Nobel Prize is a very prestigious award given to people working across various domains to commemorate their intellectual achievements in the world. The Nobel Prize 2021 started on 6th October and ended on 11th October.
When did the Nobel Prize distribution ceremony start? Who decides the list of Nobel laureates every year? It all started in the year 1895 when Sir Alfred Nobel declared that most of his fortune will be distributed as the fund for the Nobel Prize to those who have done something extraordinarily impressive to benefit mankind. Let us find out what this prize is all about.
Sir Alfred Nobel was a brilliant Swedish industrialist and inventor. He was the inventor of the blasting cap, dynamite, and gelignite. He made a huge fortune during that time. He then decided and wrote in his will that the major part of his fortune will be donated to patronise the scientists, inventors, and reformers whose work will benefit mankind in their specific domains of research.
It was decided in 1895 that the prize will be given in the name of this prodigious inventor. A committee was set to decide on five categories of Nobel Prize specifically in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Peace, and Literature.
The first prize distribution was held on 10th December 1901. That day was the 5th Anniversary of Sir Alfred Nobel’s death. Another segment was added to these categories, namely, Economic Sciences with the name Sveriges Riksbank Prize in the memory of the inventor in 1968. This category was created in the Bank of Sweden in the same year. The first prize in this category was given in 1969.
The names of recipients of this award in this new section are announced on the same day. The recipients are also considered Nobel laureates.
Now that we know ‘what is Nobel Prize?’, let us find out what exactly is awarded to the laureates. A Nobel Prize comprises a gold medal and a diploma citing the achievement of the recipient in a designated domain and a sum of money for his/her contributions. The amount awarded to the laureates depends on the income made by the Nobel Foundation.
This prize is sometimes given jointly to two or more people who have aggregately contributed to the benefit of mankind. It means the prize money will be divided into two, three, or more people sharing the achievement. If a recipient does not want to receive the prize; the money will go back to the foundation.
It has happened that some governments did not allow the recipients to accept the award. However, the Nobel Prize list will contain their names and they will be considered the Nobel Laureates of that year.
The Nobel Prize 2021 in Physics was awarded to Klaus Hasselmann and Syukuro Manabe for their contribution to creating a physical model of the Earth’s climate to quantify variability and reliable prediction of global warming.
Another recipient was Giorgio Parisi. He received Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering the fluctuations in physical systems and the interplay of disorders from the atomic to the planetary scales.
In this Nobel Prize 2021 list, two names were added as recipients. This year, the prize was awarded to David Macmillan, a Scottish scientist, and Benjamin List. They developed a process of asymmetric organocatalysis that made them receive the Nobel Chemistry Prize. This is a form of catalysis in organic chemistry where the rate of a chemical reaction can be increased by the addition of an organic catalyst.
This year of the Nobel Prize 2021 winners list PDF, the prize in the category of Physiology or Medicine was given to Ardem Patapoutian and David Julius. David Julius is a biochemist, physiologist, and educator by profession. Ardem Patapoutian is a neuroscientist. Both of them worked and identified the receptors of touch and temperature.
Abdulrazak Gurnah, a Tanzanian writer, was awarded the Nobel Literature Prize 2021 for his work on the effects of colonialism. He is the 5th African writer to receive this prize.
Dmitry Muratov and Maria Ressa won the Nobel Prize in 2021. They are both journalists. Their effort to safeguard the freedom of expression in democracy and lasting peace made them the winners of this prize.
David Card was awarded one-half of the Nobel Prize in Economics for his contribution to labour economics. The other half was awarded to Guido W Imbens and Joshua D Angrist for their contributions to the methodology for analysing casual relationships.
You must have been wondering why the Nobel recipients are called Laureates. The word ‘laureate’ has been derived from a laurel wreath. In Greek mythology, Apollo, the God of divine distance, wears a laurel wreath on his head. It is a circular crown made with the leaves and branches of bay laurel. It is the sign of victory and honour bestowed upon someone who has achieved something great.
As the Nobel laureates have achieved something remarkable. Their feats have benefited mankind in specific domains. In fact, they are called laureates to signify their achievements in particular fields signified by the Nobel Foundation. This is all about the Nobel Prize and the name of laureates of 2021 in different categories.