Guide to the Nobel Prize and Prize Recipients

1995 - German Stamp featuring Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) became quite wealthy through his more than 300 inventions, including especially that of dynamite in 1866. In his Last Will and Testament, Nobel bequeathed prizes to be awarded on an annual basis to individuals most benefiting mankind by their accomplishments in physics, chemistry, peace, medicine, and literature. From this arose the Nobel Foundation. Prizes were first awarded in 1901. In 1968, “economic sciences” was added to the topics selected to win prizes.

Nobel Prizes not only recognize important contributions to society but also include a medal, a diploma, and a cash award that depends upon the income of the Nobel Foundation for the year. In 2009, the awards were more than one million dollars. The prize cannot be awarded posthumously, but only to living recipients. Knowledgeable Bright Hub contributors have published educational pieces related to the Nobel Prize and its recipients.

The Thermal Expansion of Water Why do icebergs float in water? Why do pipes burst in the winter? How is it that life can exist in arctic seas? The answers lie in the thermal expansion of water....	Understanding Human Genetic Disorders: The Use of Fluorescent Markers The 2008 Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to two American scientists and a Japanese researcher for their work on exploiting the genetic mechanism responsible for luminosity in...
George Palade: The Cell Biologist Who Discovered Ribosomes George Palade has been described as the founder of cell biology. He did ground-breaking research in the structure of the cell and its functioning....	Who Discovered Ribosomes? Ribosomes are fascinating sub cellular organelles that play a key role in the organism - but who was first to discover them? Find out about the first steps of investigating the...

The Scientist who Discovered the Endoplasmic Reticulum

Albert Claude was a renowned biologist who is famous for winning the Nobel Prize for Medicine, but very few people know about his interesting journey from being a high school dropout to becoming a leading...

Linus Pauling and the Discovery of DNA

Linus Pauling (1901-1994) was one of the most brilliant scientists of the 20th century. He worked out the structure of proteins and was involved in the race to discover the structure of DNA. That...

Learn More About the Scientists Who Discovered DNA and its Structure

It was Watson and Crick's landmark paper that detailed the double helical structure of DNA, but there is also a long list of inspirational scientists who played key roles in one of the biggest discoveries...

Watson & Crick and the Discovery of the Double Helix

How did the discovery of the structure of DNA come about, and what steps led to this discovery?...

Fun Facts About Albert Einstein and His Contributions to Math and Physics

Albert Einstein was a genius theoretical physicist. He is best known for his mass-energy equivalence, theory of relativity, Brownian motion and photoelectric effect. He was honored with the Nobel Prize...

Profile of Barbara McClintock

Barbara McClintock (1902-1992), who focused on maize genetics, studied the transposition of genes on chromosomes during breeding. McClintock won awards throughout her career...

The Scientist who Discovered the Endoplasmic Reticulum

Albert Claude was a renowned biologist who is famous for winning the Nobel Prize for Medicine, but very few people know about his interesting journey from being a high school dropout...