Nobel Prize 2009

	Tweet			Pin It
0

10/09/09

The Nobel Prize is an annual award given to people who have accomplished great things in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, and Medicine. It was created by Swedish Physicist Alfred Nobel, who stated in his will that after he died all of his money would be used to promote the prize, and the prizewinners’ work, and first awarded in 1901.

The recipients are chosen after a long and thought-out nomination process and, after the recipients are announced in October, they are honored at a ceremony and reception in Stockholm in December. They are also awarded a grant of 10 million Swedish krona (about 1.4 million U.S. dollars) – while the money is intended to help the prizewinners promote their causes and works, it is not uncommon for it to be donated to an appropriate charityinstead (or as well!).

The 2009 recipients were announced throughout the week beginning October 5, 2009. They are:

Medicine – Three Americans, Elizabeth H. Blackburn Carol W. Greider, and Jack W. Szostak, who studied cells and biology to further their research on cancer and aging.

Physics - Charles Kao, Willard Boyle and George Smith, for their work studying light, particularly fiber optics and light sensing.

Chemistry - Venkatraman Ramakrishnan of England, Thomas A. Steitz of the U. S., and Ada E. Yonath of Israel, for their work studying DNA.

Literature - German author Herta Mueller, who wrote about growing up as a minority in Romania and the struggles and censorships she faced.

Peace – President Barak Obama, for his international diplomacy work. This was a controversial award, because some feel that it is too early in his presidency to be given such a huge honor (the last U.S. President to win the Nobel Peace Prize while in office was Woodrow Wilson in 1919), while others feel that it is appropriate because it is a sign of all the good he has yet to do.