, shared the Physics Prize in 1915. Niels Bohr won the Physics prize in 1922, and his son, Aage Bohr, won the same prize in 1975.[175] Manne Siegbahn, who received the Physics Prize in 1924, was the father of Kai Siegbahn, who received the Physics Prize in 1981.[176] Hans von Euler-Chelpin, who received the Chemistry Prize in 1929, was the father of Ulf von Euler, who was awarded the Physiology or Medicine Prize in 1970. C.V. Raman won the Physics Prize in 1930 and was the uncle of Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, who won the same prize in 1983.[177][178] Arthur Kornberg received the Physiology or Medicine Prize in 1959. Kornberg's son, Roger later received the Chemistry Prize in 2006.[179] Jan Tinbergen, who won the first Economics Prize in 1969, was the brother of Nikolaas Tinbergen, who received the 1973 Physiology or Medicine Prize.[172]

Refusals and constraints

A black and white portrait of a man in a suit 
and tie. Half of his face is in a shadow.
Richard Kuhn, who was forced to decline his Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Two laureates have voluntarily declined the Nobel Prize. Jean Paul Sartre was awarded the Literature Prize in 1964 but refused, stating, "A writer must refuse to allow himself to be transformed into an institution, even if it takes place in the most honourable form."[180] The other is Lê Ðức Thọ, chosen for the 1973 Peace Prize for his role in the Paris Peace Accords. He declined, claiming there was no actual peace in Vietnam.[181]
During the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler forbade Richard Kuhn, Adolf Butenandt, and Gerhard Domagk from accepting their prizes. All of them were awarded their diploma and gold medal after World War II. In 1958, Boris Pasternak declined his prize for literature due to fear of what the Soviet Union government would do if he travelled to Stockholm to accept his prize. In return, the Swedish Academy refused his refusal, saying "this refusal, of course, in no way alters the validity of the award."[181] The Academy announced with regret that the presentation of the Literature Prize could not take place that year, holding it until 1989 when Pasternak's son accepted the prize on his behalf.[182][183]

This is a list of Ig Nobel Prize winners from 1991 to the present day.
A parody of the Nobel Prizes, the Ig Nobel Prizes are given each year in early October — around the time the recipients of the genuine Nobel Prizes are announced — for ten achievements that "first make people laugh, and then make them think." Commenting on the 2006 awards, Marc Abrahams, editor of Annals of Improbable Research, co-sponsor of the awards, said: "The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honour the imaginative - and spur people's interest in science, medicine and technology."[1] All prizes are awarded for real achievements (except for three in 1991 and one in 1994 due to an erroneous press release).

Contents

[hide]

[edit] 1991

[edit] Apocryphal achievements

The first nomination also featured three fictional recipients for fictional achievements.[2]

[edit] 1992

  • Archaeology - Eclaireurs de France (a French Scouting organization), removers of graffiti, for damaging the prehistoric paintings of two Bisons in the Cave of Mayrière supérieure near the French village of Bruniquel.
  • Art - Presented jointly to Jim Knowlton, modern Renaissance man, for his classic anatomy poster "Penises of the Animal Kingdom," and to the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts, for encouraging Mr. Knowlton to extend his work in the form of a pop-up book.
  • Biology - Dr. Cecil Jacobson, relentlessly generous sperm donor, and prolific patriarch of sperm banking, for devising a simple, single-handed method of quality control.
  • Chemistry - Ivette Bassa, constructor of colourful colloids, for her role in the crowning achievement of twentieth century chemistry, the synthesis of bright blue Jell-O.
  • Economics - The investors of Lloyd's of London, heirs to 300 years of dull prudent management, for their bold attempt to insure disaster by refusing to pay for their company's losses.
  • Literature - Yuri Struchkov,[3] unstoppable author from the Institute of Organoelement Compounds[4] in Moscow, for the 948 scientific papers he published between the years 1981 and 1990, averaging more than one every 3.9 days.
  • Medicine - F. Kanda, E. Yagi, M. Fukuda, K. Nakajima, T. Ohta, and O. Nakata of the Shiseido Research Center in Yokohama, for their pioneering research study "Elucidation of Chemical Compounds Responsible for Foot Malodour," especially for their conclusion that people who think they have foot odor do, and those who don't, don't.
  • Nutrition - The utilizers of SPAM, courageous consumers of canned comestibles, for 54 years of undiscriminating digestion.
  • Peace - Daryl Gates, former police chief of the City of Los Angeles, for his uniquely compelling methods of bringing people together.
  • Physics - David Chorley and Doug Bower, lions of low-energy physics, for their circular contributions to field theory based on the geometrical destruction of English crops.

[edit] 1993

  • Biology - Presented jointly to Paul Williams Jr. of the Oregon State Health Division and Kenneth W. Newel of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, bold biological detectives, for their pioneering study, "Salmonella Excretion in Joy-Riding Pigs[5]".
  • Chemistry - Presented jointly to James Campbell and Gaines Campbell of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, dedicated deliverers of fragrance, for inventing scent strips, the odious method by which perfume is applied to magazine pages.
  • Consumer Engineering - Presented to Ron Popeil, incessant inventor and perpetual pitchman of late night television, for redefining the industrial revolution with such devices as the Veg-O-Matic, the Pocket Fisherman, Mr. Microphone, and the Inside-the-Shell Egg Scrambler.
  • Economics - Presented to Ravi Batra of Southern Methodist University, shrewd economist and best-selling author of The Great Depression of 1990 and Surviving the Great Depression of 1990, for selling enough copies of his books to single-handedly prevent worldwide economic collapse.
  • Literature - Presented to E. Topol, R. Califf, F. Van de Werf, P. W. Armstrong, and their 972 co-authors[6], for publishing a medical research paper which has one hundred times as many authors as pages. The authors are from the following countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
  • Mathematics - Presented to Robert W. Faid of Greenville, South Carolina, farsighted and faithful seer of statistics, for calculating the exact odds (710,609,175,188,282,000 to 1) that Mikhail Gorbachev is the Antichrist.
  • Medicine - Presented to James F. Nolan, Thomas J. Stillwell, and John P. Sands, Jr., medical men of mercy, for their painstaking research report, "Acute Management of the Zipper-Entrapped Penis" PubMed.
  • Peace - The Pepsi-Cola Company of the Philippines, for sponsoring a contest to create a millionaire, and then announcing the wrong winning number, thereby inciting and uniting 800,000 riotously expectant winners, and bringing many warring factions together for the first time in their nation's history.
  • Physics - Presented to Corentin Louis Kervran of France, ardent admirer of alchemy, for his conclusion that the calcium in chickens' eggshells is created by a process of cold fusion.
  • Psychology - Presented jointly to John Edward Mack of Harvard Medical School and David M. Jacobs of Temple University, for their conclusion that people who believe they were kidnapped by aliens from outer space, probably were — and especially for their conclusion, "the focus of the abduction is the production of children".
  • Visionary Technology - Presented jointly to Jay Schiffman of Farmington Hills, Michigan, crack inventor of AutoVision, an image projection device that makes it possible to drive a car and watch television at the same time, and to the Michigan State Legislature, for making it legal to do so.

[edit] 1994

  • Biology - Presented to W. Brian Sweeney, Brian Krafte-Jacobs, Jeffrey W. Britton, and Wayne Hansen, for their breakthrough study, "The Constipated Serviceman: Prevalence Among Deployed US Troops," and especially for their numerical analysis of bowel movement frequency.
  • Chemistry - Presented to Texas State Senator Bob Glasgow, wise writer of logical legislation, for sponsoring the 1989 drug control law which makes it illegal to purchase beakers, flasks, test tubes, or other laboratory glassware without a permit.
  • Economics - Presented to Juan Pablo Davila of Chile, tireless trader of financial futures and former employee of the state-owned company Codelco, for instructing his computer to "buy" when he meant "sell". He subsequently attempted to recoup his losses by making increasingly unprofitable trades that ultimately lost 0.5 percent of Chile's gross national product. Davila's relentless achievement inspired his countrymen to coin a new verb, "davilar", meaning "to botch things up royally".
  • Entomology - Presented to Robert A. Lopez of Westport, NY, valiant veterinarian and friend of all creatures great and small, for his series of experiments in obtaining ear mites from cats, inserting them into his own ear, and carefully observing and analyzing the results.
  • Literature - Presented to L. Ron Hubbard, ardent author of science fiction and founding father of Scientology, for his crackling Good Book, Dianetics, which is highly profitable to mankind, or to a portion thereof.
  • Mathematics - Presented to The Southern Baptist Church of Alabama, mathematical measurers of morality, for their county-by-county estimate of how many Alabama citizens will go to Hell if they don't repent.
  • Medicine - Two prizes. First, to Patient X, formerly of the US Marine Corps, valiant victim of a venomous bite from his pet rattlesnake, for his determined use of electroshock therapy. At his own insistence, automobile spark plug wires were attached to his lip, and the car engine revved to 3,000 rpm for five minutes. Second, to Dr. Richard C. Dart of the Rocky Mountain Poison Center and Dr. Richard A. Gustafson of The University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, for their well-grounded medical report, "Failure of Electric Shock Treatment for Rattlesnake Envenomation."[7]
  • Peace - Presented to John Hagelin of Maharishi University and The Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy, for his experimental conclusion that 4,000 trained meditators caused an 18 percent decrease in violent crime in Washington, D.C.
  • Psychology - Presented to Lee Kuan Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore, for his thirty-year study of the effects of punishing three million citizens of Singapore whenever they spat, chewed gum, or fed pigeons.

[edit] Apocryphal achievements, no longer officially listed

  • Physics - Presented to The Japanese Meteorological Agency, for its seven-year study of whether earthquakes are caused by catfish wiggling their tails. This winner is not officially listed, as it was based on what turned out to be erroneous press accounts.

[edit] 1995

  • Chemistry - Presented to Bijan Pakzad of Beverly Hills, for creating DNA Cologne and DNA Perfume, neither of which contain deoxyribonucleic acid, and both of which come in a triple helix bottle.
  • Dentistry - Presented to Robert H. Beaumont, of Shoreview, Minnesota, for his incisive study "Patient Preference for Waxed or Unwaxed Dental Floss."
  • Economics - Presented jointly to Nick Leeson and his superiors at Barings Bank and to Robert Citron of Orange County, California for using the calculus of derivatives to demonstrate that every financial institution has its limits.
  • Literature - Presented to David B. Busch and James R. Starling, of Madison, Wisconsin, for their research report, "Rectal Foreign Bodies: Case Reports and a Comprehensive Review of the World's Literature." The citations include reports of, among other items: seven light bulbs; a knife sharpener; two flashlights; a wire spring; a snuff box; an oil can with potato stopper; eleven different forms of fruits, vegetables and other foodstuffs; a jeweler's saw; a frozen pig's tail; a tin cup; a beer glass; and one patient's remarkable ensemble collection consisting of spectacles, a suitcase key, a tobacco pouch and a magazine.
  • Medicine - Presented to Marcia E. Buebel, David S. Shannahoff-Khalsa, and Michael R. Boyle, for their study entitled "The Effects of Unilateral Forced Nostril Breathing on Cognition."
  • Nutrition - Presented to John Martinez of J. Martinez & Company in Atlanta, for Luak Coffee, the world's most expensive coffee, which is made from coffee beans ingested and excreted by the luak, a bobcat-like animal native to Indonesia.
  • Peace - Presented to the Taiwan National Parliament, for demonstrating that politicians gain more by punching, kicking and gouging each other than by waging war against other nations.
  • Physics - Presented to Dominique M.R. Georget, R. Parker, and Andrew C. Smith of Norwich, England, for their rigorous analysis of soggy breakfast cereal. It was published in the report entitled "A Study of the Effects of Water Content on the Compaction Behaviour of Breakfast Cereal Flakes."
  • Psychology - Presented to Shigeru Watanabe, Junko Sakamoto, and Masumi Wakita, of Keio University, for their success in training pigeons to discriminate between the paintings of Picasso and those of Monet.
  • Public Health - Presented to Martha Kold Bakkevig of Sintef Unimed in Trondheim, Norway, and Ruth Nielsen of the Technical University of Denmark, for their exhaustive study, "Impact of Wet Underwear on Thermoregulatory Responses and Thermal Comfort in the Cold."

[edit] 1996

[edit] 1997

[edit] 1998

[edit] 1999

[edit] 2000

[edit] 2001

[edit] 2002

[edit] 2003

  • Biology - Presented to C.W. Moeliker, of Natuurmuseum Rotterdam, for documenting the first scientifically recorded case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard duck.
  • Chemistry - Presented to Yukio Hirose of Kanazawa University, for his chemical investigation of a bronze statue, in the city of Kanazawa, that fails to attract pigeons.
  • Economics - Presented to Karl Schwärzler and the nation of Liechtenstein, for making it possible to rent the entire country for corporate conventions, weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other gatherings.
  • Engineering - Presented to John Paul Stapp, Edward A. Murphy, Jr., and George Nichols, for jointly giving birth in 1949 to Murphy's Law, the basic engineering principle that "If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, someone will do it" (or, in other words: "If anything can go wrong, it will").
  • Interdisciplinary Research - Presented to Stefano Ghirlanda, Liselotte Jansson, and Magnus Enquis of Stockholm University, for their inevitable report "Chickens Prefer Beautiful Humans."
  • Literature - Presented to John Trinkaus, of the Zicklin School of Business, New York City, for meticulously collecting data and publishing more than 80 detailed academic reports about things that annoyed him, such as:
    • What percentage of young people wear baseball caps with the peak facing to the rear rather than to the front;
    • What percentage of pedestrians wear sport shoes that are white rather than some other color;
    • What percentage of swimmers swim laps in the shallow end of a pool rather than the deep end;
    • What percentage of automobile drivers almost, but not completely, come to a stop at one particular stop-sign;
    • What percentage of commuters carry attaché cases;
    • What percentage of shoppers exceed the number of items permitted in a supermarket's express checkout lane;
    • What percentage of students dislike the taste of Brussels sprouts.
  • Medicine - Presented to Eleanor Maguire, David Gadian, Ingrid Johnsrude, Catriona Good, John Ashburner, Richard Frackowiak, and Christopher Frith of University College London, for presenting evidence that the hippocampi of London taxi drivers are more highly developed than those of their fellow citizens.[11]
  • Peace - Presented to Lal Bihari, of Uttar Pradesh, India, for a triple accomplishment: First, for leading an active life even though he has been declared legally dead; second, for waging a lively posthumous campaign against bureaucratic inertia and greedy relatives; and third, for creating the Association of Dead People. Lal Bihari overcame the handicap of being dead, and managed to obtain a passport from the Indian government so that he could travel to Harvard to accept his Prize. However, the U.S. government refused to allow him into the country. His friend Madhu Kapoor therefore came to the Ig Nobel Ceremony and accepted the Prize on behalf of Lal Bihari. Several weeks later, the Prize was presented to Lal Bihari himself in a special ceremony in India.
  • Physics - Presented to Jack Harvey, John Culvenor, Warren Payne, Steve Cowle, Michael Lawrance, David Stuart, and Robyn Williams of Australia, for their irresistible report "An Analysis of the Forces Required to Drag Sheep over Various Surfaces".[12]
  • Psychology - Presented to Gian Vittorio Caprara and Claudio Barbaranelli of the University of Rome La Sapienza, and to Philip Zimbardo of Stanford University, for their discerning report "Politicians' Uniquely Simple Personalities".

[edit] 2004

[edit] 2005

  • Agricultural History - Presented to James Watson of Massey University, New Zealand, for his scholarly study, "The Significance of Mr. Richard Buckley's Exploding Trousers".
  • Biology - Presented jointly to Benjamin Smith of the University of Adelaide, Australia and the University of Toronto, Canada and the Firmenich perfume company, Geneva, Switzerland, and ChemComm Enterprises, Archamps, France; Craig Williams of James Cook University and the University of South Australia; Michael Tyler of the University of Adelaide; Brian Williams of the University of Adelaide; and Yoji Hayasaka of the Australian Wine Research Institute; for painstakingly smelling and cataloging the peculiar odors produced by 131 different species of frogs when the frogs were feeling stressed.
  • Chemistry - Presented jointly to Edward Cussler of the University of Minnesota and Brian Gettelfinger of the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, for conducting a careful experiment to settle the longstanding scientific question: can people swim faster in syrup or in water? It was found that swimmers in the experiment reach comparable velocity in both media.[14]
  • Economics - Presented to Gauri Nanda of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for inventing Clocky, an alarm clock that runs away and hides, repeatedly, thus ensuring that people get out of bed, and thus theoretically adding many productive hours to the workday.
  • Fluid Dynamics - Presented jointly to Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow of International University Bremen, Germany and the University of Oulu, Finland; and József Gál of Loránd Eötvös University, Hungary, for using basic principles of physics to calculate the pressure that builds up inside a penguin, as detailed in their report "Pressures Produced When Penguins Poo — Calculations on Avian Defecation".
  • Literature - Presented to the Internet entrepreneurs of Nigeria, for creating and then using e-mail to distribute a bold series of short stories, thus introducing millions of readers to a cast of rich characters — General Sani Abacha, Mrs. Mariam Sanni Abacha, Barrister Jon A Mbeki Esq., and others — each of whom requires just a small amount of expense money so as to obtain access to the great wealth to which they are entitled and which they would like to share with the kind person who assists them. (See advance fee fraud.)
  • Medicine - Presented to Gregg A. Miller of Oak Grove, Missouri, for inventing Neuticles — artificial replacement testicles for dogs, which are available in three sizes, and three degrees of firmness.
  • Nutrition - Presented to Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu of Tokyo, Japan, for photographing and retrospectively analyzing every meal he has consumed during a period of 34 years (and counting).
  • Peace - Presented jointly to Claire Rind and Peter Simmons of University of Newcastle, in the UK, for electrically monitoring the activity of a brain cell in a locust while that locust was watching selected highlights from the movie Star Wars.
  • Physics - Presented jointly to John Mainstone and Thomas Parnell of the University of Queensland, Australia, for patiently conducting the so-called pitch drop experiment that began in the year 1927 — in which a glob of congealed black tar pitch has been slowly dripping through a funnel, at a rate of approximately one drop every nine years.

[edit] 2006

[edit] 2007

  • Aviation: Patricia V. Agostino, Santiago A. Plano and Diego A. Golombek, for discovering that hamsters recover from jetlag more quickly when given Viagra.[22][23]
  • Biology: Johanna E.M.H. van Bronswijk, for taking a census of all the mites and other life forms that live in people's beds.[24]
  • Chemistry: Mayu Yamamoto for extracting vanilla flavour from cow dung.[25]
  • Economics: Kuo Cheng Hsieh, for patenting a device to catch bank robbers by ensnaring them in a net.[26]
  • Linguistics: Juan Manuel Toro, Josep B. Trobalon and Nuria Sebastian-Galles, for determining that rats sometimes can't distinguish between recordings of Japanese and Dutch played backward.[27]
  • Literature: Glenda Browne, for her study into indexing entries that start with the word "the".[28]
  • Medicine: Dan Meyer and Brian Witcombe, for investigating the side-effects of swallowing swords.[29]
  • Nutrition: Brian Wansink, for investigating people's appetite for mindless eating by secretly feeding them a self-refilling bowl of soup.[30]
  • Peace: The United States Air Force Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, for suggesting the research and development of a "gay bomb," which would cause enemy troops to become sexually attracted to each other.
  • Physics: L. Mahadevan and Enrique Cerda Villablanca for their theoretical study of how sheets become wrinkled.[31]

[edit] 2008

The "18th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony" was held on 2 October 2008 at Harvard University's Sanders Theatre.[32]
  • Archaeology: Astolfo Gomes de Mello Araujo and Jose Carlos Marcelino, for showing that armadillos can mix up the contents of an archaeological site.[33][34]
  • Biology: Marie-Christine Cadiergues, Christel Joubert, and Michel Franc, for discovering that fleas that live on dogs jump higher than fleas that live on cats.[35]
  • Chemistry: Sheree Umpierre, Joseph Hill, and Deborah Anderson, for discovering that Coca-Cola is an effective spermicide,[36] and C.Y. Hong, C.C. Shieh, P. Wu, and B.N. Chiang for accidentally proving it is not.[37][38]
  • Cognitive science: Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Hiroyasu Yamada, Ryo Kobayashi, Atsushi Tero, Akio Ishiguro, and Ágota Tóth, for discovering that slime molds can solve puzzles.[39][40]
  • Economics: Geoffrey Miller, Joshua Tyber, and Brent Jordan, for discovering that exotic dancers earn more when at peak fertility.[41]
  • Literature: David Sims, for his study "You Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations".[42][43]
  • Medicine: Rebecca Waber and Dan Ariely for demonstrating that expensive placebos are more effective than inexpensive placebos.[44][45]
  • Nutrition: Massimiliano Zampini and Charles Spence, for demonstrating that food tastes better when it sounds more appealing.[46][47]
  • Peace: The Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology and the citizens of Switzerland, for adopting the legal principle that plants have dignity.[48]
  • Physics: Dorian Raymer and Douglas Smith, for proving that heaps of string or hair will inevitably tangle.[49]

[edit] 2009

Year↓ Physics↓ Chemistry↓ Physiology
or Medicine
↓
Literature↓ Peace↓ Economics↓
1901 Röntgen, Wilhelm ConradWilhelm Conrad Röntgen van 't Hoff, Jacobus H.Jacobus H. van 't Hoff von Behring, EmilEmil von Behring Prudhomme, SullySully Prudhomme Dunant, HenryHenry Dunant;
Passy, FrédéricFrédéric Passy
1902 Lorentz, Hendrik A.Hendrik A. Lorentz;
Zeeman, PieterPieter Zeeman
Fischer, Hermann EmilHermann Emil Fischer Ross, RonaldRonald Ross Mommsen, TheodorTheodor Mommsen Ducommun, ÉlieÉlie Ducommun;
Gobat, AlbertAlbert Gobat
1903 Becquerel, HenriHenri Becquerel;
Curie, PierrePierre Curie;
Curie, MarieMarie Curie
Arrhenius, SvanteSvante Arrhenius Finsen, Niels RybergNiels Ryberg Finsen Bjørnson, BjørnstjerneBjørnstjerne Bjørnson Cremer, RandalRandal Cremer
1904 Rayleigh, LordLord Rayleigh Ramsay, WilliamWilliam Ramsay Pavlov, Ivan PetrovichIvan Petrovich Pavlov Mistral, FrédéricFrédéric Mistral;
Echegaray, JoséJosé Echegaray
Institut de Droit International
1905 Lenard, PhilippPhilipp Lenard von Baeyer, AdolfAdolf von Baeyer Koch, RobertRobert Koch Sienkiewicz, HenrykHenryk Sienkiewicz von Suttner, BerthaBertha von Suttner
1906 Thomson, J. J.J. J. Thomson Moissan, HenriHenri Moissan Golgi, CamilloCamillo Golgi;
Ramón y Cajal, SantiagoSantiago Ramón y Cajal
Carducci, GiosuèGiosuè Carducci Roosevelt, TheodoreTheodore Roosevelt
1907 Michelson, Albert A.Albert A. Michelson Buchner, EduardEduard Buchner Laveran, Charles Louis AlphonseCharles Louis Alphonse Laveran Kipling, RudyardRudyard Kipling Moneta, Ernesto TeodoroErnesto Teodoro Moneta;
Renault, LouisLouis Renault
1908 Lippmann, GabrielGabriel Lippmann Rutherford, ErnestErnest Rutherford Mechnikov, Ilya IlyichIlya Ilyich Mechnikov;
Ehrlich, PaulPaul Ehrlich
Eucken, Rudolf ChristophRudolf Christoph Eucken Arnoldson, Klas PontusKlas Pontus Arnoldson;
Bajer, FredrikFredrik Bajer
1909 Braun, FerdinandFerdinand Braun;
Marconi, GuglielmoGuglielmo Marconi
Ostwald, WilhelmWilhelm Ostwald Kocher, Emil TheodorEmil Theodor Kocher Lagerlöf, SelmaSelma Lagerlöf Beernaert, Auguste Marie FrançoisAuguste Marie François Beernaert;
d'Estournelles de Constant, Paul-Henri-BenjaminPaul-Henri-Benjamin d'Estournelles de Constant
1910 van der Waals, Johannes DiderikJohannes Diderik van der Waals Wallach, OttoOtto Wallach Kossel, AlbrechtAlbrecht Kossel Heyse, PaulPaul Heyse International Peace Bureau
1911 Wien, WilhelmWilhelm Wien Curie, MarieMarie Curie Gullstrand, AllvarAllvar Gullstrand Maeterlinck, MauriceMaurice Maeterlinck Asser, Tobias Michael CarelTobias Michael Carel Asser;
Fried, Alfred HermannAlfred Hermann Fried
1912 Dalén, GustafGustaf Dalén Grignard, VictorVictor Grignard;
Sabatier, PaulPaul Sabatier
Carrel, AlexisAlexis Carrel Hauptmann, GerhartGerhart Hauptmann Root, ElihuElihu Root
1913 Onnes, Heike KamerlinghHeike Kamerlingh Onnes Werner, AlfredAlfred Werner Richet, CharlesCharles Richet Tagore, RabindranathRabindranath Tagore La Fontaine, HenriHenri La Fontaine
1914 von Laue, MaxMax von Laue Richards, Theodore WilliamTheodore William Richards Bárány, RobertRobert Bárány None None
1915 Bragg, William HenryWilliam Henry Bragg;
Bragg, William LawrenceWilliam Lawrence Bragg
Willstätter, Richard MartinRichard Martin Willstätter None Rolland, RomainRomain Rolland None
1916 None None None von Heidenstam, VernerVerner von Heidenstam None
1917 Barkla, Charles GloverCharles Glover Barkla None None Gjellerup, Karl AdolphKarl Adolph Gjellerup;
Pontoppidan, HenrikHenrik Pontoppidan
International Committee of the Red Cross
1918 Planck, MaxMax Planck Haber, FritzFritz Haber None None None
1919 Stark, JohannesJohannes Stark None Bordet, JulesJules Bordet Spitteler, CarlCarl Spitteler Wilson, WoodrowWoodrow Wilson
1920 Guillaume, Charles EdouardCharles Edouard Guillaume Nernst, Walther HermannWalther Hermann Nernst Krogh, AugustAugust Krogh Hamsun, KnutKnut Hamsun Bourgeois, LéonLéon Bourgeois
1921 Einstein, AlbertAlbert Einstein Soddy, FrederickFrederick Soddy None France, AnatoleAnatole France Branting, HjalmarHjalmar Branting;
Lange, Christian LousChristian Lous Lange
1922 Bohr, NielsNiels Bohr Aston, Francis WilliamFrancis William Aston Hill, ArchibaldArchibald Hill;
Meyerhof, Otto FritzOtto Fritz Meyerhof
Benavente, JacintoJacinto Benavente Nansen, FridtjofFridtjof Nansen
1923 Millikan, Robert A.Robert A. Millikan Pregl, FritzFritz Pregl Banting, FrederickFrederick Banting;
Macleod, John James RichardJohn James Richard Macleod
Yeats, William ButlerWilliam Butler Yeats None
1924 Siegbahn, ManneManne Siegbahn None Einthoven, WillemWillem Einthoven Reymont, WładysławWładysław Reymont None
1925 Franck, JamesJames Franck;
Hertz, GustavGustav Hertz
Zsigmondy, Richard AdolfRichard Adolf Zsigmondy None Shaw, George BernardGeorge Bernard Shaw Chamberlain, AustenAusten Chamberlain;
Dawes, Charles G.Charles G. Dawes
1926 Perrin, Jean BaptisteJean Baptiste Perrin Svedberg, TheodorTheodor Svedberg Fibiger, Johannes Andreas GribJohannes Andreas Grib Fibiger Deledda, GraziaGrazia Deledda Briand, AristideAristide Briand;
Stresemann, GustavGustav Stresemann
1927 Compton, Arthur H.Arthur H. Compton;
Wilson, Charles Thomson ReesCharles Thomson Rees Wilson
Wieland, Heinrich OttoHeinrich Otto Wieland Wagner-Jauregg, JuliusJulius Wagner-Jauregg Bergson, HenriHenri Bergson Buisson, FerdinandFerdinand Buisson;
Quidde, LudwigLudwig Quidde
1928 Richardson, Owen WillansOwen Willans Richardson Windaus, Adolf Otto ReinholdAdolf Otto Reinhold Windaus Nicolle, CharlesCharles Nicolle Undset, SigridSigrid Undset None
1929 de Broglie, LouisLouis de Broglie Harden, ArthurArthur Harden;
von Euler-Chelpin, HansHans von Euler-Chelpin
Eijkman, ChristiaanChristiaan Eijkman;
Hopkins, Frederick GowlandFrederick Gowland Hopkins
Mann, ThomasThomas Mann Kellogg, Frank B.Frank B. Kellogg
1930 Raman, VenkataVenkata Raman Fischer, HansHans Fischer Landsteiner, KarlKarl Landsteiner Lewis, SinclairSinclair Lewis Söderblom, NathanNathan Söderblom
1931 None Bosch, CarlCarl Bosch;
Bergius, FriedrichFriedrich Bergius
Warburg, Otto HeinrichOtto Heinrich Warburg Karlfeldt, Erik AxelErik Axel Karlfeldt Addams, JaneJane Addams;
Butler, Nicholas MurrayNicholas Murray Butler
1932 Heisenberg, WernerWerner Heisenberg Langmuir, IrvingIrving Langmuir Sherrington, Charles ScottCharles Scott Sherrington;
Adrian, Edgar DouglasEdgar Douglas Adrian
Galsworthy, JohnJohn Galsworthy None
1933 Schrödinger, ErwinErwin Schrödinger;
Dirac, Paul A.M.Paul A.M. Dirac
None Morgan, Thomas HuntThomas Hunt Morgan Bunin, IvanIvan Bunin Angell, NormanNorman Angell
1934 None Urey, Harold ClaytonHarold Clayton Urey Whipple, GeorgeGeorge Whipple;
Minot, GeorgeGeorge Minot;
Murphy, William P.William P. Murphy
Pirandello, LuigiLuigi Pirandello Henderson, ArthurArthur Henderson
1935 Chadwick, JamesJames Chadwick Joliot-Curie, FrédéricFrédéric Joliot-Curie;
Joliot-Curie, IrèneIrène Joliot-Curie
Spemann, HansHans Spemann None von Ossietzky, CarlCarl von Ossietzky
1936 Hess, Victor F.Victor F. Hess;
Anderson, Carl D.Carl D. Anderson
Debye, PeterPeter Debye Dale, Henry HallettHenry Hallett Dale;
Loewi, OttoOtto Loewi
O'Neill, EugeneEugene O'Neill Lamas, Carlos SaavedraCarlos Saavedra Lamas
1937 Davisson, ClintonClinton Davisson;
Thomson, George PagetGeorge Paget Thomson
Haworth, WalterWalter Haworth;
Karrer, PaulPaul Karrer
Szent-Györgyi, AlbertAlbert Szent-Györgyi du Gard, Roger MartinRoger Martin du Gard Chelwood, Viscount, Cecil ofCecil of Chelwood, Viscount
1938 Fermi, EnricoEnrico Fermi Kuhn, RichardRichard Kuhn[A] Heymans, CorneilleCorneille Heymans Buck, Pearl S.Pearl S. Buck Nansen International Office For Refugees
1939 Lawrence, ErnestErnest Lawrence Butenandt, AdolfAdolf Butenandt;[A]
Ružička, LavoslavLavoslav Ružička
Domagk, GerhardGerhard Domagk[A] Sillanpää, Frans EemilFrans Eemil Sillanpää None
1940 None None None None None
1941 None None None None None
1942 None None None None None
1943 Stern, OttoOtto Stern de Hevesy, GeorgeGeorge de Hevesy Dam, HenrikHenrik Dam;
Doisy, Edward AdelbertEdward Adelbert Doisy
None None
1944 Rabi, Isidor IsaacIsidor Isaac Rabi Hahn, OttoOtto Hahn Erlanger, JosephJoseph Erlanger;
Gasser, Herbert SpencerHerbert Spencer Gasser
Jensen, Johannes VilhelmJohannes Vilhelm Jensen International Committee of the Red Cross
1945 Pauli, WolfgangWolfgang Pauli Virtanen, Artturi IlmariArtturi Ilmari Virtanen Fleming, AlexanderAlexander Fleming;
Chain, Ernst BorisErnst Boris Chain;
Florey, Howard WalterHoward Walter Florey
Mistral, GabrielaGabriela Mistral Hull, CordellCordell Hull
1946 Bridgman, Percy W.Percy W. Bridgman Sumner, James B.James B. Sumner;
Northrop, John HowardJohn Howard Northrop;
Stanley, Wendell MeredithWendell Meredith Stanley
Muller, Hermann JosephHermann Joseph Muller Hesse, HermannHermann Hesse Balch, Emily GreeneEmily Greene Balch;
Mott, JohnJohn Mott
1947 Appleton, Edward V.Edward V. Appleton Robinson, RobertRobert Robinson Cori, Carl FerdinandCarl Ferdinand Cori;
Cori, Gerty TheresaGerty Theresa Cori;
Houssay, BernardoBernardo Houssay
Gide, AndréAndré Gide Friends Service Council;
American Friends Service Committee
1948 Blackett, Patrick M.S.Patrick M.S. Blackett Tiselius, ArneArne Tiselius Müller, Paul HermannPaul Hermann Müller Eliot, T. S.T. S. Eliot None[B]
1949 Yukawa, HidekiHideki Yukawa Giauque, WilliamWilliam Giauque Hess, Walter RudolfWalter Rudolf Hess;
Moniz, António EgasAntónio Egas Moniz
Faulkner, WilliamWilliam Faulkner Orr, John BoydJohn Boyd Orr
1950 Powell, CecilCecil Powell Diels, OttoOtto Diels;
Alder, KurtKurt Alder
Hench, Philip ShowalterPhilip Showalter Hench;
Kendall, Edward CalvinEdward Calvin Kendall;
Reichstein, TadeusTadeus Reichstein
Russell, BertrandBertrand Russell Bunche, RalphRalph Bunche
1951 Cockcroft, JohnJohn Cockcroft;
Walton, Ernest T.S.Ernest T.S. Walton
McMillan, EdwinEdwin McMillan;
Seaborg, Glenn T.Glenn T. Seaborg
Theiler, MaxMax Theiler Lagerkvist, PärPär Lagerkvist Jouhaux, LéonLéon Jouhaux
1952 Bloch, FelixFelix Bloch;
Purcell, Edward M.Edward M. Purcell
Martin, Archer John PorterArcher John Porter Martin;
Synge, Richard Laurence MillingtonRichard Laurence Millington Synge
Waksman, SelmanSelman Waksman Mauriac, FrançoisFrançois Mauriac Schweitzer, AlbertAlbert Schweitzer
1953 Zernike, FritsFrits Zernike Staudinger, HermannHermann Staudinger Krebs, Hans AdolfHans Adolf Krebs;
Lipmann, Fritz AlbertFritz Albert Lipmann
Churchill, WinstonWinston Churchill Marshall, GeorgeGeorge Marshall
1954 Born, MaxMax Born;
Bothe, WaltherWalther Bothe
Pauling, LinusLinus Pauling Enders, John FranklinJohn Franklin Enders;
Robbins, Frederick ChapmanFrederick Chapman Robbins;
Weller, Thomas HuckleThomas Huckle Weller
Hemingway, ErnestErnest Hemingway United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
1955 Lamb, Willis E.Willis E. Lamb;
Kusch, PolykarpPolykarp Kusch
du Vigneaud, VincentVincent du Vigneaud Theorell, HugoHugo Theorell Laxness, HalldórHalldór Laxness None
1956 Bardeen, JohnJohn Bardeen;
Brattain, Walter H.Walter H. Brattain;
Shockley, William B.William B. Shockley
Hinshelwood, Cyril NormanCyril Norman Hinshelwood;
Semenov, Nikolay NikolaevichNikolay Nikolaevich Semenov
Cournand, André FrédéricAndré Frédéric Cournand;
Forssmann, WernerWerner Forssmann;
Richards, Dickinson W.Dickinson W. Richards
Jiménez, Juan RamónJuan Ramón Jiménez None
1957 Yang, Chen NingChen Ning Yang;
Lee, Tsung-DaoTsung-Dao Lee
Todd, Lord (Alexander R.)Lord (Alexander R.) Todd Bovet, DanielDaniel Bovet Camus, AlbertAlbert Camus Pearson, Lester B.Lester B. Pearson
1958 Cherenkov, Pavel A.Pavel A. Cherenkov;
Frank, Il´ja M.Il´ja M. Frank;
Tamm, Igor Y.Igor Y. Tamm
Sanger, FrederickFrederick Sanger Beadle, George WellsGeorge Wells Beadle;
Tatum, Edward LawrieEdward Lawrie Tatum;
Lederberg, JoshuaJoshua Lederberg
Pasternak, BorisBoris Pasternak[C] Pire, GeorgesGeorges Pire
1959 Segrè, EmilioEmilio Segrè;
Chamberlain, OwenOwen Chamberlain
Heyrovský, JaroslavJaroslav Heyrovský Kornberg, ArthurArthur Kornberg;
Ochoa, SeveroSevero Ochoa
Quasimodo, SalvatoreSalvatore Quasimodo Noel-Baker, Philip J.Philip J. Noel-Baker
1960 Glaser, Donald A.Donald A. Glaser Libby, WillardWillard Libby Burnet, Frank MacfarlaneFrank Macfarlane Burnet;
Medawar, PeterPeter Medawar
Perse, Saint-JohnSaint-John Perse Lutuli, AlbertAlbert Lutuli
1961 Hofstadter, RobertRobert Hofstadter;
Mössbauer, RudolfRudolf Mössbauer
Calvin, MelvinMelvin Calvin von Békésy, GeorgGeorg von Békésy Andrić, IvoIvo Andrić Hammarskjöld, DagDag Hammarskjöld
1962 Landau, LevLev Landau Perutz, MaxMax Perutz;
Kendrew, JohnJohn Kendrew
Crick, FrancisFrancis Crick;
Watson, James D.James D. Watson;
Wilkins, MauriceMaurice Wilkins
Steinbeck, JohnJohn Steinbeck Pauling, LinusLinus Pauling
1963 Wigner, EugeneEugene Wigner;
Goeppert-Mayer, MariaMaria Goeppert-Mayer;
Jensen, J. Hans D.J. Hans D. Jensen
Ziegler, KarlKarl Ziegler;
Natta, GiulioGiulio Natta
Eccles, John CarewJohn Carew Eccles;
Hodgkin, Alan LloydAlan Lloyd Hodgkin;
Huxley, AndrewAndrew Huxley
Seferis, GiorgosGiorgos Seferis International Committee of the Red Cross;
League of Red Cross societies
1964 Townes, Charles H.Charles H. Townes;
Basov, Nicolay G.Nicolay G. Basov;
Prokhorov, Aleksandr M.Aleksandr M. Prokhorov
Hodgkin, Dorothy CrowfootDorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Bloch, Konrad EmilKonrad Emil Bloch;
Lynen, Feodor Felix KonradFeodor Felix Konrad Lynen
Sartre, Jean-PaulJean-Paul Sartre[D] King, Jr., Martin LutherMartin Luther King, Jr.
1965 Tomonaga, Sin-ItiroSin-Itiro Tomonaga;
Schwinger, JulianJulian Schwinger;
Feynman, Richard P.Richard P. Feynman
Woodward, Robert BurnsRobert Burns Woodward Jacob, FrançoisFrançois Jacob;
Lwoff, André MichelAndré Michel Lwoff;
Monod, JacquesJacques Monod
Sholokhov, Michail AleksandrovichMichail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
1966 Kastler, AlfredAlfred Kastler Mulliken, Robert S.Robert S. Mulliken Rous, Francis PeytonFrancis Peyton Rous;
Huggins, Charles BrentonCharles Brenton Huggins
Agnon, Shmuel YosefShmuel Yosef Agnon;
Sachs, NellyNelly Sachs
None
1967 Bethe, HansHans Bethe Eigen, ManfredManfred Eigen;
Norrish, Ronald George WreyfordRonald George Wreyford Norrish;
Porter, GeorgeGeorge Porter
Granit, RagnarRagnar Granit;
Hartline, Haldan KefferHaldan Keffer Hartline;
Wald, GeorgeGeorge Wald
Asturias, Miguel ÁngelMiguel Ángel Asturias None
1968 Alvarez, LuisLuis Alvarez Onsager, LarsLars Onsager Holley, Robert W.Robert W. Holley;
Khorana, Har GobindHar Gobind Khorana;
Nirenberg, Marshall WarrenMarshall Warren Nirenberg
Kawabata, YasunariYasunari Kawabata Cassin, RenéRené Cassin
1969 Gell-Mann, MurrayMurray Gell-Mann Barton, DerekDerek Barton;
Hassel, OddOdd Hassel
Delbrück, MaxMax Delbrück;
Hershey, AlfredAlfred Hershey;
Luria, SalvadorSalvador Luria
Beckett, SamuelSamuel Beckett International Labour Organization Frisch, Ragnar Anton KittilRagnar Anton Kittil Frisch;
Tinbergen, JanJan Tinbergen
1970 Alfvén, HannesHannes Alfvén;
Néel, LouisLouis Néel
Leloir, Luis F.Luis F. Leloir Axelrod, JuliusJulius Axelrod;
von Euler, UlfUlf von Euler;
Katz, BernardBernard Katz
Solzhenitsyn, AleksandrAleksandr Solzhenitsyn Borlaug, NormanNorman Borlaug Samuelson, PaulPaul Samuelson
1971 Gabor, DennisDennis Gabor Herzberg, GerhardGerhard Herzberg Sutherland, Jr., Earl WilburEarl Wilbur Sutherland, Jr. Neruda, PabloPablo Neruda Brandt, WillyWilly Brandt Kuznets, SimonSimon Kuznets
1972 Bardeen, JohnJohn Bardeen;
Cooper, Leon NeilLeon Neil Cooper;
Schrieffer, RobertRobert Schrieffer
Anfinsen, Christian B.Christian B. Anfinsen;
Moore, StanfordStanford Moore;
Stein, William HowardWilliam Howard Stein
Edelman, GeraldGerald Edelman;
Porter, Rodney RobertRodney Robert Porter
Böll, HeinrichHeinrich Böll None Hicks, JohnJohn Hicks;
Arrow, KennethKenneth Arrow
1973 Esaki, LeoLeo Esaki;
Giaever, IvarIvar Giaever;
Josephson, Brian DavidBrian David Josephson
Fischer, Ernst OttoErnst Otto Fischer;
Wilkinson, GeoffreyGeoffrey Wilkinson
von Frisch, KarlKarl von Frisch;
Lorenz, KonradKonrad Lorenz;
Tinbergen, NikolaasNikolaas Tinbergen
White, PatrickPatrick White Kissinger, HenryHenry Kissinger;
Thọ, Lê ÐứcLê Ðức Thọ[E]
Leontief, WassilyWassily Leontief
1974 Ryle, MartinMartin Ryle;
Hewish, AntonyAntony Hewish
Flory, PaulPaul Flory Claude, AlbertAlbert Claude;
de Duve, ChristianChristian de Duve;
Palade, George EmilGeorge Emil Palade
Johnson, EyvindEyvind Johnson;
Martinson, HarryHarry Martinson
MacBride, SeánSeán MacBride;
Satō, EisakuEisaku Satō
Myrdal, GunnarGunnar Myrdal;
Hayek, FriedrichFriedrich Hayek
1975 Bohr, AageAage Bohr;
Mottelson, Ben R.Ben R. Mottelson;
Rainwater, JamesJames Rainwater
Cornforth, JohnJohn Cornforth;
Prelog, VladimirVladimir Prelog
Baltimore, DavidDavid Baltimore;
Dulbecco, RenatoRenato Dulbecco;
Temin, Howard MartinHoward Martin Temin
Montale, EugenioEugenio Montale Sakharov, AndreiAndrei Sakharov Kantorovich, LeonidLeonid Kantorovich;
Koopmans, TjallingTjalling Koopmans
1976 Richter, BurtonBurton Richter;
Ting, Samuel C.C.Samuel C.C. Ting
Lipscomb, WilliamWilliam Lipscomb Blumberg, Baruch SamuelBaruch Samuel Blumberg;
Gajdusek, Daniel CarletonDaniel Carleton Gajdusek
Bellow, SaulSaul Bellow Williams, BettyBetty Williams;
Corrigan, MaireadMairead Corrigan
Friedman, MiltonMilton Friedman
1977 Anderson, Philip WarrenPhilip Warren Anderson;
Mott, Sir Nevill F.Sir Nevill F. Mott;
van Vleck, John H.John H. van Vleck
Prigogine, IlyaIlya Prigogine Guillemin, RogerRoger Guillemin;
Schally, AndrewAndrew Schally;
Yalow, Rosalyn SussmanRosalyn Sussman Yalow
Aleixandre, VicenteVicente Aleixandre Amnesty International Ohlin, BertilBertil Ohlin;
Meade, JamesJames Meade
1978 Kapitsa, PyotrPyotr Kapitsa;
Penzias, ArnoArno Penzias;
Wilson, Robert WoodrowRobert Woodrow Wilson
Mitchell, Peter D.Peter D. Mitchell Arber, WernerWerner Arber;
Nathans, DanielDaniel Nathans;
Smith, Hamilton O.Hamilton O. Smith
Singer, Isaac BashevisIsaac Bashevis Singer Sadat, Anwar ElAnwar El Sadat;
Begin, MenachemMenachem Begin
Simon, HerbertHerbert Simon
1979 Glashow, SheldonSheldon Glashow;
Salam, AbdusAbdus Salam;
Weinberg, StevenSteven Weinberg
Brown, Herbert C.Herbert C. Brown;
Wittig, GeorgGeorg Wittig
Cormack, Allan McLeodAllan McLeod Cormack;
Hounsfield, GodfreyGodfrey Hounsfield
Elytis, OdysseasOdysseas Elytis Teresa, MotherMother Teresa Schultz, TheodoreTheodore Schultz;
Lewis, ArthurArthur Lewis
1980 Cronin, JamesJames Cronin;
Fitch, ValVal Fitch
Berg, PaulPaul Berg;
Gilbert, WalterWalter Gilbert;
Sanger, FrederickFrederick Sanger
Benacerraf, BarujBaruj Benacerraf;
Dausset, JeanJean Dausset;
Snell, George DavisGeorge Davis Snell
Miłosz, CzesławCzesław Miłosz Esquivel, Adolfo PérezAdolfo Pérez Esquivel Klein, LawrenceLawrence Klein
1981 Bloembergen, NicolaasNicolaas Bloembergen;
Schawlow, Arthur L.Arthur L. Schawlow;
Siegbahn, Kai M.Kai M. Siegbahn
Fukui, KenichiKenichi Fukui;
Hoffmann, RoaldRoald Hoffmann
Sperry, Roger W.Roger W. Sperry;
Hubel, David H.David H. Hubel;
Wiesel, Torsten N.Torsten N. Wiesel
Canetti, EliasElias Canetti United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Tobin, JamesJames Tobin
1982 Wilson, Kenneth G.Kenneth G. Wilson Klug, AaronAaron Klug Bergström, SuneSune Bergström;
Samuelsson, Bengt I.Bengt I. Samuelsson;
Vane, John RobertJohn Robert Vane
Márquez, Gabriel GarcíaGabriel García Márquez Myrdal, AlvaAlva Myrdal;
Robles, Alfonso GarcíaAlfonso García Robles
Stigler, GeorgeGeorge Stigler
1983 Chandrasekhar, SubramanyanSubramanyan Chandrasekhar;
Fowler, William A.William A. Fowler
Taube, HenryHenry Taube McClintock, BarbaraBarbara McClintock Golding, WilliamWilliam Golding Wałęsa, LechLech Wałęsa Debreu, GérardGérard Debreu
1984 Rubbia, CarloCarlo Rubbia;
van der Meer, SimonSimon van der Meer
Merrifield, Robert BruceRobert Bruce Merrifield Jerne, Niels KajNiels Kaj Jerne;
Köhler, Georges J. F.Georges J. F. Köhler;
Milstein, CésarCésar Milstein
Seifert, JaroslavJaroslav Seifert Tutu, DesmondDesmond Tutu Stone, RichardRichard Stone
1985 von Klitzing, KlausKlaus von Klitzing Hauptman, Herbert A.Herbert A. Hauptman;
Karle, JeromeJerome Karle
Brown, Michael StuartMichael Stuart Brown;
Goldstein, Joseph L.Joseph L. Goldstein
Simon, ClaudeClaude Simon International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War Modigliani, FrancoFranco Modigliani
1986 Ruska, ErnstErnst Ruska;
Binnig, GerdGerd Binnig;
Rohrer, HeinrichHeinrich Rohrer
Herschbach, Dudley R.Dudley R. Herschbach;
Lee, Yuan T.Yuan T. Lee;
Polanyi, John C.John C. Polanyi
Cohen, StanleyStanley Cohen;
Levi-Montalcini, RitaRita Levi-Montalcini
Soyinka, WoleWole Soyinka Wiesel, ElieElie Wiesel Buchanan, James M.James M. Buchanan
1987 Bednorz, J. GeorgJ. Georg Bednorz;
Müller, K. AlexK. Alex Müller
Cram, Donald J.Donald J. Cram;
Lehn, Jean-MarieJean-Marie Lehn;
Pedersen, Charles J.Charles J. Pedersen
Tonegawa, SusumuSusumu Tonegawa Brodsky, JosephJoseph Brodsky Arias, ÓscarÓscar Arias Solow, RobertRobert Solow
1988 Lederman, Leon M.Leon M. Lederman;
Schwartz, MelvinMelvin Schwartz;
Steinberger, JackJack Steinberger
Deisenhofer, JohannJohann Deisenhofer;
Huber, RobertRobert Huber;
Michel, HartmutHartmut Michel
Black, James W.James W. Black;
Elion, Gertrude B.Gertrude B. Elion;
Hitchings, George H.George H. Hitchings
Mahfouz, NaguibNaguib Mahfouz United Nations Peace-Keeping Forces Allais, MauriceMaurice Allais
1989 Ramsey, Norman F.Norman F. Ramsey;
Dehmelt, Hans G.Hans G. Dehmelt;
Paul, WolfgangWolfgang Paul
Altman, SidneySidney Altman;
Cech, ThomasThomas Cech
Bishop, J. MichaelJ. Michael Bishop;
Varmus, Harold E.Harold E. Varmus
Cela, Camilo JoséCamilo José Cela Gyatso, TenzinTenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama Haavelmo, TrygveTrygve Haavelmo
1990 Friedman, Jerome I.Jerome I. Friedman;
Kendall, Henry W.Henry W. Kendall;
Taylor, Richard E.Richard E. Taylor
Corey, Elias JamesElias James Corey Murray, JosephJoseph Murray;
Thomas, E. DonnallE. Donnall Thomas
Paz, OctavioOctavio Paz Gorbachev, MikhailMikhail Gorbachev Markowitz, HarryHarry Markowitz;
Miller, MertonMerton Miller;
Sharpe, William ForsythWilliam Forsyth Sharpe
1991 de Gennes, Pierre-GillesPierre-Gilles de Gennes Ernst, Richard R.Richard R. Ernst Neher, ErwinErwin Neher;
Sakmann, BertBert Sakmann
Gordimer, NadineNadine Gordimer Suu Kyi, Aung SanAung San Suu Kyi Coase, RonaldRonald Coase
1992 Charpak, GeorgesGeorges Charpak Marcus, Rudolph A.Rudolph A. Marcus Fischer, Edmond H.Edmond H. Fischer;
Krebs, Edwin G.Edwin G. Krebs
Walcott, DerekDerek Walcott Menchú, RigobertaRigoberta Menchú Becker, GaryGary Becker
1993 Hulse, Russell A.Russell A. Hulse;
Taylor, Jr., Joseph H.Joseph H. Taylor, Jr.
Mullis, KaryKary Mullis;
Smith, MichaelMichael Smith
Roberts, Richard J.Richard J. Roberts;
Sharp, Phillip AllenPhillip Allen Sharp
Morrison, ToniToni Morrison Mandela, NelsonNelson Mandela;
de Klerk, Frederik WillemFrederik Willem de Klerk
Fogel, RobertRobert Fogel;
North, DouglassDouglass North
1994 Brockhouse, Bertram N.Bertram N. Brockhouse;
Shull, Clifford G.Clifford G. Shull
Olah, George AndrewGeorge Andrew Olah Gilman, Alfred G.Alfred G. Gilman;
Rodbell, MartinMartin Rodbell
Oe, KenzaburoKenzaburo Oe Arafat, YasserYasser Arafat;
Peres, ShimonShimon Peres;
Rabin, YitzhakYitzhak Rabin
Harsanyi, JohnJohn Harsanyi;
Nash, John ForbesJohn Forbes Nash;
Selten, ReinhardReinhard Selten
1995 Perl, Martin L.Martin L. Perl;
Reines, FrederickFrederick Reines
Crutzen, Paul J.Paul J. Crutzen;
Molina, Mario J.Mario J. Molina;
Rowland, Frank SherwoodFrank Sherwood Rowland
Lewis, Edward B.Edward B. Lewis;
Nüsslein-Volhard, ChristianeChristiane Nüsslein-Volhard;
Wieschaus, Eric F.Eric F. Wieschaus
Heaney, SeamusSeamus Heaney Rotblat, JosephJoseph Rotblat;
Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
Lucas, Jr., RobertRobert Lucas, Jr.
1996 Lee, David M.David M. Lee;
Osheroff, Douglas D.Douglas D. Osheroff;
Richardson, Robert ColemanRobert Coleman Richardson
Curl Jr., Robert F.Robert F. Curl Jr.;
Kroto, HaroldHarold Kroto;
Smalley, RichardRichard Smalley
Doherty, Peter C.Peter C. Doherty;
Zinkernagel, Rolf M.Rolf M. Zinkernagel
Szymborska, WisławaWisława Szymborska Belo, Carlos Filipe XimenesCarlos Filipe Ximenes Belo;
Ramos-Horta, JoséJosé Ramos-Horta
Mirrlees, JamesJames Mirrlees;
Vickrey, WilliamWilliam Vickrey
1997 Chu, StevenSteven Chu;
Cohen-Tannoudji, ClaudeClaude Cohen-Tannoudji;
Phillips, William D.William D. Phillips
Boyer, Paul D.Paul D. Boyer;
Walker, John E.John E. Walker;
Skou, Jens ChristianJens Christian Skou
Prusiner, Stanley B.Stanley B. Prusiner Fo, DarioDario Fo International Campaign to Ban Landmines;
Williams, JodyJody Williams
Merton, Robert C.Robert C. Merton;
Scholes, MyronMyron Scholes
1998 Laughlin, Robert B.Robert B. Laughlin;
Störmer, Horst L.Horst L. Störmer;
Tsui, Daniel C.Daniel C. Tsui
Kohn, WalterWalter Kohn;
Pople, JohnJohn Pople
Furchgott, Robert F.Robert F. Furchgott;
Ignarro, Louis J.Louis J. Ignarro;
Murad, FeridFerid Murad
Saramago, JoséJosé Saramago Hume, JohnJohn Hume;
Trimble, DavidDavid Trimble
Sen, AmartyaAmartya Sen
1999 Hooft, Gerardus 'tGerardus 't Hooft;
Veltman, Martinus J.G.Martinus J.G. Veltman
Zewail, AhmedAhmed Zewail Blobel, GünterGünter Blobel Grass, GünterGünter Grass Médecins Sans Frontières Mundell, RobertRobert Mundell
2000 Alferov, Zhores I.Zhores I. Alferov;
Kroemer, HerbertHerbert Kroemer;
Kilby, JackJack Kilby
Heeger, Alan J.Alan J. Heeger;
MacDiarmid, AlanAlan MacDiarmid;
Shirakawa, HidekiHideki Shirakawa
Carlsson, ArvidArvid Carlsson;
Greengard, PaulPaul Greengard;
Kandel, EricEric Kandel
Xingjian, GaoGao Xingjian Jung, Kim DaeKim Dae Jung Heckman, JamesJames Heckman;
McFadden, DanielDaniel McFadden
2001 Cornell, Eric A.Eric A. Cornell;
Ketterle, WolfgangWolfgang Ketterle;
Wieman, Carl E.Carl E. Wieman
Knowles, William S.William S. Knowles;
Noyori, RyojiRyoji Noyori;
Sharpless, Karl BarryKarl Barry Sharpless
Hartwell, Leland H.Leland H. Hartwell;
Hunt, TimTim Hunt;
Nurse, PaulPaul Nurse
Naipaul, V. S.V. S. Naipaul United Nations;
Annan, KofiKofi Annan
Akerlof, GeorgeGeorge Akerlof;
Spence, MichaelMichael Spence;
Stiglitz, Joseph E.Joseph E. Stiglitz
2002 Davis, Jr., RaymondRaymond Davis, Jr.;
Koshiba, MasatoshiMasatoshi Koshiba;
Giacconi, RiccardoRiccardo Giacconi
Fenn, John BennettJohn Bennett Fenn;
Tanaka, KoichiKoichi Tanaka;
Wüthrich, KurtKurt Wüthrich
Brenner, SydneySydney Brenner;
Horvitz, H. RobertH. Robert Horvitz;
Sulston, John E.John E. Sulston
Kertész, ImreImre Kertész Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter Kahneman, DanielDaniel Kahneman;
Smith, Vernon L.Vernon L. Smith
2003 Abrikosov, Alexei A.Alexei A. Abrikosov;
Ginzburg, Vitaly L.Vitaly L. Ginzburg;
Leggett, Anthony J.Anthony J. Leggett
Agre, PeterPeter Agre;
MacKinnon, RoderickRoderick MacKinnon
Lauterbur, PaulPaul Lauterbur;
Mansfield, PeterPeter Mansfield
Coetzee, J. M.J. M. Coetzee Ebadi, ShirinShirin Ebadi Engle, Robert F.Robert F. Engle;
Granger, CliveClive Granger
2004 Gross, David J.David J. Gross;
Politzer, H. DavidH. David Politzer;
Wilczek, FrankFrank Wilczek
Ciechanover, AaronAaron Ciechanover;
Hershko, AvramAvram Hershko;
Rose, IrwinIrwin Rose
Axel, RichardRichard Axel;
Buck, Linda B.Linda B. Buck
Jelinek, ElfriedeElfriede Jelinek Maathai, WangariWangari Maathai Kydland, Finn E.Finn E. Kydland;
Prescott, Edward C.Edward C. Prescott
2005 Glauber, Roy J.Roy J. Glauber;
Hall, John L.John L. Hall;
Hänsch, Theodor W.Theodor W. Hänsch
Chauvin, YvesYves Chauvin;
Grubbs, Robert H.Robert H. Grubbs;
Schrock, Richard R.Richard R. Schrock
Marshall, BarryBarry Marshall;
Warren, RobinRobin Warren
Pinter, HaroldHarold Pinter International Atomic Energy Agency;
ElBaradei, MohamedMohamed ElBaradei
Aumann, RobertRobert Aumann;
Schelling, ThomasThomas Schelling
2006 Mather, John C.John C. Mather;
Smoot, George F.George F. Smoot
Kornberg, Roger D.Roger D. Kornberg Fire, AndrewAndrew Fire;
Mello, CraigCraig Mello
Pamuk, OrhanOrhan Pamuk Yunus, MuhammadMuhammad Yunus;
Grameen Bank
Phelps, EdmundEdmund Phelps
2007 Fert, AlbertAlbert Fert;
Grünberg, PeterPeter Grünberg
Ertl, GerhardGerhard Ertl Capecchi, MarioMario Capecchi;
Evans, MartinMartin Evans;
Smithies, OliverOliver Smithies
Lessing, DorisDoris Lessing Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;
Gore, AlAl Gore
Hurwicz, LeonidLeonid Hurwicz;
Maskin, EricEric Maskin;
Myerson, RogerRoger Myerson
2008 Nambu, YoichiroYoichiro Nambu;
Kobayashi, MakotoMakoto Kobayashi;
Maskawa, ToshihideToshihide Maskawa
Shimomura, OsamuOsamu Shimomura;
Chalfie, MartinMartin Chalfie;
Tsien, Roger Y.Roger Y. Tsien
zur Hausen, HaraldHarald zur Hausen;
Barré-Sinoussi, FrançoiseFrançoise Barré-Sinoussi;
Montagnier, LucLuc Montagnier
Le Clézio, Jean-Marie GustaveJean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio Ahtisaari, MarttiMartti Ahtisaari Krugman, PaulPaul Krugman
2009 Kao, Charles K.Charles K. Kao;
Boyle, Willard S.Willard S. Boyle;
Smith, George E.George E. Smith
Ramakrishnan, VenkatramanVenkatraman Ramakrishnan;
Steitz, Thomas A.Thomas A. Steitz;
Yonath, Ada E.Ada E. Yonath
Blackburn, ElizabethElizabeth Blackburn;
Greider, Carol W.Carol W. Greider;
Szostak, Jack W.Jack W. Szostak
Müller, HertaHerta Müller Obama II, Barack HusseinBarack Hussein Obama II Ostrom, ElinorElinor Ostrom;
Williamson, Oliver E.Oliver E. Williamson
Year Physics Chemistry Physiology
or Medicine
Literature Peace Economics

See also