The Nobel Prize

[Lagu]

How many of you know Dec 10 is the Nobel Day when the great researchers got their prize at 10.000.000 Swedish Crowns (1.561.158 US Dollar)?

The Nobel Prize is the world’s most coveted and well-known prize. All is free for both the takers and their children, grandchildren and in turn their children, flights, hotels, livings, smoking has to hire as is obligatory and much more.

They already have earned their prizes from the King of Sweden’s hand. In addition, Al Gore is in Oslo Norway where he got the Alfred Nobel Peace prize.

Right now 1.300 peoples are in the Stadshuset of Stockholm. Among the celebrity’s are King Carl Gustav, his wife queen Silvia and their children Crown Princess Victoria, Princess Madeline and prince Carl Philip and of course the Nobel winners and their families. The rest is specially invited peoples and the completely large elite of Sweden’s employers and all members of the Government with their wife’s/husbands. There are also many students.

It is a well-disciplined act when they shall serve the meal. All waiters are going in tact and are spreading out among the many tables standing and waiting for the GO command. The King is always the first to get his meal then the others.

On the early morning Dec 13 the winners will be awaken hearing Lucia coming singing Sancta Lucia carrying coffee with Lucia burn and gingerbread biscuits.

Trough the many years the Nobel Prize has been deliver many, many researchers from the USA has earned that prize. Yes in average, they are on the top.

The author Doris Lessing as won the Nobel Prize was prevented from attending the ceremony In Stockholm because of bad health and also another taker as was 90 years old. But I think the Nobel Committee will come to them instead.

I wonder if any of you have watched the ceremony on TV? I think it sends worldwide by SVT.

Here is a link when Al Gore got the peace prize:

http://www.svt.se/svt/road/Classic/article/615/jsp/Render.jsp?a=997315&d=62358&index=0&popup=true&lid=puff_997325&lpos=extra_0 (http://www.svt.se/svt/road/Classic/article/615/jsp/Render.jsp?a=997315&d=62358&index=0&popup=true&lid=puff_997325&lpos=extra_0)

From the Nobel Banquet: http://svt.se/svt/road/Classic/article/615/jsp/Render.jsp?a=997845&d=62358&index=0&popup=true (http://svt.se/svt/road/Classic/article/615/jsp/Render.jsp?a=997845&d=62358&index=0&popup=true)

Picture 1 chows Crown princess Victoria
Picture 4 chows Princess Madeline
Picture 7 chows Prince Carl Philip

Here is another link showing the delivery of the prize. King Carl Gustav is the deliver.

http://svt.se/svt/road/Classic/article/615/jsp/Render.jsp?a=997823&d=62358&index=0&popup=true

[NeoGen]

I didn't know the date, but the story I heard many years ago goes like this...
Alfred Nobel (sometime around the 19th century?) dedicated his time and knowledge to find a way to turn the TNT explosive, that was liquid and very unstable, into a solid explosive, that could be used safely by miners, as there were many mining accidents with explosives and alot of people died every year.
He successfully managed to turn the dangerous liquid into a solid piece of explosive that miners could easily carry down the mine safely and denotate by lighting a fuse at distance, thus creating the age old TNT stick.
But no matter how good were his intentions, the army took his invention and turned it into bombs to use in war and killing, which left him very upset and disappointed. So he decided to create the Nobel prize to recognize other scientists and people like him that strived to create good things to help mankind.
The objective of the prize is the recognition of creation/achievement of something really good for mankind, the money prize is merely symbolic. The prize money probably doesn't even cover one tenth of the expenses the person/institution had to achieve the goal.

We can only hope that our world doesn't run out of Alfred Nobel's :)

[vaughan]

I didn't know that the prize money came from the discovery of safer explosives. Nice explanation NeoGen.

[meshmar]

First Nobel developed the blasting cap, and then dynamite from Nitroglycerine - which is a rather unstable liquid. His father used dynamite to create the first truly usably sea mines for the Russian Czar during the Crimean War. (an odd quirk of fate there).

He also developed 'Smokeless Gunpowder', etc.

Excerpt from his will:
"The whole of my remaining realizable estate shall be dealt with in the following way: the capital, invested in safe securities by my executors, shall constitute a fund, the interest on which shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind. The said interest shall be divided into five equal parts, which shall be apportioned as follows: one part to the person who shall have made the most important discovery or invention within the field of physics; one part to the person who shall have made the most important chemical discovery or improvement; one part to the person who shall have made the most important discovery within the domain of physiology or medicine; one part to the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction; and one part to the person who shall 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. The prizes for physics and chemistry shall be awarded by the Swedish Academy of Sciences; that for physiology or medical works by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm; that for literature by the Academy in Stockholm, and that for champions of peace by a committee of five persons to be elected by the Norwegian Storting. It is my express wish that in awarding the prizes no consideration be given to the nationality of the candidates, but that the most worthy shall receive the prize, whether he be Scandinavian or not."

Actual text of the excerpt:
Öfver hela min återstående realiserbara förmögenhet förfogas på följande sätt: kapitalet, af utredningsmännen realiserade till säkra värdepapper, skall utgöra en fond, hvars ränta årligen utdelas som prisbelöning åt dem, som under det förlupne året hafva gjort menskligheten den största nytta. Räntan delas i fem lika delar som tillfalla: en del den som inom fysikens område har gjort den vigtigaste upptäckt eller uppfinning; en del den som har gjort den vigtigaste kemiska upptäck eller förbättring; en del den som har gjort den vigtigaste upptäckt inom fysiologiens eller medicinens domän; en del den som inom litteraturen har producerat det utmärktaste i idealisk rigtning; och en del åt den som har verkat mest eller best för folkens förbrödrande och afskaffande eller minskning af stående armeer samt bildande och spridande af fredskongresser. Prisen för fysik och kemi utdelas af Svenska Vetenskapsakademien; för fysiologiska eller medicinska arbeten af Carolinska institutet i Stockholm; för litteratur af Akademien i Stockholm samt för fredsförfäktare af ett utskott af fem personer som väljas af Norska Stortinget. Det är min uttryckliga vilja att vid prisutdelningarne intet afseende fästes vid någon slags nationalitetstillhörighet sålunda att den värdigaste erhåller priset, antingen han är Skandinav eller ej.

[Lagu]

NeoGen and Mechmar!

Good knowing and you both are right.:icon_thumright: I´m surpriced how good knowledge you have. Yes his brother died and the newspaper in many countries believed it was Alfred Nobel himself so when he read what they wrote (negative) he got disappointed and decide to set up a fund and the rest we know.

It is good bee among peoples as is intelligent:icon_wink:

[Steve Lux]

Lagu, I (and probably many others here) remember learning of this and many other things in world history class when I was young. As for what they teach children in modern times, well, we older folks often wonder...

Mr. Nobel, among many others, made very important contributions to the wealth of human knowledge used to provide for our economies and our societies that we take for granted. It would be hard to imagine mining for minerals without the safe explosives we use today. One thing certain about the Nobel Prize, is that Alfred Nobel will never be forgotten as long as the prize continues to exist and continues to be awarded to those who are arguably among the greatest of us.