It always feels good to be awarded and recognized for your achievements and the efforts behind them, especially when the achievements and inventions are on a global and international scale and benefit humanity. The Nobel Prize was created in the year 1901 with the vision of creating a better world for humans by contributing to society. There are categories in the Nobel Prize, and the winner of each category is decided by a particular committee or institution. The recipients of the Prize, or ‘Nobel Laureates’, receive a diploma, a medal, and a monetary reward.
Nobel Prize in Physics
The recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics are decided by The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is an annual award given to those who, in the field of Physics, have made outstanding contributions to humankind. The first Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Wilhelm Röntgen, a physicist, for discovering X-rays. Since 2021, there have been three Nobel Laureates in Physics, namely Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann, and Giorgio Parisi. Syukuro Manabe was awarded 1/4th of the award for groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of complex systems and reliably predicting global warming. He is a Japanese-born American climatologist and meteorologist. Klauss Hasselmann was also awarded 1/4th part of the Nobel Prize in Physics along with Syukoro. He is an oceanographer and a climate modeler. The remaining half of the Prize was awarded to Giorgio Parisi. Giorgio is a theoretical physicist who was given the Prize for the discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in physical systems from atomic to planetary scales. The three of them received the award in the earlier days of October.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually to scientists who have made outstanding and extraordinary contributions in chemistry. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences decides who receives this prestigious award. The first Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded in 1901 to Jacobus Henricus van ‘t Hoff, a Dutch physical chemist for discovering the laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic pressure in solutions. He laid the foundation of stereochemistry and is considered to be one of the fathers of physical chemistry. Only seven women have received this award to date, one of them being the infamous Marie Curie. In 2021, the Prize was awarded to Benjamin List and David McMillan for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis. Benjamin is a chemist and also a professor of organic chemistry. David is also a chemist and a professor of chemistry. They will receive the award at the annual function held in December, on the death anniversary of Alfred Noble, the man who instituted the award.
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences once a year for outstanding discoveries in Physiology or Medicine. It has been given to 212 men and 12 women to date. The first Prize was awarded to Emil von Behring in 1901. It was given to him for his work on serum therapy and the development of a vaccine against diphtheria. The most recent Prize was declared on 4th October 2021 to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for the discovery of receptors for temperature and touch. David Julius is a
physiologist and a professor. Ardem Patapoutian is a molecular biologist, a neuroscientist, and a neuroscience professor.
Nobel Prize in Literature
The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded by the Swedish Academy to authors who have produced the most outstanding work in an idealistic direction. It is a yearly award, and the first award was given in the year 1901. Since then, it has been given to 102 men and 16 women, the youngest recipient being Rudyard Kipling, who received the Prize at 41. In 2021, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Abdulrazak Gurnah, a novelist and an academic, for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fates of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents.
Nobel Peace Prize
Finally, the Nobel Peace Prize has been a very renowned topic due to its relatively famous laureates like Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama, and more recently, Malala Yousafzai. The Prize is awarded to those who have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses. In 2021, Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov received the Prize for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace. Maria is a journalist and an author, and Dmitry is a journalist and a television presenter.
The prizes will be given on the 10th December 2021 in Stockholm, Sweden.