Nobel 2010

Alfred Nobel Born on October 21 in 1833, Nobel was a resident of Sweden and belonged to a family of engineers. Though unlike his family, Nobel was not only an engineer but also a chemist and an inventor. In 1895 Nobel decided to purchase the Bofors iron and steel mill and convert it into a major armaments manufacturing company. Here, Nobel invented around 355 explosives, the most famous ones being the dynamite and ballistite – a smokeless propellant used in various fire arms and artillery. These inventions earned him a lot of money.

In 1888 Nobel had the misfortune of witnessing his own obituary which read – The merchant of death is dead. This mishap took place as Nobel’s brother Ludvig passed away and the French newspaper mistook this as his death. This incident got Nobel very upset and he decided to rewrite his will. To the surprise of many, his last will requested that all his fortune should be used to create a series of prizes for those who confer the “greatest benefit on mankind” in the fields of physics, chemistry, peace, physiology or medicine, and literature and hence the Nobel Prize was born.

NOBEL  2010

Finding the Right Match

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2010 was awarded jointly to
Peter A Diamond, Dale T Mortensen and Christopher A Pissarides “for their analysis of markets with search
frictions” (This model helps us understand the ways in which unemployment, job vacancies, and wages are
affected by regulation and economic policy).

Molecule Makers

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2010 was awarded jointly to Richard F Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki “for palladium-catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis” (This model is an efficient way to create chains of carbon atoms forming a stable “skeleton” for organic molecules, a critical tool for the synthesis of complex
molecules).

Graphene: Carbon’s New Face

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2010 was awarded jointly to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov “for
groundbreaking experiments regarding the twodimensional material graphene”- that’s just one atom thick, yet super- strong, and practically transparent.

The Father of the Test Tube Baby

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2010 was awarded to Robert G Edwards “for the development of in vitro fertilization” (This model has so far led to the birth of around 4 million people).

Freedom of Speech in China

The Nobel Peace Prize 2010 was awarded to Liu Xiaobo “for his long and non-violent struggle for  fundamental human rights in China.”

A truly international citizen

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2010 was awarded to Mario Vargas Llosa who is Peruvian by birth “for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual’s resistance, revolt, and defeat” (Vargas embraces multiple genres (novels, plays, essays), and politics too, he is committed to social change).

 Facts 

@ Nomination forms are sent by the Nobel Committee to about 3000 individuals, usually in the previous

September.

@ The Nobel Committee nominates about 300 potential laureates. They are not publicly named, nor told that
they are being considered for the prize.

@ All nomination records are sealed for 50 years from the awarding of the prize.

@ Each laureate receives a gold medal, diploma, and a sum of money. 

@ A prize cannot be shared by more than three people.

@ All Nobel Prizes, except Peace, are presented in Stockholm on 10 December by King Carl XVI Gustaf of
Sweden. The Peace Prize is presented in Oslo by the Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in the
presence of King Harald V of Norway.

Subscribe to Child Project Helper by Email