First Topic

Nobel Prizes

Edgar Manríquez Herrejón

What is a Nobel Prize?

• A Nobel Prize is an award given

year by year to recognize
people that make very
important contributions for
benefit of humanity.

• These prizes were created as

one of the last wills of Alfred
Nobel.
Who was Alfred Nobel?

• He was a Swedish distinguished

scientist and inventor.

• He was born in Stockholm,

Sweden, on October 21st in 1833.

• He invented the dynamite.

 Why did Alfred Nobel
create the prizes?
• Although his inventions were very useful
in mining, construction and engineering,
their main use was in war industry.

• Alfred felt bad because his inventions

were mostly used to cause death and
destruction.

• He tried to fix his fault by giving a big

part of his fortune to the creation of a
foundation that would award people who
had worked for benefit of humanity.
Alfred Nobel’s will

Alfred Nobel died on December 10th, 1896, in San

Remo, Italy.

In his testament he established:

• The creation of an awarding foundation.

• The 5 categories of awarding.
• The institutions that would award each
category.
 Current categories of awarding

* Since 1968

Physics Chemistry Medicine Literature Peace Economic

Sciences

Prize in memory of Alfred

Categories chosen by Alfred Nobel Nobel.
in his will. Wrongly known as the
Nobel Prize in Economics
 The Nobel Foundation

• It was created four years after Alfred

died.

• It manages Alfred’s fortune to organize

everything related with the prizes.

• It also promotes the prizes internationally

and makes some investments.

• It’s not involved in the process of

selection of the nominees and winners.
 Who selects the winners?

Alfred Nobel established the next institutions to select the laureates.

Physics
Royal Swedish
Chemistry
Academy of Sciences
Economic Sciences

Karolinska Institute Physiology/Medicine

Swedish Academy Literature

Norwegian Nobel
Peace
Committee

• The Norwegian Nobel Committee works a bit different than the other.
Process of selection of nominees and winners
Nobel Prize Award Ceremony

• Finally, the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony takes

place on December 10th in Stockholm, Sweden.
For all categories, except for the Nobel Peace
Prize.

• The Nobel Peace Prize takes place on Oslo,

Norway, on the same day.

• The winners receive a Nobel medal, a diploma

and a document with the amount of money they
will receive.
Nobel medal

Medicine Literature

Physics and Chemistry

Nobel medal

Peace Economic Sciences

Diplomas
 Some considerations

• It’s possible that nobody wins in one

or more categories.
• Institutions can be awarded only in
Nobel Peace Prize.
• In a category, there can be 3
winners as much, and the money of
the prize is divided by the number of
winners.
• The amount of money depends
directly of the economic situation of
the Nobel Foundation.
• There are no posthumous prizes.
 Some
interesting
facts
Years with no prizes

1940
1941
1942
 Jean Paul Sartre
Nobel Prize in
Literature in 1964

“No, thanks.”
Le Duc Tho
Nobel Peace Prize
in 1973
 Richard Kuhn Adolf Butenandt Gerhard Domagk
Chemistry, 1938 Chemistry,1939
Medicine, 1939

“And where’s the money?”

Carl von Ossietzky Aung San Suu Liu Xiaobo
1935 Kyi 2010
1991

Time in prison
 What about the age?

Average age of
Nobel Prize winners:
59 years old

Malala Yousafzai Leonid Hurwics

Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 Prize in economics in 2007
17 years old 90 years old
 Nobel Prize in
Mathematics?
There’s no Nobel Prize in Mathematics. Why?

There have been some explanations.

One of the most popular stories says that there’s no

prize in mathematics because of a possible romance
between Alfred Nobel’s wife and a mathematician.

But the most believable explanation is simpler.

• Alfred Nobel established the awards for the areas

that he was really interested in, those which he
thought that were beneficial for mankind, and he
didn’t consider math that important.
• He could do whatever he wanted with his money.
Prizes for mathematicians

Fields Medal The Abel Prize

Has a Mexican won a Nobel Prize?
• Yes, three Mexican people have won a Nobel Prize.

Alfonso García Robles Octavio Paz Mario Molina

Nobel Peace Prize Nobel Prize in Literature Nobel Prize in Chemistry
1982 1990 1995
Conclusion
THANK YOU!