Let’s learn about the Nobel Prize
These awards are the most prestigious honors in science
Here, two 2021 Nobel laureates hold up chocolate versions of their gold Nobel medals. On the left is Benjamin List, who won a Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing a tool for building molecules. On the right is Klaus Hasselmann, who won a Nobel Prize in physics for his work on climate modeling.
Sean Gallup/Staff/Getty Images
Early October is an exciting time for science. It’s when the annual Nobel Prizes for physics, chemistry and physiology or medicine are announced. These awards are widely considered the highest honors in science. The winners don’t just take home gold medals and hefty cash prizes. They become instant international celebrities.
Swedish inventor and engineer Alfred Nobel established the Nobel Prizes. He was best known for inventing dynamite, which earned him a large fortune. When Nobel died in 1896, he left much of his money to reward people whose work had “the greatest benefit to humankind.” To that end, the executors of his will set up five annual Nobel Prizes. Three honor breakthroughs in science. The other two recognize outstanding literature and efforts to foster international peace. (The Nobel Prize in Economics came later, in 1968. Sweden’s central bank funded it.)
Each year, scientists around the world nominate researchers for the Nobel Prizes in science. Committees then pick up to three winners for each prize. Many of these winners, or laureates, are now household names. Albert Einstein, for instance, won a physics Nobel in 1921. He was honored for discovering the photoelectric effect. (That’s when a material throws off charged particles in response to soaking up light.) And James Watson and Francis Crick won the Nobel for physiology or medicine in 1962. That prize honored their discovery of DNA’s shape.
Marie Curie became the first person ever to win two Nobels. She shared the Nobel Prize in physics in 1903 with her husband, Pierre Curie, and a third researcher. They studied radiation. Marie then won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1911. That award recognized her discovery of the elements radium and polonium.
Nobel laureates’ superstar status is certainly well deserved. But the Nobel Prizes are far from perfect measures of scientific achievement. There are many more pioneering scientists than there are Nobel Prizes. And there are whole fields of science for which there is no Nobel. Plus, certain types of scientists tend to get nominated and picked for these prizes way more than others. Specifically, Nobel laureates are mostly older, white men.
As of the 2024 Nobels, only 25 of the roughly 640 total winners of science Nobel Prizes have been women. And none of them have been Black. Yet many female scientists and scientists of color have made groundbreaking discoveries worthy of the limelight. Meet some of science’s most important, yet overlooked trailblazers in Science News’ Unsung Characters collection.
Want to know more? We’ve got some stories to get you started:
RNA work that led to COVID-19 vaccines wins 2023 Nobel in medicine Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman overcame hurdles to using mRNA for medicine. This led to COVID vaccines — and maybe, one day, some for other infections. (10/2/2023) Readability: 7.3
Efforts to create ultrafast light pulses win 2023 physics Nobel Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier won the prize for creating light bursts that last billionths of a billionth of a second. (10/3/2023) Readability: 8.3
Creation of quantum dots wins 2023 chemistry Nobel The award honors three scientists who discovered and built quantum dots, which are now used in everything from TVs to medical tools. (10/4/2023) Readability: 7.8
Activities
Looking for a new strategy or memory puzzle to test yourself against? Check out this collection of Nobel-inspired games! Assume the role of Cell Division Supervisor to make sure your cell replicates the right way before dying off. Or assist in a virtual MRI investigation. Or master the art of conditional learning by making a virtual Pavlov’s dog to drool on command. Each game comes with a short description of the Nobel-winning work that inspired it.
Explore more
Experiments on ‘entangled’ quantum particles won the physics Nobel Prize
Examining Neandertal and Denisovan DNA wins a 2022 Nobel Prize
Lego-like way to snap molecules together wins 2022 chemistry Nobel
Editor’s Note: This story was updated on October 9, 2024 to correct the number of women who have won a Nobel Prize in science. Sixty-four women have won Nobel Prizes in total. But only 25 have won Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry and physiology or medicine.
