2012 Nobel Prizes

Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 21, 1833. He was an innovator, engineer, chemist, writer, and concerned citizen of the world. Nobel invented and patented 350 different creations, his most famous invention being dynamite.  When his brother Ludvig died in 1888, a French newspaper erroneously published Nobel's obituary, proclaiming Le marchand de la mort est mort ("The merchant ofdeath is dead.”). It is believed that this condemnation motivated him to change his legacy, resulting in much of Nobel’s wealth (i.e., 31,225,000 Kronor or approximately $4,700,000 US) to be willed to the establishment of five Nobel Prizes. The Nobel Prizes have been awarded annually since 1901 for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and for peace.

As a Swede, I have a soft spot for Nobel. When I was in 3^rd grade, I even went to school wearing a full navy blue pin-stripe suit with red clip-on bow tie in order to more fully embody him as I presented his biography to my fellow classmates… Needless to say, I am aware of the awards and their history. On Friday, October 12, 2012, the Nobel Prize committees (Sweden and Norway) announced this year’s winners. I saw the original announcement on the Swedish consulate’s website, but have obtained the following from www.nobelprize.org.

• PHYSICS - Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland "for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems"
• CHEMISTRY - Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian K. Kobilka "for studies of G-protein-coupled receptors"
• PHYSIOLOGY/MEDICINE - Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka "for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent"
• LITERATURE - Mo Yan "who with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary"
• PEACE - European Union (EU) "for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe"
• ECONOMICS - Alvin E. Roth and Lloyd S. Shapley "for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design"

I cannot comment on the worthiness of the awardees, but I have found this year’s peace prize selection interesting.  At first I objected to the idea of the award going to an organization, not an individual. Then I recalled that the United Nations and Red Cross have won multiple times and I fully supported the award going to the International Panel on Climate Change in 2007. Upon further research, I was surprised that in the last 111 years, 24 awards went to organizations. The first went to the Institute of International Law in 1904. That Prize was awarded for the organization’s influence on international law and peace through actions such treaty arbitration (e.g., Suez Canal) and the formulation of customary international law (Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907 utilized its studies on the laws of war).

According to Nobel Prize Director Geir Lundestad, the EU was selected for its long-term influence on peace (which is so unlike President Obama’s award in 2009 after less than 1 year in office). In addition to being a pivotal organization for establishing French/German relations, he pointed to the recent peaceful developments in the Balkans, like how Croatia plans to join the EU in 2013, and the promotion of human rights in Turkey. Lundestad sidestepped a question about the Prize’s influence on the European economy, instead focusing on the unanimous (5 of 5) vote for the EU, in spite of the Norway’s strong non-EU political position. The EU selection will be controversial, but likely not enough to stir the pot like the Dali Lama did in 1989.

I was also a little sad to see another year with no female Laureates. As a female engineer, I look to these types of international awards as a societal sign post. In 2007 and 2008 there was at least one woman Laureate, and in 2009 five of the recipients were women. This group represented expertise in chemistry, medicine and economics (I really connected with Ostrom’s work on the tragedy of the commons while in school) in addition to the more traditional literature Prize. (Alternatively women tend to receive the Peace Prize, but as I mentioned before, it went to Obama). In 2011 Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkol Karman shared the Peace Prize for their “non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work” in the Arab world. I would’ve loved to see the first female Olympians from Saudi Arabia, Wojdan Shaherkani and Sara Attar, recognized… but there are also many arguments against their selection – including the fact that they are brave athletes who were saluted at the London Games this summer.

I could continue this blog by going into a technical review of the Laureates (I am intrigued by the quantum physics articles), but I feel complete with this discussion for tonight. Congratulations to all of the 2012 Nobel Prize winners – I look forward to watching and cheering you on with my fellow Swedes at our Nobel annual dinner.

S

Oh, and don’t be like Sinclair Lewis, the 1930 Laureate in Literature, who was frightened by his early morning visit by Santa Lucia and her entourage. Enjoy the morning coffee and song... she's human, not an angel, I promise.