Nationality of Nobel Prize Winners

Nationality of Nobel Prize WinnersAuthor(s): Harrison HaleSource: The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 40, No. 2 (Feb., 1935), pp. 167-169Published by: American Association for the Advancement of ScienceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/15699 .

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NATIONALITY OF NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS By Professor HARRISON HALE

HEA-D OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS

AMONG those of the nineteenth century whose lives still influence widely our life to-day, few are more noteworthy than Alfred 'Bernhard Nobel. He was a chemist and an inventor, having taken out 355 patents in many different countries, but his interests were far-reaching. The practical applications of science and of business were in him combined with an unquenchable idealism.

Jokingly called " Europe's richest vagabond, " Nobel was born in one country in E-urope, left there at the age of nine, never to return except for periods of short duration, lived in at least five other European countries, besides a student residence in the United States. At his death the courts had to decide his legal residence; they chose Sweden, the country of his birth.

Born at Stockholm on October 21, 1833, he died on December 10, 1896, at San Remo, Italy. A year before in his will, signed at the Swedish Club in Paris, he made provision for the five prizes which now bear his name. In part this will reads:

The prizes for physics and chemistry shall be allotted by the Swedish Academy of Sciences; those for achievements in the realm of physics or medicine by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm; those for literature by the Stock- holm Academy, and those for the promoters of peace by a committee of five persons to be selected by the Norwegian Storthing. It is my express wish that the prizes should be distributed without any regard to nationality, so that the prize may be awarded in all cases to the most deserving, whether he be a Scandi- navian or not.

Many details had to be arranged in carrying out the provisions of this will, so that the first awards were not made until 1901. With some exceptions,

awards have been made in each field every year. Explosives and petroleum were the basis of the fortune given the Nobel Foundation, estimated in 1901 at approximately eight million dollars. The amount of each prize varies year by year, from $30,802 in 1923 to $46,420 in 1931. More than four million dollars have been so distributed.

The financial view-point is not the most important. Writing in the SCIEN-

TIFIC MIONTHLY for January, 1931, Dr. Hans Zinsser, of the Harvard Medical School, says: " The establishment of the Nobel Prizes has had a far greater sig- nificance than the tangible rewards ac- cruing to recipients. It has created international public recognition. "

Assuming that the prizes have been awarded in accordance with the terms of the will " without any regard to nationality" so far as humanly possible, the study of the nationality of the winners for a third of a century furnishes at least to some extent a measure of the success of various nations in these fields. No one could claim this measure as in- fallible or even entirely accurate, but it is certainly suggestive as well as most interesting.

Occasionally a classification is difficult; thus Madame Curie, though born in Poland, is listed as French, because her work was done in Franee, and Einstein is classed as German, since he was a professor at Berlin in 1922 when the award was made. This study is not made in a spirit of narrow nationalism, rather of internationalism, as all true science, literature and peace are international.

Had awards been made in each field every year from 1901 through 1934, the

167



168 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY

total would have been 170. The " List of Nobel Laureates, " published in Stock- holm in 1934 by the Nobel Foundation, records 141 awards from 1901 to 1933. Four additional awards have been made in 1934, giving a total of 144. In thirty of these, the award was a joint one, usu- ally to two persons, in two cases to three; thus 177 persons have been so honored. The only person twice receiving an award was Madame Marie Curie, who shared the physics prize with her husband and with Henri Becquerel in 1903, and after her husband's death she alone was given the prize in chemistry in 1911. In Table I, joint awards to three are counted as one third, other joint awards made to two persons are counted as one half each.

TABLE I NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS

1901-34

Awards

Country * ' 2

-4 .............. . P1 0 ls: H a) i

Germany .......... 10 13 5 5 1 20 34 England ...........6 41 3 3 21 9 19 France ........... 4 3 31 41 31 111 181 United States 21 3 4 1 5A 5 16 Sweden .......... 2 21 1 3 2 51 10I Switzerland ...... 1 1 1 1 221 41 61 Holland .......... 3 1 12 1.... 41 6 Denmark .......... 1 ...... 3 1 1 21 51 Austria .. 1 2 11 21 41 Belgium .............. ...... . 1 1 2-1 3' 4 Norway ... . ...... ...... ...... 3 11 1 41 Italy . . i 3 1 21 41 India ..1. 1 1 2 Poland 2 1 2 Eussia 1 1 1 2 Spain ... ....... 1 11 1 2 Canada. . ...... ...... 1 Ireland ... ......1 ...... 1 International . ... 11 Total .. . 31 29 28 32 25 77 145 Distribution ... 10 8 14 15 13 16 18

Eighteen nations are represented; three times the prize in peace has been awarded to organizations. One of these,

the Institute of International Law at Ghent, receiving the prize in 1904, is classed as Belgian; the Permanent International Peace Bureau at Berne in 1910 is placed as Swiss; but the Inter- national Red Cross of Geneva in 1917 is best called international.

Only one woman has received an award in the sciences and she won two, Marie Curie of Paris being honored both in physics and in chemistry. No woman has won the prize in physiology and medicine. Three women have attained distinction in literature: Selma Lagerl6f of Sweden in 1909, Grazia Deledda of Italy in 1926, and Sigrid Undset of Norway in 1928. In peace, prizes have beeii given to Baroness Bertha von Suttner of Austria in 1905 and to Jane Addams of Chicago, who shared the award with Dr. Butler in 1931.

An examination of the table shows the largest number of awards have been made in literature and in phy,sics, 32 prizes out of a possible 34 being the highest. In peace only 25 prizes have been given in 34 years.

Only six countries, one third of the eighteen to whose citizens awards have been made, received a prize in each field. The United States entered this group in 1930, when the prize in literature went to Sinclair Lewis. Prizes in chemistry have gone to only eight countries, in physics to ten, with a wider distribution in the other fields.

The preeminence of Germany is quite striking, especially in the physical sciences. The awards to France are more evenly distributed. The United States is outstanding only in the number of peace prizes received. On a basis of population, the standing of the leading nations relative to that of the United States would be improved, and Sweden, Switzerland, Holland, Denmark and possibly others would outrank us.

This position may not appeal to American pride, but it is well to face



NATIONALITY OF NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS 169

the facts. Probably distance has been a handicap to Americans, but real efforts have been made to comply with the will of the founder, and the handicap should not be overemphasized. It may be a satisfaction to Americans to know that the position of the United States is improving.

A comparison of awards made before and since the close of the world war is shown in the last two columns in Table I. It appears that England and the United States have made a relative gain, that Germany, France, Switzerland and Hol- land have suffered a relative loss, while Sweden maintains about the same standing. Seventy-seven prizes were listed from 1901 to 1'918, and sixty-eight have been given since. Only two new nations have been added, Ireland and Canada, and these have much in common with England.

It is evident that though Germany has lost relatively since the war, her su- premacy is easily maintained in both periods. England and the United States seem to be gaining on France, and England seems likely to surpass her.

At any rate, to those who care for such things it is as interesting as a big league baseball record. The habit of adjusting one's self to the standings after the prizes are announced each November might be worth while.

American Nobel Prize winners are:

Physics: 1907-Albert A. Michelson, died 1931; pro-

fessor of physics, University of Chi- cago.

1923-Robert A. Millikan, director of physics laboratory and chairman of executive council, California Institute of Tech- nology, Pasadena.

1927-joint award, Arthur H. Compton, professor of physics, University of Chi- cago.

Chemistry: 1914-Theodore William Richards, died 1928;

professor of physics and director, Gibbs Memorial Laboratory, Harvard University.

1932-Irving Langmuir, research laboratory, General Electric Company, Sche- nectady, N. Y.

1934-Harold C. Urey, professor of chemistry, Columbia University.

Physiology and Medicine: 1912-Alexis Carrel, Rockefeller Institute for

Medical Researeh, New York City. 1930-Karl Landsteiner, Rockefeller Institute

for Medical Research, New York City. 1933-Thomas H. Morgan, professor of

biology, California Institute of Tech- nology, Pasadena.

1934-joint award, George H. Whipple, dean, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. joint award, George R. Minot, professor, clinical medicine, Harvard Medical School. joint award, William P. Murphy, instructor, clinical medicine, Harvard Medical School.

Literature: 1930-Sinclair Lewis, author, New York City.

Peace: 1906-Theodore Roosevelt, died 1919; Presi-

dent of the United States. 1912-Elihu Root, formerly Secretary of

State, U. S. A. 1919-Woodrow Wilson, died 1924; Presi-

dent of the United States. 1925-joint award, Charles G. Dawes, Vice-

President of the United States. 1929-Frank B. Kellogg, formerly Secretary

of State, U. S. A. 1931-joints award, Jane Addams, Hull

House, Chicago. joint award, Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University.

In the stimulation of worth-while en- deavor in five different fields, all of the greatest importance for the welfare of mankind, the efforts of Alfred Nobel are still active and promise to be an increas- ing influence far into the future.



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Nationality of Nobel Prize Winners