Chemistry's Nobel Laureates

Abstract

The famous Swedish chemist, inventor, and philanthropist Alfred Bernhard Nobel made two outstanding contributions to science, technology, and society. The first was his work developing explosives, especially his invention of dynamite and the percussion cap. He's better known, however, for his second contribution: establishment of the Nobel Prizes, which have become the ne plus ultra of achievement in chemistry, physics, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. (A sixth field—economics—was added in 1969, but its prize is funded separately by the Swedish Riksbank.) The prizes bring the laureates handsome cash awards—the 1993 chemistry prizewinners, Kary B. Mullis and Michael Smith, shared equally 825,000—butthehonoranddistinctionthattheprizesconveyistreasuredevenmore.Nobel′sestateofapproximately825,000—but the honor and distinction that the prizes convey is treasured even more. Nobel's estate of approximately 9.2 million was a very large sum when he died in 1896. His will, written in Paris about a year before his death, was a four-page, handwritten document, which, after some personal bequests, outlined ...