It is again time for the announcement of the Nobel Prize winners, and this year, the awards span vast areas of science, economics, literature, and the infamous Nobel Peace Prize. After committees in Norway and Sweden released the winners’ names following a rigorous selection process, the six laureates will receive their certifications in Stockholm in December.
The Nobel Prizes are the never-ending legacy of Alfred Nobel. Following an accidental printing of his obituary—before his death—Nobel saw his legacy as one of the inventing explosives: a remembrance of death and destruction. To alter his legacy, Nobel earned the Nobel Prize — a recognition of the most outstanding achievements of the year in sciences and peace. There are six prizes: physiology or medicine, physics, chemistry, economic science, literature, and peace work.
This year’s award for physiology or medicine recipients are Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman — their work with RNA led to the quick development of effective vaccines against COVID-19. Their work has saved many lives and helped end the COVID-19 pandemic.
The prize for physics this year goes to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L’Huillier. Dr. L’Huillier is only the fifth woman to receive the prize in physics. She, with her colleagues, used pulses of light to capture images of electrons, which move at 43 miles per second. Their work will help physicists to further their exploration into many fundamental questions of the universe.
This year’s chemistry award recognizes the development of quantum dots by Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, and Alexei I. Ekimov. Quantum dots are so small that their mere size is the primary determinant of their properties. Their work will be fundamental in researching and developing electronics and computer systems of the future.
The literature award recipient is Norwegian author Jon Fosse for writing “innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.” Fosse’s writing uses fiction, stories, and tales to teach lessons of life, death, and love — a combination of life that exudes a sense of peace.
The Peace Prize, often the most recognized due to its openness beyond the academic world, recognizes Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian activist jailed for her work fighting for women’s rights and freedom in Iran. Mohammadi remained in Iran to continue her humanitarian work, even at the risk of spending the rest of her life in prison. She is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence.
The final prize announcement was the economics prize to Claudia Goldin of Harvard University for her research on the reasons and causes behind the differences women experience in labor force participation and pay rates. Goldin is only the third woman to win the economics prize.
The Nobel Prizes celebrate the most outstanding scientific, literature, and peace achievements. This year’s laureates have made groundbreaking contributions to their respective fields, from developing quantum dots to quickly developing effective vaccines against COVID-19. We celebrate the Nobel laureates and their contributions to society, and we hope that their work inspires future generations to push the boundaries of knowledge and make the world a better place.
