Nobel Prizes in Science

Every Nobel Prize in Physics, Chemistry, and Medicine since 1901, and where the discovery shows up in our lives today.

Alfred Nobel, the Swedish chemist who invented dynamite, left his fortune for prizes to those who “have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.” Every October since 1901, winners are named in Stockholm. Many discoveries took decades to reach everyday life, and some of the oldest prizes are the ones you use most.

For more, the Nobel Prize’s own educational resources(opens nobelprize.org in a new tab) have crash courses, games, and lessons on each year’s prizes.

Prizes: 355
Scientists: 664
Women: 26

In your life today

Tap a discovery to read about its prize.

Physics
Chemistry
Medicine

Your phone
The internet
Lights
Hospital scans and tests
Medicines
Vaccines
Food on your plate
Blood and transplants
DNA and genes
Plastics and materials
Air and climate
AI
The universe

Where they were born

664 scientists from 54 countries, by today’s borders. Each counted once, under their first prize.

Physics
Chemistry
Medicine

United States 216: 72 physics, 59 chemistry, 85 medicine
United Kingdom 83: 26 physics, 29 chemistry, 28 medicine
Germany 73: 27 physics, 26 chemistry, 20 medicine
France 37: 13 physics, 12 chemistry, 12 medicine
Japan 27: 12 physics, 9 chemistry, 6 medicine
Poland 18: 8 physics, 4 chemistry, 6 medicine
Russia 17: 10 physics, 5 chemistry, 2 medicine
Sweden 16: 4 physics, 4 chemistry, 8 medicine
Austria 15: 4 physics, 5 chemistry, 6 medicine
Netherlands 15: 9 physics, 4 chemistry, 2 medicine
Switzerland 15: 6 physics, 3 chemistry, 6 medicine
Canada 14: 6 physics, 4 chemistry, 4 medicine
Italy 12: 6 physics, 1 chemistry, 5 medicine
Australia 10: 2 physics, 1 chemistry, 7 medicine
Hungary 9: 3 physics, 3 chemistry, 3 medicine
China 8: 5 physics, 1 chemistry, 2 medicine
Denmark 8: 2 physics, 2 chemistry, 4 medicine
Belgium 6: 2 physics, 1 chemistry, 3 medicine
Norway 5: 1 physics, 2 chemistry, 2 medicine
Czech Republic 4: 1 physics, 1 chemistry, 2 medicine
India 4: 1 physics, 1 chemistry, 2 medicine
Israel 4: 4 chemistry
South Africa 4: 1 chemistry, 3 medicine
New Zealand 3: 2 chemistry, 1 medicine
Ukraine 3: 1 chemistry, 2 medicine
Argentina 2: 2 medicine
Egypt 2: 2 chemistry
Finland 2: 1 chemistry, 1 medicine
Ireland 2: 1 physics, 1 medicine
Lithuania 2: 1 chemistry, 1 medicine
Luxembourg 2: 1 physics, 1 medicine
Pakistan 2: 2 physics
Romania 2: 1 chemistry, 1 medicine
Spain 2: 2 medicine
Algeria 1: 1 physics
Azerbaijan 1: 1 physics
Belarus 1: 1 physics
Bosnia and Herzegovina 1: 1 chemistry
Brazil 1: 1 medicine
Croatia 1: 1 chemistry
Indonesia 1: 1 medicine
Jordan 1: 1 chemistry
Latvia 1: 1 chemistry
Lebanon 1: 1 medicine
Mexico 1: 1 chemistry
Morocco 1: 1 physics
Portugal 1: 1 medicine
Slovakia 1: 1 physics
Slovenia 1: 1 chemistry
South Korea 1: 1 chemistry
Taiwan 1: 1 chemistry
Tunisia 1: 1 physics
Turkey 1: 1 chemistry
Venezuela 1: 1 medicine

Born in South Asia: India, 4 (Ronald Ross, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, H. Gobind Khorana, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan); Pakistan, 2 (Abdus Salam, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar). No one born in Nepal has won a science prize yet.

All the prizes, 2026 to 1901

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2026
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Physics

Francis Halzen led IceCube, a detector made of a cubic kilometer of ice at the South Pole, which caught neutrinos (ghostly particles that pass through almost anything) coming from deep space.

Did you know? Its 5,160 light sensors hang on cables in holes melted up to 2.5 kilometers deep into the Antarctic ice.

Francis Halzen

The full story →
Official reason

“for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Many molecules come in left- and right-handed mirror forms, like a pair of gloves. Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai found reactions where a small head start for one hand grows into a big one.

Today It helps chemists make medicines in just one hand (the mirror twin can act differently in the body), and hints at why life uses only one hand of the building blocks of proteins.
Did you know? In Soai’s reaction, even a left- or right-handed quartz crystal can tip the whole flask almost entirely to its hand.

Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai

The full story →
Official reason

“for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel found proteins in green algae that open when light hits them. Karl Deisseroth put them into nerve cells, so scientists can switch brain cells on and off with flashes of light.

Today This “optogenetics” shows how the brain makes memories, fear and movement, and in a first trial it gave a blind man back some of his sight.

Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel

The full story →
Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
2025
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Physics

John Clarke, Michel Devoret, and John Martinis showed that a whole electric circuit, big enough to hold, can follow quantum rules, like tunneling through a barrier.

Today Circuits like theirs are the building blocks of many of today’s quantum computers.

John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret, and John M. Martinis

The full story →
Official reason

“for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar Yaghi built metal–organic frameworks: crystals full of tiny rooms that soak up gases like a sponge.

Today They are being tested for pulling drinking water out of desert air and capturing carbon dioxide from factory chimneys.
Did you know? A couple of grams can have as much inside surface as a football field.

Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar M. Yaghi

The full story →
Official reason

“for the development of metal–organic frameworks”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi discovered regulatory T cells, the immune system’s security guards that stop it from attacking the body.

Today It is leading to new treatments for diseases where the immune system attacks the body, like type 1 diabetes, and for transplants.

Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi

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Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
2024
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Physics

John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton used ideas from physics to build artificial neural networks: computer programs that learn from examples.

Today Machine learning powers voice assistants, translation apps, photo search, and AI chatbots.

John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton

The full story →
Official reason

“for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

David Baker designed brand-new proteins on a computer. Demis Hassabis and John Jumper built AlphaFold, an AI that predicts the shape of a protein from its building blocks.

Today AlphaFold has predicted the shapes of nearly all 200 million known proteins, and helps scientists design medicines and vaccines.

David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John Jumper

The full story →
Official reason

David Baker: “for computational protein design”
Demis Hassabis and John Jumper: “for protein structure prediction”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun discovered microRNA, tiny pieces of RNA that turn genes down, first found in a worm.

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun

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Official reason

“for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
2023
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Physics

Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L’Huillier made flashes of light so short (attoseconds) that they can capture electrons moving.

Did you know? An attosecond is to one second what one second is to about twice the age of the universe.

Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L’Huillier

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Official reason

“for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus, and Aleksey Yekimov discovered and made quantum dots, tiny crystals whose color depends on their size.

Today Quantum dots make the colors in QLED TVs, and are being tested to help surgeons see tumors.

Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus, and Aleksey Yekimov

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Official reason

“for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman found how to change mRNA so the body accepts it, making mRNA vaccines possible.

Today mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 were given billions of times.

Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman

The full story →
Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
2022
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Physics

Alain Aspect, John Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger did experiments with entangled particles of light, pairs linked so that measuring one instantly tells you about the other.

Today Entangled light can be used to share secret codes that no one can copy without being noticed.

Alain Aspect, John Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger

The full story →
Official reason

“for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Carolyn Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, and Barry Sharpless developed click chemistry: molecules that snap together quickly and cleanly, like buckles, even inside living things.

Did you know? It was Sharpless’s second Chemistry prize (see 2001).

Carolyn Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, and K. Barry Sharpless

The full story →
Official reason

“for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Svante Pääbo read DNA from Neanderthal bones and found a new kind of ancient human, the Denisovans.

Today Many people today carry a little Neanderthal or Denisovan DNA.
In Nepal The EPAS1 gene version that helps Sherpas and Tibetans live at high altitude came from the Denisovans (see 2019).
Did you know? His father, Sune Bergström, won in 1982.

Svante Pääbo

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Official reason

“for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution”
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2021
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Physics

Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann built the first computer models of Earth’s climate and showed people are warming it. Giorgio Parisi found order hidden in messy systems.

Today Climate models warn us about heat waves, floods, and melting glaciers.
In Nepal The same models predict how Himalayan glaciers, which feed Nepal’s rivers, will shrink.

Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann, and Giorgio Parisi

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Official reason

Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann: “for the physical modelling of Earth’s climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming”
Giorgio Parisi: “for the discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in physical systems from atomic to planetary scales”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Benjamin List and David MacMillan found that small, simple molecules can work as catalysts, instead of metals or enzymes.

Today It makes medicines cheaper and greener to produce.

Benjamin List and David W.C. MacMillan

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Official reason

“for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian found the sensors in our nerves for heat, cold, and touch. Julius used capsaicin from chilli peppers to find the heat sensor.

Today It’s why chilli feels hot and mint feels cool, though neither changes the temperature.
In Nepal The sensor Julius found is the reason akabare khursani burns.

David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian

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Official reason

“for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch”
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2020
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Physics

Roger Penrose showed black holes must form, using Einstein’s math. Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez found a giant black hole, four million times as heavy as the Sun, at the center of our galaxy.

Did you know? Andrea Ghez was the fourth woman to win the Physics prize.

Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel, and Andrea Ghez

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Official reason

Roger Penrose: “for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity”
Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez: “for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna developed CRISPR, “genetic scissors” that can cut and edit DNA at a chosen spot.

Today The first CRISPR medicine, approved in 2023, treats sickle cell disease.
In Nepal Sickle cell disease affects many families in the Tharu community of Nepal’s Terai.
Did you know? It was the first science Nobel shared by two women only.

Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna

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Official reason

“for the development of a method for genome editing”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Harvey Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles Rice discovered the hepatitis C virus, which damages the liver.

Today Donated blood is tested for it, and pills now cure most patients.

Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles M. Rice

The full story →
Official reason

“for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
2019
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Physics

James Peebles explained how the universe evolved. Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz found the first planet orbiting a star like our Sun.

Today More than 6,000 planets around other stars are now known.

James Peebles, Michel Mayor, and Didier Queloz

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Official reason

James Peebles: “for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology”
Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz: “for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

John Goodenough, Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino developed the lithium-ion battery: light, rechargeable, and powerful.

Today It powers phones, laptops, and electric cars and scooters.
In Nepal More and more of the cars and scooters on Nepal’s roads are electric, running on lithium-ion batteries.
Did you know? Goodenough was 97, the oldest Nobel laureate ever.

John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino

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Official reason

“for the development of lithium-ion batteries”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

William Kaelin, Peter Ratcliffe, and Gregg Semenza found how cells sense how much oxygen they have and adjust.

Today A new medicine for anemia in kidney disease works through this.
In Nepal One of these oxygen-sensing genes, EPAS1, has a version that helps Tibetans and many Sherpas live high in the Himalaya (see 2022).

William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe, and Gregg L. Semenza

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Official reason

“for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
2018
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Physics

Arthur Ashkin invented optical tweezers, which hold living cells with light. Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland found how to make extremely short, powerful laser pulses.

Today Their laser pulses make the precise cuts in eye surgery that corrects eyesight (LASIK and SMILE).
Did you know? Donna Strickland was the third woman ever to win the Physics prize.

Arthur Ashkin, Gérard Mourou, and Donna Strickland

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Official reason

Arthur Ashkin: “for the optical tweezers and their application to biological systems”
Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland: “for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Frances Arnold used evolution in a test tube to make better enzymes. George Smith and Gregory Winter used viruses to evolve new proteins and antibodies.

Today Better enzymes in washing powders and fuels, and antibody medicines for arthritis and cancer.
Did you know? Frances Arnold was the fifth woman to win the Chemistry prize.

Frances H. Arnold, George P. Smith, and Sir Gregory P. Winter

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Official reason

Frances H. Arnold: “for the directed evolution of enzymes”
George P. Smith and Sir Gregory P. Winter: “for the phage display of peptides and antibodies”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

James Allison and Tasuku Honjo found how to release the brakes on immune cells so they attack cancer.

Today Immunotherapy has cured some patients with cancers that used to be deadly.

James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo

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Official reason

“for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
2017
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Physics

Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish, and Kip Thorne built LIGO, which caught gravitational waves: ripples in space from two black holes crashing together over a billion years ago.

Today It opened a new way to study the universe: listening to it shake, not just looking at its light.

Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish, and Kip S. Thorne

The full story →
Official reason

“for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank, and Richard Henderson made it possible to see biomolecules in almost atomic detail by freezing them fast and imaging them with electrons (cryo-EM).

Today Cryo-EM showed the shape of the COVID-19 virus’s spike within weeks, which helped vaccine makers check their designs.

Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank, and Richard Henderson

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Official reason

“for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael Young found the genes that run our body clock, using fruit flies.

Today It explains jet lag and why a regular sleep time matters.

Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael W. Young

The full story →
Official reason

“for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm”
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2016
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Physics

David Thouless, Duncan Haldane, and Michael Kosterlitz used topology, the math of shapes with holes, to explain strange states of matter.

Did you know? To explain it, the committee held up a cinnamon bun, a bagel, and a pretzel: zero, one, and two holes.

David J. Thouless, F. Duncan M. Haldane, and J. Michael Kosterlitz

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Official reason

“for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Fraser Stoddart, and Ben Feringa built molecular machines: molecules that move like motors, switches, and even a tiny car.

Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, and Bernard L. Feringa

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Official reason

“for the design and synthesis of molecular machines”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Yoshinori Ohsumi found how cells break down and recycle their own worn-out parts (autophagy, “self-eating”).

Yoshinori Ohsumi

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Official reason

“for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy”
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2015
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Physics

Takaaki Kajita and Arthur McDonald found that neutrinos switch between kinds as they travel, which means they must have mass.

Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B. McDonald

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Official reason

“for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich, and Aziz Sancar showed how cells repair damage to their DNA every day.

Today It helps explain cancer and how some cancer medicines work.
Did you know? Aziz Sancar was the first scientist from Turkey to win a Nobel Prize in science.

Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich, and Aziz Sancar

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Official reason

“for mechanistic studies of DNA repair”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

William Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura found ivermectin, a medicine against parasitic worms. Tu Youyou found artemisinin, a malaria medicine, in sweet wormwood.

Today Artemisinin is the main malaria medicine; ivermectin fights river blindness and elephantiasis.
In Nepal Nepal’s campaign against lymphatic filariasis (hattipaile, elephantiasis) gives medicines like these to whole districts.
Did you know? Tu Youyou found the clue in a Chinese medicine book about 1,600 years old.

William C. Campbell, Satoshi Ōmura, and Tu Youyou

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Official reason

William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura: “for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites”
Tu Youyou: “for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
2014
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Physics

Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura made the first bright blue LEDs, which made white LED light possible.

Today LED bulbs, phone and TV screens, and solar lanterns: they give the same light as old bulbs for a fraction of the electricity.
In Nepal Cheap LED lights powered by small solar panels light homes in villages far from the grid.

Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura

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Official reason

“for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Eric Betzig, Stefan Hell, and William Moerner made light microscopes that see far smaller details than anyone thought possible.

Today Scientists can watch single molecules moving inside living cells.

Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell, and William E. Moerner

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Official reason

“for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

John O’Keefe, May-Britt Moser, and Edvard Moser found the brain’s own GPS: cells that know where you are and map the space around you.

Did you know? May-Britt and Edvard Moser were married when they shared the prize, a husband-and-wife team.

John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser, and Edvard I. Moser

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Official reason

“for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain”
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2013
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Physics

François Englert (with Robert Brout) and Peter Higgs predicted, in 1964, how particles get their mass. The Higgs particle that proved it was found at CERN in 2012.

François Englert and Peter Higgs

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Official reason

“for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt, and Arieh Warshel built computer models of chemical reactions, mixing quantum physics with simpler physics.

Today Chemists test ideas on computers before trying them in the lab.

Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt, and Arieh Warshel

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Official reason

“for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

James Rothman, Randy Schekman, and Thomas Südhof found how cells pack molecules in tiny bubbles and deliver them, like a postal service.

Today It’s how insulin is released into the blood and how nerve cells send signals.

James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman, and Thomas C. Südhof

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Official reason

“for their discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport system in our cells”
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2012
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Physics

Serge Haroche and David Wineland found ways to trap and measure single particles of light and single atoms without disturbing them.

Today These are steps toward quantum computers and super-precise clocks.

Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland

The full story →
Official reason

“for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka showed how cells sense hormones and other signals from outside with special receptors.

Today Between a third and a half of all medicines work through these receptors.

Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka

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Official reason

“for studies of G-protein-coupled receptors”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka showed that grown-up cells can be turned back into stem cells, which can become any kind of cell.

Did you know? A school report once called Gurdon’s wish to become a scientist “quite ridiculous.” He kept it above his desk.

Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka

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Official reason

“for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent”
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2011
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Physics

Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt, and Adam Riess watched distant exploding stars and found that the universe is growing faster and faster.

Today Nobody yet knows what is pushing it apart; we call it dark energy.

Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt, and Adam G. Riess

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Official reason

“for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Dan Shechtman discovered quasicrystals, crystals with a pattern that never repeats. Other scientists laughed at him for years.

Today Quasicrystals make some special steels tougher, for razor blades and surgical needles.

Dan Shechtman

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Official reason

“for the discovery of quasicrystals”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Bruce Beutler, Jules Hoffmann, and Ralph Steinman found how the immune system first notices germs and raises the alarm.

Did you know? Steinman died three days before the announcement; the committee hadn’t known, and his prize stood.

Bruce A. Beutler, Jules A. Hoffmann, and Ralph M. Steinman

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Official reason

Bruce A. Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann: “for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity”
Ralph M. Steinman: “for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity”
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2010
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Physics

Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov pulled off a sheet of carbon one atom thick, graphene, by peeling graphite, the stuff of pencil lead, with sticky tape.

Today Graphene is being tested in batteries, sensors, and stronger materials.
Did you know? Geim had earlier won an Ig Nobel, a joke prize, for making a frog float with magnets.

Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov

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Official reason

“for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Richard Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi, and Akira Suzuki found how to use palladium metal to join carbon atoms together precisely.

Today Used to make many medicines and the materials in phone screens.

Richard F. Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi, and Akira Suzuki

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Official reason

“for palladium-catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Robert Edwards developed IVF, fertilizing an egg outside the body to help couples who can’t have children.

Today More than 12 million babies have been born through IVF (as of 2023), the first in 1978.

Robert G. Edwards

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Official reason

“for the development of in vitro fertilization”
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2009
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Physics

Charles Kao worked out how to send light through glass fibers over long distances. Willard Boyle and George Smith invented the CCD, the first successful electronic image sensor.

Today Fiber-optic cables carry the internet, including fiber to homes across Nepal. CCDs began digital photography; the Hubble Space Telescope used them.

Charles K. Kao, Willard S. Boyle, and George E. Smith

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Official reason

Charles K. Kao: “for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication”
Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith: “for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit - the CCD sensor”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas Steitz, and Ada Yonath showed, atom by atom, the ribosome: the machine in every cell that builds proteins.

Today Many antibiotics work by jamming bacteria’s ribosomes, and this helps design new ones.
Born in South Asia Venki Ramakrishnan was born in Chidambaram, India.

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas A. Steitz, and Ada E. Yonath

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Official reason

“for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, and Jack Szostak found how telomeres, the caps at the ends of chromosomes (like the plastic tips on shoelaces), protect them, and the enzyme telomerase that rebuilds them.

Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, and Jack W. Szostak

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Official reason

“for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
2008
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Physics

Yoichiro Nambu, Makoto Kobayashi, and Toshihide Maskawa explained how nature’s symmetries break, which predicted extra families of quarks.

Yoichiro Nambu, Makoto Kobayashi, and Toshihide Maskawa

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Official reason

Yoichiro Nambu: “for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics”
Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa: “for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie, and Roger Tsien turned the green glowing protein of a jellyfish into a tool to light up cells.

Today Scientists use glowing tags to watch cancer spread and brain cells grow.

Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie, and Roger Y. Tsien

The full story →
Official reason

“for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, GFP”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Harald zur Hausen showed that a virus, HPV, causes cervical cancer. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier discovered HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Today An HPV vaccine now prevents cervical cancer, and HIV medicines let people live long lives.
In Nepal Nepal began vaccinating girls against HPV nationwide in February 2025, after a pilot in Chitwan and Kaski in 2016.

Harald zur Hausen, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, and Luc Montagnier

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Official reason

Harald zur Hausen: “for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer”
Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier: “for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
2007
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Physics

Albert Fert and Peter Grünberg found giant magnetoresistance: very thin magnetic layers change their electrical resistance a lot near a magnet.

Today It let hard drives store far more, holding the world’s photos and videos in data centers.

Albert Fert and Peter Grünberg

The full story →
Official reason

“for the discovery of Giant Magnetoresistance”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Gerhard Ertl showed, step by step, what happens when molecules react on a metal surface.

Today It explains how a car’s catalytic converter cleans exhaust and how iron rusts.

Gerhard Ertl

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Official reason

“for his studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Mario Capecchi, Martin Evans, and Oliver Smithies found how to switch off any chosen gene in mice.

Today Such mice help scientists study diseases and test medicines.

Mario R. Capecchi, Sir Martin J. Evans, and Oliver Smithies

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Official reason

“for their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
2006
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Physics

John Mather and George Smoot used the COBE satellite to take a “baby picture” of the universe, showing tiny ripples in the Big Bang’s leftover glow.

Today Those ripples grew into all the galaxies, including ours.

John C. Mather and George F. Smoot

The full story →
Official reason

“for their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Roger Kornberg showed exactly how a cell copies a gene from DNA into RNA, the first step in using it.

Did you know? His father Arthur won the Medicine prize in 1959.

Roger D. Kornberg

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Official reason

“for his studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Andrew Fire and Craig Mello discovered RNA interference, a way cells switch off particular genes.

Today Medicines based on it have been approved since 2018, first for rare diseases and now also for high cholesterol.

Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello

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Official reason

“for their discovery of RNA interference - gene silencing by double-stranded RNA”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
2005
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Physics

Roy Glauber explained light in quantum terms. John Hall and Theodor Hänsch built the frequency comb, a ruler for measuring the colors of light exactly.

Today Frequency combs are used in the most precise clocks ever built.

Roy J. Glauber, John L. Hall, and Theodor W. Hänsch

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Official reason

Roy J. Glauber: “for his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence”
John L. Hall and Theodor W. Hänsch: “for their contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Yves Chauvin, Robert Grubbs, and Richard Schrock developed metathesis, a reaction where molecules swap partners, like dancers changing pairs.

Today It makes medicines and plastics with less waste.

Yves Chauvin, Robert H. Grubbs, and Richard R. Schrock

The full story →
Official reason

“for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Barry Marshall and Robin Warren showed that most stomach ulcers are caused by a bacterium, not by stress or spicy food.

Today Ulcers that once needed surgery are now cured with antibiotics.
Did you know? To prove it, Marshall drank a glass of the bacteria and got sick.

Barry J. Marshall and J. Robin Warren

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Official reason

“for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
2004
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Physics

David Gross, David Politzer, and Frank Wilczek explained why quarks are never found alone: like a rubber band, the force between them grows as they pull apart.

David J. Gross, H. David Politzer, and Frank Wilczek

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Official reason

“for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Aaron Ciechanover, Avram Hershko, and Irwin Rose found how cells tag old proteins with a “kiss of death” so they get shredded.

Today A cancer medicine works by jamming this shredder.

Aaron Ciechanover, Avram Hershko, and Irwin Rose

The full story →
Official reason

“for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Richard Axel and Linda Buck found the hundreds of different smell detectors in our nose and how the brain reads them.

Richard Axel and Linda B. Buck

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Official reason

“for their discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
2003
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Physics

Alexei Abrikosov, Vitaly Ginzburg, and Anthony Leggett explained superconductors and superfluids in detail.

Today Abrikosov’s kind of superconductor is used in the magnets of MRI scanners.

Alexei Abrikosov, Vitaly L. Ginzburg, and Anthony J. Leggett

The full story →
Official reason

“for pioneering contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Peter Agre discovered the channels that let water in and out of cells. Roderick MacKinnon showed how the channels for salts work.

Today Your kidneys filter about 180 liters of water a day through these channels.

Peter Agre and Roderick MacKinnon

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Official reason

Peter Agre: “for the discovery of water channels”
Roderick MacKinnon: “for structural and mechanistic studies of ion channels”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield found how to make pictures with magnetic resonance: MRI.

Today MRI scans show the brain, joints, and organs in detail without X-rays.

Paul C. Lauterbur and Sir Peter Mansfield

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Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning magnetic resonance imaging”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
2002
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Physics

Raymond Davis and Masatoshi Koshiba caught neutrinos from the Sun and from an exploding star. Riccardo Giacconi opened up X-ray astronomy.

Raymond Davis Jr., Masatoshi Koshiba, and Riccardo Giacconi

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Official reason

Raymond Davis Jr. and Masatoshi Koshiba: “for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, in particular for the detection of cosmic neutrinos”
Riccardo Giacconi: “for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, which have led to the discovery of cosmic X-ray sources”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

John Fenn and Koichi Tanaka found ways to weigh big molecules like proteins. Kurt Wüthrich used NMR to see their 3D shapes.

Today Hospital labs now identify bacteria in minutes by weighing their proteins.
Did you know? Tanaka was a young company engineer with no PhD.

John B. Fenn, Koichi Tanaka, and Kurt Wüthrich

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Official reason

John B. Fenn and Koichi Tanaka: “for their development of soft desorption ionisation methods for mass spectrometric analyses of biological macromolecules”
Kurt Wüthrich: “for his development of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for determining the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules in solution”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Sydney Brenner, Robert Horvitz, and John Sulston showed, in a tiny worm, how cells are programmed to die when they are no longer needed.

Today Before you were born, your fingers separated because the cells between them died on schedule.

Sydney Brenner, H. Robert Horvitz, and John E. Sulston

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Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
2001
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Physics

Eric Cornell, Wolfgang Ketterle, and Carl Wieman cooled atoms until they merged into one “super-atom,” a new state of matter called a Bose–Einstein condensate.

Born in South Asia It is named after Satyendra Nath Bose, who in 1924, teaching at Dhaka University, found the way of counting that Einstein used to predict it. Particles called bosons carry his name too.

Eric Cornell, Wolfgang Ketterle, and Carl Wieman

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Official reason

“for the achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms, and for early fundamental studies of the properties of the condensates”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

William Knowles, Ryoji Noyori, and Barry Sharpless found catalysts that make only the left-handed or only the right-handed form of a molecule.

Today Used to make medicines like L-DOPA for Parkinson’s disease, and menthol.

William Knowles, Ryoji Noyori, and K. Barry Sharpless

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Official reason

William Knowles and Ryoji Noyori: “for their work on chirally catalysed hydrogenation reactions”
K. Barry Sharpless: “for his work on chirally catalysed oxidation reactions”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Leland Hartwell, Tim Hunt, and Paul Nurse found the molecules that control when a cell divides.

Today Cancer is cell division out of control, so this helps us understand it.

Leland Hartwell, Tim Hunt, and Sir Paul Nurse

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Official reason

“for their discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
2000
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Physics

Zhores Alferov and Herbert Kroemer layered different semiconductors to make fast chips and tiny lasers. Jack Kilby built the first integrated circuit, a whole circuit on one chip.

Today Microchips are in phones, computers, cars, and washing machines; tiny lasers send the internet through optical fibers.

Zhores Alferov, Herbert Kroemer, and Jack Kilby

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Official reason

Zhores Alferov and Herbert Kroemer: “for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and opto-electronics”
Jack Kilby: “for his part in the invention of the integrated circuit”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Alan Heeger, Alan MacDiarmid, and Hideki Shirakawa found that some plastics can conduct electricity.

Today Conducting plastics are used in anti-static packaging for electronics and in some bendable screens.
Did you know? It started with a mistake: a visiting researcher used a thousand times too much catalyst.

Alan Heeger, Alan MacDiarmid, and Hideki Shirakawa

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Official reason

“for the discovery and development of conductive polymers”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Arvid Carlsson, Paul Greengard, and Eric Kandel studied signals in the brain: dopamine, and how memories form.

Today Carlsson’s work led to the main medicine for Parkinson’s disease.
Did you know? Kandel studied memory in sea slugs, which have big, simple nerve cells.

Arvid Carlsson, Paul Greengard, and Eric Kandel

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Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1999
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Physics

Gerardus ’t Hooft and Martinus Veltman made the theory of the weak force work in calculations, which let physicists predict particles before they were found.

Gerardus 't Hooft and Martinus J.G. Veltman

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Official reason

“for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions in physics”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Ahmed Zewail used super-short laser flashes to film atoms moving during a reaction.

Did you know? He was the first Egyptian, and the first scientist born in an Arab country, to win a Nobel Prize in science.

Ahmed Zewail

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Official reason

“for his studies of the transition states of chemical reactions using femtosecond spectroscopy”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Günter Blobel found that proteins carry address labels that tell the cell where to deliver them.

Did you know? He gave all his prize money to Dresden, bombed in World War II, to help rebuild its great church, the Frauenkirche, and build a new synagogue.

Günter Blobel

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Official reason

“for the discovery that proteins have intrinsic signals that govern their transport and localization in the cell”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1998
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Physics

Robert Laughlin, Horst Störmer, and Daniel Tsui found that electrons in a very cold, thin layer act together as if split into pieces with a fraction of their charge.

Robert B. Laughlin, Horst L. Störmer, and Daniel C. Tsui

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Official reason

“for their discovery of a new form of quantum fluid with fractionally charged excitations”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Walter Kohn and John Pople found ways to calculate molecules on a computer using quantum physics.

Today Chemists test new medicines and materials on computers before making them.

Walter Kohn and John Pople

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Official reason

Walter Kohn: “for his development of the density-functional theory”
John Pople: “for his development of computational methods in quantum chemistry”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Robert Furchgott, Louis Ignarro, and Ferid Murad found that a simple gas, nitric oxide, tells blood vessels to widen.

Today Nitroglycerin, a medicine for chest pain, works by releasing it.
Did you know? Nitroglycerin is also the explosive in Alfred Nobel’s dynamite. Nobel himself was prescribed it for heart pain.

Robert F. Furchgott, Louis J. Ignarro, and Ferid Murad

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Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning nitric oxide as a signalling molecule in the cardiovascular system”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1997
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Physics

Steven Chu, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, and William Phillips used lasers to slow atoms down until they were colder than anything in nature.

Today The best atomic clocks use laser-cooled atoms.

Steven Chu, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, and William D. Phillips

The full story →
Official reason

“for development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Paul Boyer and John Walker showed how ATP, the fuel of cells, is made by a tiny spinning motor. Jens Skou found the pump that moves sodium and potassium in and out of cells.

Did you know? Every day your body makes and uses between half and all of its own weight in ATP.

Paul D. Boyer, John E. Walker, and Jens C. Skou

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Official reason

Paul D. Boyer and John E. Walker: “for their elucidation of the enzymatic mechanism underlying the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)”
Jens C. Skou: “for the first discovery of an ion-transporting enzyme, Na+, K+ -ATPase”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Stanley Prusiner discovered prions: proteins, with no DNA at all, that can cause infectious brain disease.

Today Prions cause “mad cow disease,” which is why cattle feed is controlled.

Stanley B. Prusiner

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Official reason

“for his discovery of Prions - a new biological principle of infection”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1996
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Physics

David Lee, Douglas Osheroff, and Robert Richardson found that a rare kind of helium flows with no friction at all, just a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero.

David M. Lee, Douglas D. Osheroff, and Robert C. Richardson

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Official reason

“for their discovery of superfluidity in helium-3”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Robert Curl, Harold Kroto, and Richard Smalley found a new form of carbon: 60 atoms joined into a hollow ball shaped like a football.

Did you know? They named it the buckyball, after an architect who designed domes of the same shape.

Robert F. Curl Jr., Sir Harold Kroto, and Richard E. Smalley

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Official reason

“for their discovery of fullerenes”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Peter Doherty and Rolf Zinkernagel showed how the immune system recognizes cells infected by a virus.

Did you know? Doherty was the first veterinarian to win a Nobel Prize.

Peter C. Doherty and Rolf M. Zinkernagel

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Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning the specificity of the cell mediated immune defence”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1995
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Physics

Martin Perl discovered the tau, a heavy cousin of the electron. Frederick Reines first detected the neutrino, a ghostly particle that passes through almost everything.

Did you know? Hundreds of trillions of neutrinos from the Sun pass through your body every second.

Martin L. Perl and Frederick Reines

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Official reason

Martin L. Perl: “for the discovery of the tau lepton”
Frederick Reines: “for the detection of the neutrino”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Paul Crutzen showed that gases like nitrogen oxides can destroy the ozone layer that blocks harmful UV light, and Mario Molina and Sherwood Rowland showed that chemicals called CFCs, used in fridges and sprays, were destroying it too.

Today The world banned CFCs, and the ozone hole is slowly healing.

Paul J. Crutzen, Mario J. Molina, and F. Sherwood Rowland

The full story →
Official reason

“for their work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Edward Lewis, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, and Eric Wieschaus found the genes that lay out an animal’s body plan, from head to tail.

Today Humans have the same kind of genes as the fruit flies they studied.

Edward B. Lewis, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, and Eric F. Wieschaus

The full story →
Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1994
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Physics

Bertram Brockhouse and Clifford Shull used beams of neutrons to see where atoms are in a material and how they move.

Today Neutron beams are used to improve batteries, jet engine parts, and medicines.

Bertram N. Brockhouse and Clifford G. Shull

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Official reason

Bertram N. Brockhouse: “for the development of neutron spectroscopy”
Clifford G. Shull: “for the development of the neutron diffraction technique”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

George Olah captured and studied carbocations, very short-lived carbon molecules.

Today His work helps make better-burning petrol.

George A. Olah

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Official reason

“for his contribution to carbocation chemistry”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Alfred Gilman and Martin Rodbell discovered G-proteins, the relay switches that pass signals inside cells.

Today Cholera makes people so sick by jamming one of these switches in the gut.

Alfred G. Gilman and Martin Rodbell

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Official reason

“for their discovery of G-proteins and the role of these proteins in signal transduction in cells”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1993
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Physics

Russell Hulse and Joseph Taylor found two dead stars orbiting each other, slowly spiraling in as they give off gravitational waves.

Today It was the first evidence for gravitational waves, caught directly in 2015 (see 2017).

Russell A. Hulse and Joseph H. Taylor Jr.

The full story →
Official reason

“for the discovery of a new type of pulsar, a discovery that has opened up new possibilities for the study of gravitation”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Kary Mullis invented PCR, which copies a bit of DNA millions of times in a few hours. Michael Smith found how to change one chosen letter in a gene.

Today PCR tests found COVID-19, solve crimes, and test for diseases.
Did you know? Mullis said the idea came to him while driving at night.

Kary B. Mullis and Michael Smith

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Official reason

Kary B. Mullis: “for his invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method”
Michael Smith: “for his fundamental contributions to the establishment of oligonucleotide-based, site-directed mutagenesis and its development for protein studies”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Richard Roberts and Phillip Sharp found that genes come in pieces, with stretches of “filler” that get cut out.

Richard J. Roberts and Phillip A. Sharp

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Official reason

“for their discoveries of split genes”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1992
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Physics

Georges Charpak invented a detector that records thousands of particle hits per second straight into a computer.

Today His kind of detector is used in some medical scanners that use much less X-ray dose.

Georges Charpak

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Official reason

“for his invention and development of particle detectors, in particular the multiwire proportional chamber”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Rudolph Marcus explained how electrons jump from one molecule to another.

Today It helps explain photosynthesis, rust, and how batteries and solar cells work.

Rudolph A. Marcus

The full story →
Official reason

“for his contributions to the theory of electron transfer reactions in chemical systems”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Edmond Fischer and Edwin Krebs found how cells switch proteins on and off by adding or removing a little phosphate tag.

Today Some cancer medicines work by blocking these switches.

Edmond H. Fischer and Edwin G. Krebs

The full story →
Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning reversible protein phosphorylation as a biological regulatory mechanism”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1991
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Physics

Pierre-Gilles de Gennes explained the order in “soft” materials like liquid crystals and polymers.

Today Liquid crystals make the screens of calculators, watches, and many TVs (LCD means liquid-crystal display).

Pierre-Gilles de Gennes

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Official reason

“for discovering that methods developed for studying order phenomena in simple systems can be generalized to more complex forms of matter, in particular to liquid crystals and polymers”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Richard Ernst made NMR far more sensitive and detailed (see Physics 1952).

Today Chemists use NMR every day to identify molecules, and his methods also helped MRI scanners.

Richard R. Ernst

The full story →
Official reason

“for his contributions to the development of the methodology of high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Erwin Neher and Bert Sakmann measured the electricity flowing through a single tiny channel in a cell.

Erwin Neher and Bert Sakmann

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Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning the function of single ion channels in cells”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1990
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Physics

Jerome Friedman, Henry Kendall, and Richard Taylor fired electrons at protons and found hard little things inside: quarks.

Jerome I. Friedman, Henry W. Kendall, and Richard E. Taylor

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Official reason

“for their pioneering investigations concerning deep inelastic scattering of electrons on protons and bound neutrons, which have been of essential importance for the development of the quark model in particle physics”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Elias Corey taught chemists to plan how to make a molecule by working backward from the finished one.

Today This is how new medicines are planned, now often with computer help.

Elias James Corey

The full story →
Official reason

“for his development of the theory and methodology of organic synthesis”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Joseph Murray did the first successful kidney transplant, between twin brothers. Donnall Thomas pioneered bone marrow transplants.

Today Kidney, liver, and bone marrow transplants save lives every day.
In Nepal Nepal’s national transplant center, the Shahid Dharmabhakta National Transplant Centre, is here in Bhaktapur.

Joseph E. Murray and E. Donnall Thomas

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Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning organ and cell transplantation in the treatment of human disease”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1989
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Physics

Norman Ramsey invented the method behind atomic clocks. Hans Dehmelt and Wolfgang Paul built traps that hold single charged atoms still to study them.

Today Atomic clocks on GPS satellites tell your phone where you are on a map.

Norman F. Ramsey, Hans G. Dehmelt, and Wolfgang Paul

The full story →
Official reason

Norman F. Ramsey: “for the invention of the separated oscillatory fields method and its use in the hydrogen maser and other atomic clocks”
Hans G. Dehmelt and Wolfgang Paul: “for the development of the ion trap technique”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Sidney Altman and Thomas Cech found that RNA, not just proteins, can act as an enzyme.

Today It supports the idea that the first life on Earth was based on RNA.

Sidney Altman and Thomas R. Cech

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Official reason

“for their discovery of catalytic properties of RNA”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Michael Bishop and Harold Varmus found that cancer genes come from our own normal genes that go wrong.

J. Michael Bishop and Harold E. Varmus

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Official reason

“for their discovery of the cellular origin of retroviral oncogenes”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1988
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Physics

Leon Lederman, Melvin Schwartz, and Jack Steinberger made the first beam of neutrinos and found that there is more than one kind.

Leon M. Lederman, Melvin Schwartz, and Jack Steinberger

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Official reason

“for the neutrino beam method and the demonstration of the doublet structure of the leptons through the discovery of the muon neutrino”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Johann Deisenhofer, Robert Huber, and Hartmut Michel worked out the 3D shape of the part of a bacterium that catches light, like a plant leaf does.

Johann Deisenhofer, Robert Huber, and Hartmut Michel

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Official reason

“for the determination of the three-dimensional structure of a photosynthetic reaction centre”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

James Black, Gertrude Elion, and George Hitchings designed medicines on purpose, by studying exactly what the body and germs need.

Today Beta-blockers for the heart, medicines for gout and leukemia, and antivirals for herpes came from them.
Did you know? Gertrude Elion never finished a PhD.

Sir James W. Black, Gertrude B. Elion, and George H. Hitchings

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Official reason

“for their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1987
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Physics

Georg Bednorz and Alex Müller found ceramics that become superconductors at much warmer temperatures than metals.

Today Cables of these ceramics carry power in a few cities, and they’re being used in magnets for fusion power.

J. Georg Bednorz and K. Alex Müller

The full story →
Official reason

“for their important break-through in the discovery of superconductivity in ceramic materials”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Donald Cram, Jean-Marie Lehn, and Charles Pedersen made molecules that pick out and hold only one particular other molecule, like a lock and key.

Donald J. Cram, Jean-Marie Lehn, and Charles J. Pedersen

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Official reason

“for their development and use of molecules with structure-specific interactions of high selectivity”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Susumu Tonegawa found how a few hundred gene pieces shuffle to make billions of different antibodies.

Susumu Tonegawa

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Official reason

“for his discovery of the genetic principle for generation of antibody diversity”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1986
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Physics

Ernst Ruska built the first electron microscope. Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer built the scanning tunneling microscope, which can see single atoms.

Today Electron microscopes let us see viruses, and scientists can now move single atoms around.
Did you know? Ruska built his microscope in the early 1930s and waited over 50 years for the prize.

Ernst Ruska, Gerd Binnig, and Heinrich Rohrer

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Official reason

Ernst Ruska: “for his fundamental work in electron optics, and for the design of the first electron microscope”
Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer: “for their design of the scanning tunneling microscope”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Dudley Herschbach, Yuan Lee, and John Polanyi studied single collisions between molecules to see exactly how reactions happen.

Dudley R. Herschbach, Yuan T. Lee, and John C. Polanyi

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Official reason

“for their contributions concerning the dynamics of chemical elementary processes”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Stanley Cohen and Rita Levi-Montalcini discovered growth factors, signals that tell cells to grow.

Did you know? Barred from her university by Italy’s race laws in 1938, Levi-Montalcini set up a lab in her bedroom during the war. She lived to 103.

Stanley Cohen and Rita Levi-Montalcini

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Official reason

“for their discoveries of growth factors”
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1985
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Physics

Klaus von Klitzing found that, in a very cold, thin layer, electrical resistance comes in exact steps set by nature’s constants.

Today Measurement labs around the world use it as the standard for electrical resistance.

Klaus von Klitzing

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Official reason

“for the discovery of the quantized Hall effect”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Herbert Hauptman and Jerome Karle found the math to work out crystal structures straight from X-ray patterns.

Today Computers now solve thousands of molecule shapes a year with their methods.

Herbert A. Hauptman and Jerome Karle

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Official reason

“for their outstanding achievements in the development of direct methods for the determination of crystal structures”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein found how cells pull cholesterol out of the blood.

Today It explains how statins, common heart medicines, lower cholesterol.

Michael S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein

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Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning the regulation of cholesterol metabolism”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1984
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Physics

Carlo Rubbia and Simon van der Meer led the project at CERN that found the W and Z particles, which carry the weak nuclear force.

Carlo Rubbia and Simon van der Meer

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Official reason

“for their decisive contributions to the large project, which led to the discovery of the field particles W and Z, communicators of weak interaction”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Bruce Merrifield found how to build proteins (peptides) one link at a time on a solid bead, so a machine can do it.

Today Machines now make peptides for medicines and research this way.

Bruce Merrifield

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Official reason

“for his development of methodology for chemical synthesis on a solid matrix”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Niels Jerne explained the immune system. Georges Köhler and César Milstein found how to make large amounts of one exact antibody, monoclonal antibodies.

Today Pregnancy tests, rapid malaria and COVID tests, and many cancer medicines use them.
Did you know? The method was never patented, and Milstein shared his cells freely, so labs everywhere could use it.

Niels K. Jerne, Georges J.F. Köhler, and César Milstein

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Official reason

“for theories concerning the specificity in development and control of the immune system and the discovery of the principle for production of monoclonal antibodies”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1983
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Physics

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar worked out how stars live and die. William Fowler showed how the elements are made inside stars.

Today Apart from the hydrogen, nearly every atom in your body was made inside a star. NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory is named after him.
Born in South Asia Chandrasekhar was born in Lahore, in today’s Pakistan. He was C. V. Raman’s nephew (see 1930).

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar and William A. Fowler

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Official reason

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar: “for his theoretical studies of the physical processes of importance to the structure and evolution of the stars”
William A. Fowler: “for his theoretical and experimental studies of the nuclear reactions of importance in the formation of the chemical elements in the universe”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Henry Taube showed how electrons jump between metal atoms in reactions.

Henry Taube

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Official reason

“for his work on the mechanisms of electron transfer reactions, especially in metal complexes”
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Medicine

Barbara McClintock discovered “jumping genes” that move around in the chromosomes of maize (corn).

Today They explain the speckled colors of some corn kernels.
Did you know? Other scientists ignored her work for decades. She was the first woman to win the Medicine prize alone.

Barbara McClintock

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Official reason

“for her discovery of mobile genetic elements”
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1982
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Physics

Kenneth Wilson found the math for the moment something suddenly changes state, like water boiling or a magnet losing its magnetism.

Kenneth G. Wilson

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Official reason

“for his theory for critical phenomena in connection with phase transitions”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Aaron Klug found ways to see the 3D shapes of viruses and other complexes of DNA and protein.

Aaron Klug

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Official reason

“for his development of crystallographic electron microscopy and his structural elucidation of biologically important nucleic acid-protein complexes”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Sune Bergström, Bengt Samuelsson, and John Vane studied prostaglandins, chemicals that cause pain and swelling, and showed aspirin works by blocking them.

Today Aspirin and ibuprofen work this way.
Did you know? Bergström’s son Svante Pääbo won in 2022.

Sune K. Bergström, Bengt I. Samuelsson, and John R. Vane

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Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning prostaglandins and related biologically active substances”
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1981
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Physics

Nicolaas Bloembergen and Arthur Schawlow used lasers to study atoms and molecules in fine detail. Kai Siegbahn used electrons to find out which atoms are on a surface.

Did you know? Kai Siegbahn’s father Manne won in 1924.

Nicolaas Bloembergen, Arthur L. Schawlow, and Kai M. Siegbahn

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Official reason

Nicolaas Bloembergen and Arthur L. Schawlow: “for their contribution to the development of laser spectroscopy”
Kai M. Siegbahn: “for his contribution to the development of high-resolution electron spectroscopy”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Kenichi Fukui and Roald Hoffmann explained, with the electrons involved, why some reactions happen easily and others don’t.

Did you know? Fukui was the first person from Asia to win the Chemistry prize.

Kenichi Fukui and Roald Hoffmann

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Official reason

“for their theories, developed independently, concerning the course of chemical reactions”
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Medicine

Roger Sperry studied what each half of the brain is best at. David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel found how the brain builds pictures from what the eyes see.

Today Hubel and Wiesel’s findings inspired the AI that recognizes images (see Physics 2024).
Second thoughts The popular idea of “left-brained” and “right-brained” people is a myth, not what Sperry found.

Roger W. Sperry, David H. Hubel, and Torsten N. Wiesel

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Official reason

Roger W. Sperry: “for his discoveries concerning the functional specialization of the cerebral hemispheres”
David H. Hubel and Torsten N. Wiesel: “for their discoveries concerning information processing in the visual system”
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1980
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Physics

James Cronin and Val Fitch found a tiny difference in how matter and antimatter behave.

Today It may help explain why the universe is made of matter at all, instead of nothing.

James Cronin and Val Fitch

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Official reason

“for the discovery of violations of fundamental symmetry principles in the decay of neutral K-mesons”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Paul Berg was the first to join DNA from two different living things. Walter Gilbert and Frederick Sanger found ways to read DNA letter by letter.

Today Genetic tests, and bacteria that make insulin for people with diabetes, began here.
Did you know? This was Sanger’s second Chemistry prize (see 1958).

Paul Berg, Walter Gilbert, and Frederick Sanger

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Official reason

Paul Berg: “for his fundamental studies of the biochemistry of nucleic acids, with particular regard to recombinant-DNA”
Walter Gilbert and Frederick Sanger: “for their contributions concerning the determination of base sequences in nucleic acids”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Baruj Benacerraf, Jean Dausset, and George Snell found the markers on our cells that tell the immune system “this is me.”

Today Doctors match these markers between donors and patients for transplants.

Baruj Benacerraf, Jean Dausset, and George D. Snell

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Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning genetically determined structures on the cell surface that regulate immunological reactions”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1979
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Physics

Sheldon Glashow, Abdus Salam, and Steven Weinberg showed that electromagnetism and the weak nuclear force are two sides of one force.

Born in South Asia Abdus Salam was born in Jhang, in today’s Pakistan. He founded a center in Italy where scientists from poorer countries could do research.

Sheldon Glashow, Abdus Salam, and Steven Weinberg

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Official reason

“for their contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, including, inter alia, the prediction of the weak neutral current”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Herbert Brown and Georg Wittig turned boron and phosphorus compounds into handy tools for building molecules.

Today Wittig’s reaction is used to make vitamin A in factories.

Herbert C. Brown and Georg Wittig

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Official reason

“for their development of the use of boron- and phosphorus-containing compounds, respectively, into important reagents in organic synthesis”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Allan Cormack and Godfrey Hounsfield invented the CT scanner, which builds pictures of thin slices through the body from many X-rays.

Today CT scans find injuries, strokes, and tumors fast.

Allan M. Cormack and Godfrey N. Hounsfield

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Official reason

“for the development of computer assisted tomography”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1978
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Physics

Pyotr Kapitsa discovered superfluid helium. Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson heard a faint hiss coming from every direction in the sky: the leftover glow of the Big Bang.

Today A little of the “snow” on an old TV tuned between channels was this leftover glow from the Big Bang.
Did you know? They even suspected the pigeons nesting in their antenna, and cleaned out the droppings, but the hiss stayed.

Pyotr Kapitsa, Arno Penzias, and Robert Woodrow Wilson

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Official reason

Pyotr Kapitsa: “for his basic inventions and discoveries in the area of low-temperature physics”
Arno Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson: “for their discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Peter Mitchell explained how cells store energy: they pump protons across a membrane, like water behind a dam, and use the flow to make ATP.

Peter Mitchell

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Official reason

“for his contribution to the understanding of biological energy transfer through the formulation of the chemiosmotic theory”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Werner Arber, Daniel Nathans, and Hamilton Smith discovered restriction enzymes, molecular scissors that cut DNA at exact spots.

Today Genetic engineering began here, including bacteria that make insulin.

Werner Arber, Daniel Nathans, and Hamilton O. Smith

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Official reason

“for the discovery of restriction enzymes and their application to problems of molecular genetics”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1977
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Physics

Philip Anderson, Nevill Mott, and John Van Vleck explained how electrons behave in magnets and in messy, glassy materials.

Today Glassy semiconductors like these are used in some solar panels and in photocopiers.

Philip W. Anderson, Sir Nevill F. Mott, and John H. Van Vleck

The full story →
Official reason

“for their fundamental theoretical investigations of the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems”
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Chemistry

Ilya Prigogine showed how order and patterns can appear by themselves in systems that energy flows through.

Ilya Prigogine

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Official reason

“for his contributions to non-equilibrium thermodynamics, particularly the theory of dissipative structures”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Roger Guillemin and Andrew Schally found hormones made in the brain. Rosalyn Yalow found how to measure tiny amounts of hormones in blood.

Today Thyroid blood tests and many other lab tests come from Yalow’s method.
Did you know? Rosalyn Yalow was the second woman to win the Medicine prize.

Roger Guillemin, Andrew V. Schally, and Rosalyn Yalow

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Official reason

Roger Guillemin and Andrew V. Schally: “for their discoveries concerning the peptide hormone production of the brain”
Rosalyn Yalow: “for the development of radioimmunoassays of peptide hormones”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1976
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Physics

Burton Richter and Samuel Ting each discovered the same new heavy particle, proof of a fourth kind of quark, “charm.”

Burton Richter and Samuel C.C. Ting

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Official reason

“for their pioneering work in the discovery of a heavy elementary particle of a new kind”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

William Lipscomb explained the strange bonds in boranes, compounds of boron and hydrogen.

William Lipscomb

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Official reason

“for his studies on the structure of boranes illuminating problems of chemical bonding”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Baruch Blumberg discovered the hepatitis B virus and helped make a vaccine. Carleton Gajdusek studied kuru, a brain disease spread by a strange infection.

Today Babies everywhere, including Nepal, get the hepatitis B vaccine.

Baruch S. Blumberg and D. Carleton Gajdusek

Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning new mechanisms for the origin and dissemination of infectious diseases”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1975
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Physics

Aage Bohr, Ben Mottelson, and James Rainwater showed that the nucleus of an atom isn’t always round: it can be squashed, like a rugby ball.

Did you know? Aage Bohr was the son of Niels Bohr (1922).

Aage N. Bohr, Ben R. Mottelson, and James Rainwater

Official reason

“for the discovery of the connection between collective motion and particle motion in atomic nuclei and the development of the theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus based on this connection”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

John Cornforth and Vladimir Prelog studied molecules that come in left-handed and right-handed forms, like a pair of gloves.

Today The wrong hand of a medicine can do nothing, or harm, so drug makers check which hand they make.
Did you know? Cornforth was deaf from his teens.

John Cornforth and Vladimir Prelog

Official reason

John Cornforth: “for his work on the stereochemistry of enzyme-catalyzed reactions”
Vladimir Prelog: “for his research into the stereochemistry of organic molecules and reactions”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

David Baltimore, Renato Dulbecco, and Howard Temin found that some viruses copy their RNA back into DNA and insert it into our cells.

Today HIV medicines block this step, and COVID-19 PCR tests use the same enzyme.

David Baltimore, Renato Dulbecco, and Howard M. Temin

Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning the interaction between tumour viruses and the genetic material of the cell”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1974
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Physics

Martin Ryle linked radio telescopes to act as one giant one. Antony Hewish led the team that discovered pulsars, spinning dead stars that flash like lighthouses.

Today Linked telescopes around the world took the first photo of a black hole in 2019.
Left out Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the student who first spotted the pulsar signal, wasn’t included.

Martin Ryle and Antony Hewish

Official reason

“for their pioneering research in radio astrophysics: Ryle for his observations and inventions, in particular of the aperture synthesis technique, and Hewish for his decisive role in the discovery of pulsars”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Paul Flory explained how the long chain molecules in plastics and rubber behave.

Paul J. Flory

Official reason

“for his fundamental achievements, both theoretical and experimental, in the physical chemistry of the macromolecules”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Albert Claude, Christian de Duve, and George Palade explored the inside of the cell and found its little organs, like lysosomes and ribosomes.

Albert Claude, Christian de Duve, and George E. Palade

Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning the structural and functional organization of the cell”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1973
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Physics

Leo Esaki, Ivar Giaever, and Brian Josephson studied tunneling: electrons slipping through barriers they shouldn’t be able to cross.

Today Josephson junctions in SQUID sensors detect the faint magnetic fields of the brain, and they are the heart of many quantum computers (see 2025).

Leo Esaki, Ivar Giaever, and Brian D. Josephson

Official reason

Leo Esaki and Ivar Giaever: “for their experimental discoveries regarding tunneling phenomena in semiconductors and superconductors, respectively”
Brian D. Josephson: “for his theoretical predictions of the properties of a supercurrent through a tunnel barrier, in particular those phenomena which are generally known as the Josephson effects”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Ernst Otto Fischer and Geoffrey Wilkinson studied “sandwich” molecules, a metal atom held between two flat rings.

Ernst Otto Fischer and Geoffrey Wilkinson

Official reason

“for their pioneering work, performed independently, on the chemistry of the organometallic, so called sandwich compounds”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Karl von Frisch, Konrad Lorenz, and Nikolaas Tinbergen studied animal behavior, like the waggle dance bees use to tell each other where flowers are.

Did you know? Baby geese that saw Lorenz first followed him around as if he were their mother.

Karl von Frisch, Konrad Lorenz, and Nikolaas Tinbergen

Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning organization and elicitation of individual and social behaviour patterns”
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1972
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Physics

John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, and Robert Schrieffer explained superconductivity: very cold electrons pair up and flow without any resistance.

Did you know? Bardeen is the only person to win the Physics prize twice (see 1956).

John Bardeen, Leon N. Cooper, and Robert Schrieffer

Official reason

“for their jointly developed theory of superconductivity, usually called the BCS-theory”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Christian Anfinsen showed that a protein’s chain of building blocks decides the shape it folds into. Stanford Moore and William Stein found how an enzyme works.

Today This idea led, decades later, to AI that predicts protein shapes (see 2024).

Christian Anfinsen, Stanford Moore, and William H. Stein

Official reason

Christian Anfinsen: “for his work on ribonuclease, especially concerning the connection between the amino acid sequence and the biologically active conformation”
Stanford Moore and William H. Stein: “for their contribution to the understanding of the connection between chemical structure and catalytic activity of the active centre of the ribonuclease molecule”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Gerald Edelman and Rodney Porter worked out the Y shape of antibodies.

Gerald M. Edelman and Rodney R. Porter

Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning the chemical structure of antibodies”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1971
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Physics

Dennis Gabor invented holography, a way of recording light so a picture looks three-dimensional.

Today The shiny, hard-to-copy holograms on bank cards, banknotes, and product labels.

Dennis Gabor

Official reason

“for his invention and development of the holographic method”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Gerhard Herzberg used light to work out the shapes of molecules, including short-lived ones called free radicals.

Today Astronomers use his methods to find molecules in space.

Gerhard Herzberg

Official reason

“for his contributions to the knowledge of electronic structure and geometry of molecules, particularly free radicals”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Earl Sutherland found how hormones pass their message inside a cell through a second messenger.

Earl W. Sutherland, Jr.

Official reason

“for his discoveries concerning the mechanisms of the action of hormones”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1970
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Physics

Hannes Alfvén explained how magnetic fields move with hot, electrified gas (plasma). Louis Néel discovered new kinds of magnetism.

Today Alfvén’s work is used in fusion research and space weather; Néel’s kind of magnet is in fridge magnets and inside chargers and transformers.

Hannes Alfvén and Louis Néel

Official reason

Hannes Alfvén: “for fundamental work and discoveries in magnetohydro-dynamics with fruitful applications in different parts of plasma physics”
Louis Néel: “for fundamental work and discoveries concerning antiferromagnetism and ferrimagnetism which have led to important applications in solid state physics”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Luis Leloir found how our bodies build and store sugars.

Did you know? He is also said to have invented a popular Argentinian sauce, salsa golf.

Luis Leloir

Official reason

“for his discovery of sugar nucleotides and their role in the biosynthesis of carbohydrates”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Bernard Katz, Ulf von Euler, and Julius Axelrod found how nerve cells store, release, and recycle their chemical messengers.

Today Many medicines for depression work by slowing this recycling.

Sir Bernard Katz, Ulf von Euler, and Julius Axelrod

Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning the humoral transmitters in the nerve terminals and the mechanism for their storage, release and inactivation”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1969
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Physics

Murray Gell-Mann sorted the zoo of new particles into neat families and proposed that protons and neutrons are made of smaller pieces: quarks.

Did you know? He took the name “quark” from a line in a novel by James Joyce.

Murray Gell-Mann

Official reason

“for his contributions and discoveries concerning the classification of elementary particles and their interactions”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Derek Barton and Odd Hassel showed that a molecule’s 3D shape, the way it bends and twists, decides how it reacts.

Derek Barton and Odd Hassel

Official reason

“for their contributions to the development of the concept of conformation and its application in chemistry”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Max Delbrück, Alfred Hershey, and Salvador Luria studied viruses that infect bacteria, and showed genes are made of DNA.

Today Doctors are now testing these viruses against bacteria that resist antibiotics.

Max Delbrück, Alfred D. Hershey, and Salvador E. Luria

Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning the replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1968
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Physics

Luis Alvarez used giant bubble chambers and computers to find dozens of new short-lived particles.

Did you know? With his son Walter, he later found the clue that an asteroid strike killed the dinosaurs.

Luis Alvarez

Official reason

“for his decisive contributions to elementary particle physics, in particular the discovery of a large number of resonance states, made possible through his development of the technique of using hydrogen bubble chamber and data analysis”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Lars Onsager found rules for how heat and matter flow in systems that are changing.

Lars Onsager

Official reason

“for the discovery of the reciprocal relations bearing his name, which are fundamental for the thermodynamics of irreversible processes”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Robert Holley, Har Gobind Khorana, and Marshall Nirenberg cracked the genetic code: how three-letter words in DNA spell out proteins.

Born in South Asia Har Gobind Khorana was born in Raipur, a village in Punjab, in today’s Pakistan.

Robert W. Holley, H. Gobind Khorana, and Marshall W. Nirenberg

Official reason

“for their interpretation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1967
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Physics

Hans Bethe worked out how stars shine: deep inside, hydrogen nuclei fuse into helium and release enormous energy.

Today It explains the Sun that warms us, and scientists are trying to copy it in fusion power plants.

Hans Bethe

Official reason

“for his contributions to the theory of nuclear reactions, especially his discoveries concerning the energy production in stars”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Manfred Eigen, Ronald Norrish, and George Porter used very short flashes of energy to study reactions over in a millionth of a second.

Manfred Eigen, Ronald G.W. Norrish, and George Porter

Official reason

“for their studies of extremely fast chemical reactions, effected by disturbing the equilibrium by means of very short pulses of energy”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Ragnar Granit, Keffer Hartline, and George Wald showed how the eye turns light into signals. Wald found vitamin A at work in the eye.

Today Lack of vitamin A causes night blindness.
In Nepal Nepal gives children vitamin A capsules twice a year, which has saved many young lives.

Ragnar Granit, Keffer Hartline, and George Wald

Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning the primary physiological and chemical visual processes in the eye”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1966
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Physics

Alfred Kastler found how to use light to line up atoms in one state, called optical pumping.

Today Optical pumping is how many lasers and atomic clocks work.

Alfred Kastler

Official reason

“for the discovery and development of optical methods for studying Hertzian resonances in atoms”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Robert Mulliken explained how electrons spread out over a whole molecule, holding it together.

Robert S. Mulliken

Official reason

“for his fundamental work concerning chemical bonds and the electronic structure of molecules by the molecular orbital method”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Peyton Rous found that a virus can cause cancer. Charles Huggins treated prostate cancer with hormones.

Today Some cancers are now prevented by vaccines against viruses (see 2008).
Did you know? Rous made his discovery in 1911 and waited 55 years for the prize.

Peyton Rous and Charles B. Huggins

Official reason

Peyton Rous: “for his discovery of tumour-inducing viruses”
Charles B. Huggins: “for his discoveries concerning hormonal treatment of prostatic cancer”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1965
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Physics

Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Julian Schwinger, and Richard Feynman finished the theory of how light and electrons interact (quantum electrodynamics), the most precisely tested theory in science.

Did you know? Feynman drew simple doodles for the math, now called Feynman diagrams, used by physicists everywhere.

Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Julian Schwinger, and Richard P. Feynman

The full story →
Official reason

“for their fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics, with deep-ploughing consequences for the physics of elementary particles”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Robert Woodward was a master at building complex natural molecules, like quinine, cholesterol, and chlorophyll, from simple ones.

Robert B. Woodward

Official reason

“for his outstanding achievements in the art of organic synthesis”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

François Jacob, André Lwoff, and Jacques Monod found that genes have switches that turn them on and off as needed.

François Jacob, André Lwoff, and Jacques Monod

Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1964
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Physics

Charles Townes, Nikolay Basov, and Aleksandr Prokhorov laid the groundwork for the maser and the laser, which make a pure, powerful beam of one color.

Today Barcode scanners at the shop, laser eye surgery, laser pointers, and the light that carries the internet through glass fibers.

Charles H. Townes, Nicolay G. Basov, and Aleksandr M. Prokhorov

The full story →
Official reason

“for fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Dorothy Hodgkin used X-rays to work out the shapes of penicillin and vitamin B12.

Today Knowing these shapes helped chemists make new kinds of penicillin.
Did you know? She was the third woman to win the Chemistry prize, after Marie Curie and Irène Joliot-Curie.

Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin

The full story →
Official reason

“for her determinations by X-ray techniques of the structures of important biochemical substances”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Konrad Bloch and Feodor Lynen worked out how the body makes cholesterol and fat.

Today It led to medicines that lower cholesterol.

Konrad Bloch and Feodor Lynen

Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning the mechanism and regulation of the cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1963
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Physics

Eugene Wigner used symmetry to explain the nucleus. Maria Goeppert Mayer and Hans Jensen found that protons and neutrons sit in shells, like electrons do.

Did you know? Maria Goeppert Mayer was only the second woman to win the Physics prize, 60 years after Marie Curie.

Eugene Wigner, Maria Goeppert Mayer, and J. Hans D. Jensen

Official reason

Eugene Wigner: “for his contributions to the theory of the atomic nucleus and the elementary particles, particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental symmetry principles”
Maria Goeppert Mayer and J. Hans D. Jensen: “for their discoveries concerning nuclear shell structure”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Karl Ziegler and Giulio Natta found catalysts that make cheap, strong plastics: polyethylene and polypropylene.

Today Plastic buckets, chairs, bottle caps, and bags are made this way.

Karl Ziegler and Giulio Natta

Official reason

“for their discoveries in the field of the chemistry and technology of high polymers”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

John Eccles, Alan Hodgkin, and Andrew Huxley showed how nerve signals travel, as salts flow in and out of the nerve.

Did you know? They used the giant nerve fibers of squid, thick enough to push a wire into.

Sir John Eccles, Alan Hodgkin, and Andrew Huxley

Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning the ionic mechanisms involved in excitation and inhibition in the peripheral and central portions of the nerve cell membrane”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1962
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Physics

Lev Landau explained the strange behavior of liquid helium when very cold, which flows with no friction and climbs up the walls of its container.

Lev Landau

Official reason

“for his pioneering theories for condensed matter, especially liquid helium”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Max Perutz and John Kendrew were the first to see the 3D shape of proteins: hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in blood, and myoglobin.

Max F. Perutz and John C. Kendrew

Official reason

“for their studies of the structures of globular proteins”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Francis Crick, James Watson, and Maurice Wilkins found the shape of DNA: a double helix, a twisted ladder that carries the instructions for life.

Today DNA tests, genetic medicine, and modern biology all start here.
Left out Rosalind Franklin took the X-ray photo that revealed the shape. She died in 1958, and Nobel Prizes are not given after death.

Francis Crick, James Watson, and Maurice Wilkins

The full story →
Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1961
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Physics

Robert Hofstadter measured the size and shape of protons and neutrons. Rudolf Mössbauer found a way to measure gamma rays so precisely it could detect gravity slowing time.

Today Mössbauer instruments rode on NASA’s Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity to identify iron minerals.

Robert Hofstadter and Rudolf Mössbauer

Official reason

Robert Hofstadter: “for his pioneering studies of electron scattering in atomic nuclei and for his thereby achieved discoveries concerning the structure of the nucleons”
Rudolf Mössbauer: “for his researches concerning the resonance absorption of gamma radiation and his discovery in this connection of the effect which bears his name”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Melvin Calvin worked out how plants turn carbon dioxide from the air into sugar, step by step.

Melvin Calvin

Official reason

“for his research on the carbon dioxide assimilation in plants”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Georg von Békésy showed how the cochlea, the snail-shaped part of the inner ear, sorts sounds by pitch.

Today Cochlear implants help deaf people hear by copying this.

Georg von Békésy

Official reason

“for his discoveries of the physical mechanism of stimulation within the cochlea”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1960
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Physics

Donald Glaser invented the bubble chamber, a tank of liquid where speeding particles leave trails of tiny bubbles.

Donald A. Glaser

Official reason

“for the invention of the bubble chamber”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Willard Libby found how to date old things that were once alive by measuring the radioactive carbon-14 left in them.

Today Carbon dating tells archaeologists the age of ancient wood, bones, and cloth.

Willard F. Libby

Official reason

“for his method to use carbon-14 for age determination in archaeology, geology, geophysics, and other branches of science”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Frank Macfarlane Burnet and Peter Medawar showed the immune system learns, early in life, what belongs to the body and what doesn’t.

Today This made organ transplants possible.

Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet and Peter Medawar

Official reason

“for discovery of acquired immunological tolerance”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1959
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Physics

Emilio Segrè and Owen Chamberlain discovered the antiproton, the antimatter twin of the proton.

Emilio Segrè and Owen Chamberlain

Official reason

“for their discovery of the antiproton”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Jaroslav Heyrovský invented polarography, a way to detect tiny amounts of metals and other substances with electricity.

Jaroslav Heyrovsky

Official reason

“for his discovery and development of the polarographic methods of analysis”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Severo Ochoa and Arthur Kornberg found the enzymes that build RNA and DNA, and made them in a test tube.

Did you know? Arthur Kornberg’s son Roger won the Chemistry prize in 2006.

Severo Ochoa and Arthur Kornberg

Official reason

“for their discovery of the mechanisms in the biological synthesis of ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1958
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Physics

Pavel Cherenkov, Ilya Frank, and Igor Tamm found and explained the blue glow made when particles travel through water faster than light does in water.

Today It’s the eerie blue glow in the water around a nuclear reactor, and huge detectors use it to catch neutrinos.

Pavel A. Cherenkov, Il´ja M. Frank, and Igor Y. Tamm

Official reason

“for the discovery and the interpretation of the Cherenkov effect”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Frederick Sanger worked out the full sequence of insulin, the first time anyone had read the order of the building blocks in a protein.

Did you know? He won the Chemistry prize again in 1980.

Frederick Sanger

Official reason

“for his work on the structure of proteins, especially that of insulin”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

George Beadle and Edward Tatum showed that each gene makes one enzyme. Joshua Lederberg found that bacteria swap genes.

Today Bacteria swapping genes is how antibiotic resistance spreads.

George Beadle, Edward Tatum, and Joshua Lederberg

Official reason

George Beadle and Edward Tatum: “for their discovery that genes act by regulating definite chemical events”
Joshua Lederberg: “for his discoveries concerning genetic recombination and the organization of the genetic material of bacteria”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1957
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Physics

Chen Ning Yang and Tsung-Dao Lee showed that nature isn’t always the same in a mirror: some particle decays prefer left over right.

Did you know? They were the first Chinese-born winners of a Nobel Prize.
Left out Chien-Shiung Wu did the experiment that proved it, but wasn’t included.

Chen Ning Yang and Tsung-Dao Lee

Official reason

“for their penetrating investigation of the so-called parity laws which has led to important discoveries regarding the elementary particles”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Alexander Todd made the building blocks of DNA and RNA in the lab.

Lord Todd

Official reason

“for his work on nucleotides and nucleotide co-enzymes”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Daniel Bovet made the first antihistamines and medicines that relax muscles during surgery.

Today Antihistamine tablets for allergies, sneezing, and itching.

Daniel Bovet

Official reason

“for his discoveries relating to synthetic compounds that inhibit the action of certain body substances, and especially their action on the vascular system and the skeletal muscles”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1956
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Physics

William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain invented the transistor, a tiny switch with no moving parts that controls electricity.

Today A phone contains billions of transistors. Every computer, TV, and calculator is built from them.

William B. Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter H. Brattain

The full story →
Official reason

“for their researches on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Cyril Hinshelwood and Nikolay Semenov explained chain reactions, in which each step of a reaction sets off the next.

Today Chain reactions explain how flames spread and how many plastics are made.

Sir Cyril Hinshelwood and Nikolay Semenov

Official reason

“for their researches into the mechanism of chemical reactions”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

André Cournand, Werner Forssmann, and Dickinson Richards slid a thin tube through a vein into the heart to study it.

Today Heart doctors use catheters every day to find and open blocked arteries with stents.
Did you know? Forssmann first tried it on himself, then walked to the X-ray room to photograph the tube in his heart.

André F. Cournand, Werner Forssmann, and Dickinson W. Richards

Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning heart catheterization and pathological changes in the circulatory system”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1955
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Physics

Willis Lamb and Polykarp Kusch made super-precise measurements of the hydrogen atom and the electron, which tested quantum physics to many decimal places.

Willis E. Lamb and Polykarp Kusch

Official reason

Willis E. Lamb: “for his discoveries concerning the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum”
Polykarp Kusch: “for his precision determination of the magnetic moment of the electron”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Vincent du Vigneaud was the first to make a hormone in the lab: oxytocin.

Today Oxytocin is given in hospitals to help with childbirth.

Vincent du Vigneaud

Official reason

“for his work on biochemically important sulphur compounds, especially for the first synthesis of a polypeptide hormone”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Hugo Theorell found how the enzymes that help cells burn food with oxygen do their work.

Hugo Theorell

Official reason

“for his discoveries concerning the nature and mode of action of oxidation enzymes”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1954
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Physics

Max Born showed that quantum waves tell you the chances of finding a particle somewhere. Walther Bothe found a way to time particle hits precisely.

Max Born and Walther Bothe

Official reason

Max Born: “for his fundamental research in quantum mechanics, especially for his statistical interpretation of the wavefunction”
Walther Bothe: “for the coincidence method and his discoveries made therewith”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Linus Pauling explained how atoms join together into molecules, the chemical bond.

Did you know? He later won the Nobel Peace Prize too, the only person to win two Nobel Prizes on his own.

Linus Pauling

The full story →
Official reason

“for his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex substances”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

John Enders, Thomas Weller, and Frederick Robbins found how to grow the polio virus in the lab.

Today That made polio vaccines possible.
In Nepal Children in Nepal get polio drops and shots, and Nepal has had no polio case since 2010 (certified polio-free, with the rest of South-East Asia, in 2014).

John F. Enders, Thomas H. Weller, and Frederick C. Robbins

The full story →
Official reason

“for their discovery of the ability of poliomyelitis viruses to grow in cultures of various types of tissue”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1953
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Physics

Frits Zernike invented the phase-contrast microscope, which shows clear, colorless living cells without having to dye (and kill) them.

Today Used in biology labs and in clinics that help couples have babies, to look at living cells.

Frits Zernike

Official reason

“for his demonstration of the phase contrast method, especially for his invention of the phase contrast microscope”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Hermann Staudinger showed that plastics and rubber are made of giant molecules: long chains of small units joined together.

Today Plastic, nylon, and rubber are everywhere around you.

Hermann Staudinger

Official reason

“for his discoveries in the field of macromolecular chemistry”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Hans Krebs found the cycle of reactions that cells use to burn food for energy. Fritz Lipmann found a key helper molecule, coenzyme A.

Today Every cell in your body runs the Krebs cycle all the time.

Hans Krebs and Fritz Lipmann

Official reason

Hans Krebs: “for his discovery of the citric acid cycle”
Fritz Lipmann: “for his discovery of co-enzyme A and its importance for intermediary metabolism”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1952
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Physics

Felix Bloch and Edward Purcell found how to listen to the nuclei of atoms with magnets and radio waves: nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

Today MRI scanners in hospitals, and the NMR machines chemists use to identify molecules.

Felix Bloch and E. M. Purcell

Official reason

“for their development of new methods for nuclear magnetic precision measurements and discoveries in connection therewith”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Archer Martin and Richard Synge invented a kind of chromatography, a way to separate a mixture as it creeps along paper or through a tube.

Today Chromatography tests food, medicines, and water, and you can try it at home with felt-tip ink on filter paper.

Archer J.P. Martin and Richard L.M. Synge

Official reason

“for their invention of partition chromatography”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Selman Waksman discovered streptomycin, the first antibiotic that worked against tuberculosis.

Did you know? Waksman coined the word “antibiotic.”
Left out His student Albert Schatz did the actual discovery, and was left out.

Selman A. Waksman

The full story →
Official reason

“for his discovery of streptomycin, the first antibiotic effective against tuberculosis”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1951
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Physics

John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton built a particle accelerator and were the first to split an atom’s nucleus with it.

John Cockcroft and Ernest T.S. Walton

Official reason

“for their pioneer work on the transmutation of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Edwin McMillan and Glenn Seaborg made elements heavier than uranium, like plutonium.

Today Americium, one of these elements, is inside many smoke detectors.
Did you know? Element 106, seaborgium, was named after Seaborg while he was still alive.

Edwin M. McMillan and Glenn T. Seaborg

Official reason

“for their discoveries in the chemistry of the transuranium elements”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Max Theiler made the vaccine against yellow fever.

Today Travelers to parts of Africa and South America still need it.
Did you know? It was the first Nobel Prize for a vaccine.

Max Theiler

Official reason

“for his discoveries concerning yellow fever and how to combat it”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1950
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Physics

Cecil Powell recorded particle tracks on special photographic plates carried up high, and found Yukawa’s meson (see 1949).

Cecil Powell

Official reason

“for his development of the photographic method of studying nuclear processes and his discoveries regarding mesons made with this method”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Otto Diels and Kurt Alder found a reaction that neatly joins two molecules into a ring.

Today Chemists use it to make medicines and plastics.

Otto Diels and Kurt Alder

Official reason

“for their discovery and development of the diene synthesis”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Edward Kendall, Tadeus Reichstein, and Philip Hench discovered cortisone, a hormone that calms swelling, and used it to treat arthritis.

Today Steroid medicines, creams, and asthma inhalers come from this.

Edward C. Kendall, Tadeus Reichstein, and Philip S. Hench

Official reason

“for their discoveries relating to the hormones of the adrenal cortex, their structure and biological effects”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1949
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Physics

Hideki Yukawa predicted a new particle, the meson, to explain what holds the nucleus of an atom together.

Did you know? He was the first Japanese person to win a Nobel Prize.

Hideki Yukawa

Official reason

“for his prediction of the existence of mesons on the basis of theoretical work on nuclear forces”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

William Giauque studied how substances behave at temperatures very close to absolute zero, and found a new way to get there using magnets.

William F. Giauque

Official reason

“for his contributions in the field of chemical thermodynamics, particularly concerning the behaviour of substances at extremely low temperatures”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Walter Hess mapped how a deep part of the brain controls the body’s organs. Egas Moniz introduced lobotomy, a brain operation for mental illness.

Second thoughts Lobotomy harmed many people and was abandoned. It is one of the most criticized Nobel Prizes.

Walter Hess and Egas Moniz

Official reason

Walter Hess: “for his discovery of the functional organization of the interbrain as a coordinator of the activities of the internal organs”
Egas Moniz: “for his discovery of the therapeutic value of leucotomy in certain psychoses”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1948
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Physics

Patrick Blackett improved the cloud chamber so it photographed itself, and used it to discover new things about cosmic rays and antimatter.

Patrick M.S. Blackett

Official reason

“for his development of the Wilson cloud chamber method, and his discoveries therewith in the fields of nuclear physics and cosmic radiation”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Arne Tiselius used electricity to pull proteins apart, sorting them by size and charge.

Today This method, electrophoresis, is how labs read DNA fingerprints and test blood for disease.

Arne Tiselius

Official reason

“for his research on electrophoresis and adsorption analysis, especially for his discoveries concerning the complex nature of the serum proteins”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Paul Müller discovered that DDT kills insects.

Today DDT stopped typhus and malaria epidemics and saved millions of lives.
Second thoughts It also poisoned birds and fish, and is now banned for farming worldwide.

Paul Müller

Official reason

“for his discovery of the high efficiency of DDT as a contact poison against several arthropods”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1947
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Physics

Edward Appleton found a layer high in the atmosphere that reflects radio waves back down to Earth.

Today This layer lets shortwave radio reach around the world, and his work helped build radar.

Edward V. Appleton

Official reason

“for his investigations of the physics of the upper atmosphere especially for the discovery of the so-called Appleton layer”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Robert Robinson worked out the structure of plant chemicals like morphine, a powerful painkiller.

Sir Robert Robinson

Official reason

“for his investigations on plant products of biological importance, especially the alkaloids”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Carl and Gerty Cori found how the body stores sugar and releases it when needed. Bernardo Houssay showed a gland in the brain controls blood sugar.

Did you know? Gerty Cori was the first woman to win the Medicine prize. Houssay was the first Latin American to win a science Nobel.

Carl Cori, Gerty Cori, and Bernardo Houssay

Official reason

Carl Cori and Gerty Cori: “for their discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen”
Bernardo Houssay: “for his discovery of the part played by the hormone of the anterior pituitary lobe in the metabolism of sugar”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1946
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Physics

Percy Bridgman built machines that squeezed materials harder than ever before and found how they change under huge pressure.

Today Factories make diamonds for drills and saws by squeezing carbon this way.

Percy W. Bridgman

Official reason

“for the invention of an apparatus to produce extremely high pressures, and for the discoveries he made therewith in the field of high pressure physics”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

James Sumner showed that enzymes are proteins. John Northrop and Wendell Stanley purified enzymes and even a virus as crystals.

James B. Sumner, John H. Northrop, and Wendell M. Stanley

Official reason

James B. Sumner: “for his discovery that enzymes can be crystallized”
John H. Northrop and Wendell M. Stanley: “for their preparation of enzymes and virus proteins in a pure form”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Hermann Muller showed that X-rays cause mutations, changes in genes.

Today This is why X-ray staff wear lead aprons and your dose is kept small.

Hermann J. Muller

Official reason

“for the discovery of the production of mutations by means of X-ray irradiation”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1945
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Physics

Wolfgang Pauli found the rule that no two electrons in an atom can be in exactly the same state, so they have to fill the shells one by one.

Today This rule shapes the whole periodic table, and it’s why solid things don’t squash into each other.

Wolfgang Pauli

Official reason

“for the discovery of the Exclusion Principle, also called the Pauli Principle”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Artturi Virtanen found a way to keep cattle fodder fresh through winter by adding acid.

Today Farmers still store animal feed as silage.

Artturi Virtanen

Official reason

“for his research and inventions in agricultural and nutrition chemistry, especially for his fodder preservation method”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Alexander Fleming noticed a mold killing bacteria on a dish. Ernst Chain and Howard Florey turned it into a medicine: penicillin.

Today Antibiotics cure infections that used to kill. Finish the whole course, so germs don’t learn to resist them.
Did you know? Fleming warned about antibiotic resistance in his Nobel lecture, in 1945.

Sir Alexander Fleming, Ernst B. Chain, and Sir Howard Florey

The full story →
Official reason

“for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1944
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Physics

Isidor Rabi found a way to measure the magnetism of an atom’s nucleus very precisely, using radio waves.

Today His method led to MRI scanners and to atomic clocks.

Isidor Isaac Rabi

Official reason

“for his resonance method for recording the magnetic properties of atomic nuclei”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Otto Hahn discovered nuclear fission: a uranium atom hit by a neutron can split into two smaller atoms, releasing huge energy.

Today Nuclear power stations make electricity from fission.
Left out Lise Meitner, who first explained what was happening, was left out. Element 109, meitnerium, is named after her.

Otto Hahn

Official reason

“for his discovery of the fission of heavy nuclei”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Joseph Erlanger and Herbert Gasser showed that thick nerve fibers carry signals faster than thin ones.

Today It’s why you feel the bump when you stub your toe a moment before the ache.

Joseph Erlanger and Herbert S. Gasser

Official reason

“for their discoveries relating to the highly differentiated functions of single nerve fibres”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1943
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Physics

Otto Stern sent beams of atoms through magnets and measured the tiny magnetism of the proton.

Today The magnetism of protons is what an MRI scanner reads to see inside your body.

Otto Stern

Official reason

“for his contribution to the development of the molecular ray method and his discovery of the magnetic moment of the proton”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

George de Hevesy used radioactive atoms as tracers to follow where substances go in plants and animals.

Today Nuclear medicine scans follow tiny amounts of radioactive tracer around the body.
Did you know? To hide two friends’ gold Nobel medals from the Nazis, he dissolved them in acid. After the war the gold was recovered and the medals were made again.

George de Hevesy

Official reason

“for his work on the use of isotopes as tracers in the study of chemical processes”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Henrik Dam discovered vitamin K, which blood needs to clot. Edward Doisy worked out its structure.

Today Newborn babies are given a vitamin K shot to prevent bleeding.

Henrik Dam and Edward A. Doisy

Official reason

Henrik Dam: “for his discovery of vitamin K”
Edward A. Doisy: “for his discovery of the chemical nature of vitamin K”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1942
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No Physics prize this year (World War II).
No Chemistry prize this year (World War II).
No Medicine prize this year (World War II).
1941
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No Physics prize this year (World War II).
No Chemistry prize this year (World War II).
No Medicine prize this year (World War II).
1940
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No Physics prize this year (World War II).
No Chemistry prize this year (World War II).
No Medicine prize this year (World War II).
1939
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Physics

Ernest Lawrence invented the cyclotron, a round machine that whirls particles faster and faster to smash them into atoms.

Today Hospitals use cyclotrons to make the radioactive medicines for PET scans. Element 103, lawrencium, is named after him.

Ernest Lawrence

Official reason

“for the invention and development of the cyclotron and for results obtained with it, especially with regard to artificial radioactive elements”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Adolf Butenandt studied hormones that shape our bodies. Leopold Ruzicka studied the molecules that give musk and other scents their smell.

Did you know? Butenandt was also forced by the Nazis to turn the prize down at first.

Adolf Butenandt and Leopold Ruzicka

Official reason

Adolf Butenandt: “for his work on sex hormones”
Leopold Ruzicka: “for his work on polymethylenes and higher terpenes”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Gerhard Domagk discovered Prontosil, the first sulfa drug, a medicine that kills bacteria inside the body.

Did you know? He used it to save his own daughter’s arm. The Nazis forced him to turn the prize down; he received it after the war.

Gerhard Domagk

Official reason

“for the discovery of the antibacterial effects of prontosil”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1938
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Physics

Enrico Fermi used slow neutrons to make new radioactive elements and set off nuclear reactions.

Today In 1942 he built the first nuclear reactor. Element 100, fermium, is named after him.

Enrico Fermi

Official reason

“for his demonstrations of the existence of new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation, and for his related discovery of nuclear reactions brought about by slow neutrons”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Richard Kuhn studied carotenoids (the orange in carrots) and vitamins.

Did you know? The Nazi government forced him to turn the prize down. He received it after the war.

Richard Kuhn

The full story →
Official reason

“for his work on carotenoids and vitamins”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Corneille Heymans found sensors in the big arteries of the neck that adjust our breathing.

Corneille Heymans

Official reason

“for the discovery of the role played by the sinus and aortic mechanisms in the regulation of respiration”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1937
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Physics

Clinton Davisson and George Thomson bounced electrons off crystals and got wave patterns, proving electrons behave like waves.

Did you know? George’s father, J. J. Thomson, had won in 1906 for showing the electron is a particle. Both were right.

Clinton Davisson and George Paget Thomson

Official reason

“for their experimental discovery of the diffraction of electrons by crystals”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Norman Haworth worked out vitamin C and made it in the lab. Paul Karrer worked out vitamins A and B2 and the orange colors in carrots.

Today Most vitamin tablets are made using what they found.

Norman Haworth and Paul Karrer

Official reason

Norman Haworth: “for his investigations on carbohydrates and vitamin C”
Paul Karrer: “for his investigations on carotenoids, flavins and vitamins A and B2”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Albert Szent-Györgyi isolated vitamin C and studied how cells burn food.

Did you know? He got lots of vitamin C from paprika, the red pepper his town in Hungary was famous for.

Albert Szent-Györgyi

Official reason

“for his discoveries in connection with the biological combustion processes, with special reference to vitamin C and the catalysis of fumaric acid”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1936
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Physics

Victor Hess rode balloons 5 kilometers up and found radiation pouring in from space: cosmic rays. Carl Anderson found the positron, the first piece of antimatter.

Today PET scans in hospitals find cancers by detecting positrons given off inside the body.

Victor F. Hess and Carl D. Anderson

Official reason

Victor F. Hess: “for his discovery of cosmic radiation”
Carl D. Anderson: “for his discovery of the positron”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Peter Debye showed that many molecules, like water, have a positive end and a negative end.

Today A microwave oven heats food by making these lopsided water molecules flip back and forth.

Peter Debye

Official reason

“for his contributions to our knowledge of molecular structure through his investigations on dipole moments and on the diffraction of X-rays and electrons in gases”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Henry Dale and Otto Loewi showed that nerves pass on signals with chemicals, not just electricity.

Did you know? Loewi dreamed up the experiment one night, woke up, and went straight to his lab.

Sir Henry Dale and Otto Loewi

Official reason

“for their discoveries relating to chemical transmission of nerve impulses”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1935
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Physics

James Chadwick discovered the neutron, the particle with no electric charge inside the nucleus of an atom.

Today Neutrons split uranium atoms in nuclear power stations.

James Chadwick

Official reason

“for the discovery of the neutron”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot made the first artificial radioactive elements.

Today Radioactive materials made this way are used in hospitals for scans and treatments.
Did you know? Irène was Marie Curie’s daughter. The Curie family won five Nobel Prizes.

Frédéric Joliot and Irène Joliot-Curie

The full story →
Official reason

“in recognition of their synthesis of new radioactive elements”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Hans Spemann discovered that one small part of an embryo, the organizer, tells the cells around it what to become.

Hans Spemann

Official reason

“for his discovery of the organizer effect in embryonic development”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1934
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No Physics prize this year.
Chemistry

Harold Urey discovered heavy hydrogen (deuterium), whose atoms weigh twice as much as normal hydrogen.

Did you know? He later helped run a famous experiment that made the building blocks of life from simple gases and sparks.

Harold C. Urey

Official reason

“for his discovery of heavy hydrogen”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

George Whipple, George Minot, and William Murphy cured a deadly anemia by feeding patients liver.

Today The missing ingredient turned out to be vitamin B12, now given as tablets or shots.

George H. Whipple, George R. Minot, and William P. Murphy

Official reason

“for their discoveries concerning liver therapy in cases of anaemia”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1933
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Physics

Erwin Schrödinger wrote the equation for how electron waves behave. Paul Dirac’s version predicted antimatter, found three years later (see 1936).

Did you know? Schrödinger is also known for his imaginary cat, both alive and dead until someone looks.

Erwin Schrödinger and Paul A.M. Dirac

Official reason

“for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
No Chemistry prize this year.
Medicine

Thomas Hunt Morgan bred fruit flies and showed that genes are carried on chromosomes.

Today Fruit flies are still one of biology’s favorite helpers.

Thomas H. Morgan

Official reason

“for his discoveries concerning the role played by the chromosome in heredity”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1932
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Physics

Werner Heisenberg created quantum mechanics, the rules for how tiny particles behave. Among them: you can never know exactly where a particle is and how fast it moves.

Werner Heisenberg

The full story →
Official reason

“for the creation of quantum mechanics, the application of which has, inter alia, led to the discovery of the allotropic forms of hydrogen”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Irving Langmuir studied what happens on surfaces, where one layer of molecules meets another.

Today He also made light bulbs last longer by filling them with gas.
Did you know? He was the first scientist from a company, not a university, to win the Chemistry prize.

Irving Langmuir

Official reason

“for his discoveries and investigations in surface chemistry”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Charles Sherrington and Edgar Adrian found how nerve cells send and pass on signals.

Did you know? Sherrington named the gap between nerve cells: the synapse.

Sir Charles Sherrington and Edgar Adrian

Official reason

“for their discoveries regarding the functions of neurons”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1931
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No Physics prize this year.
Chemistry

Carl Bosch scaled up Haber’s ammonia method to giant factories (see 1918). Friedrich Bergius made liquid fuel from coal. Both used very high pressure.

Today The Haber–Bosch process makes most of the world’s fertilizer.

Carl Bosch and Friedrich Bergius

Official reason

“in recognition of their contributions to the invention and development of chemical high pressure methods”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Otto Warburg discovered the enzyme that cells use to burn food with oxygen.

Otto Warburg

Official reason

“for his discovery of the nature and mode of action of the respiratory enzyme”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1930
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Physics

C. V. Raman found that when light bounces off molecules, a little of it changes color, by an amount that depends on the molecule.

Today Raman scanners identify fake medicines, gems, and minerals; one even searches for signs of life on Mars, aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover.
Born in South Asia Born in Tiruchirappalli, India: the first Asian to win a Nobel Prize in science. India celebrates National Science Day on 28 February, the day of his discovery.

Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman

The full story →
Official reason

“for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the effect named after him”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Hans Fischer worked out heme, which makes blood red, and found it is built almost like chlorophyll, which makes leaves green.

Hans Fischer

Official reason

“for his researches into the constitution of haemin and chlorophyll and especially for his synthesis of haemin”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Karl Landsteiner discovered the human blood groups: A, B, AB, and O.

Today Blood transfusions are safe because blood is matched by group. World Blood Donor Day, 14 June, is his birthday.

Karl Landsteiner

Official reason

“for his discovery of human blood groups”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1929
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Physics

Louis de Broglie suggested that electrons, and all matter, also behave like waves. Experiments proved him right (see 1937).

Today Electron microscopes use electron waves to see things far too small for light, like viruses.

Louis de Broglie

Official reason

“for his discovery of the wave nature of electrons”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Arthur Harden and Hans von Euler-Chelpin worked out the steps by which enzymes break down sugar.

Today The same steps raise bread dough and give your muscles energy.

Arthur Harden and Hans von Euler-Chelpin

Official reason

“for their investigations on the fermentation of sugar and fermentative enzymes”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Christiaan Eijkman found that the disease beriberi came from eating only polished white rice. Frederick Hopkins showed foods contain tiny things we need to grow: vitamins.

Today The missing nutrient in polished rice is vitamin B1, which brown and parboiled rice keep.

Christiaan Eijkman and Sir Frederick Hopkins

The full story →
Official reason

Christiaan Eijkman: “for his discovery of the antineuritic vitamin”
Sir Frederick Hopkins: “for his discovery of the growth-stimulating vitamins”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1928
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Physics

Owen Richardson found the law for how hot metal gives off electrons, which made radio valves (vacuum tubes) possible.

Today X-ray tubes and the magnetron that heats food in a microwave oven still start with a hot wire giving off electrons.

Owen Willans Richardson

Official reason

“for his work on the thermionic phenomenon and especially for the discovery of the law named after him”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Adolf Windaus studied sterols and showed how sunlight on the skin makes vitamin D.

Today This is why time in the sun helps keep bones strong.

Adolf Windaus

Official reason

“for the services rendered through his research into the constitution of the sterols and their connection with the vitamins”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Charles Nicolle found that body lice spread typhus, a deadly fever.

Today Getting rid of lice became the way to stop typhus epidemics in armies and prisons.

Charles Nicolle

The full story →
Official reason

“for his work on typhus”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1927
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Physics

Arthur Compton showed light bounces off electrons like a ball, so light carries a push. Charles Wilson invented the cloud chamber, which shows the paths of invisible particles as thin trails of mist.

Did you know? You can build a cloud chamber at home with a jar, alcohol, and dry ice, and watch cosmic-ray tracks appear.

Arthur H. Compton and C.T.R. Wilson

The full story →
Official reason

Arthur H. Compton: “for his discovery of the effect named after him”
C.T.R. Wilson: “for his method of making the paths of electrically charged particles visible by condensation of vapour”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Heinrich Wieland worked out the structure of bile acids, which help us digest fat.

Heinrich Wieland

Official reason

“for his investigations of the constitution of the bile acids and related substances”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Julius Wagner-Jauregg treated a brain disease caused by syphilis by giving patients malaria, whose high fever killed the syphilis germs.

Second thoughts It was risky and was soon replaced by penicillin (see 1945).

Julius Wagner-Jauregg

Official reason

“for his discovery of the therapeutic value of malaria inoculation in the treatment of dementia paralytica”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1926
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Physics

Jean Perrin finally proved that atoms are real, by watching tiny grains jiggle in water as invisible molecules bump into them.

Jean Baptiste Perrin

Official reason

“for his work on the discontinuous structure of matter, and especially for his discovery of sedimentation equilibrium”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

The Svedberg built the ultracentrifuge, a machine that spins so fast it can separate molecules by size.

Today Hospitals spin blood in centrifuges to separate it into its parts.

The Svedberg

Official reason

“for his work on disperse systems”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Johannes Fibiger claimed that a worm caused cancer in rats.

Second thoughts He was wrong: other things in the rats’ diet were to blame. It reminds us that science corrects itself.

Johannes Fibiger

Official reason

“for his discovery of the Spiroptera carcinoma”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1925
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Physics

James Franck and Gustav Hertz fired electrons at atoms and showed that atoms only take energy in fixed amounts, as Bohr’s shells predicted.

James Franck and Gustav Hertz

Official reason

“for their discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Richard Zsigmondy studied colloids, tiny particles spread through a liquid or gas, like milk, fog, and ink, with a microscope he invented.

Today Paint, milk, mayonnaise, and toothpaste are all colloids.

Richard Zsigmondy

Official reason

“for his demonstration of the heterogenous nature of colloid solutions and for the methods he used, which have since become fundamental in modern colloid chemistry”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
No Medicine prize this year.
1924
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Physics

Manne Siegbahn measured the X-ray colors of elements so precisely that they revealed how electrons are arranged inside atoms.

Did you know? His son Kai won the prize in 1981.

Manne Siegbahn

Official reason

“for his discoveries and research in the field of X-ray spectroscopy”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
No Chemistry prize this year.
Medicine

Willem Einthoven built the first practical machine for the electrocardiogram (ECG), which records the heart’s electrical signals.

Today The wavy heart tracing in every hospital is an ECG.

Willem Einthoven

The full story →
Official reason

“for his discovery of the mechanism of the electrocardiogram”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1923
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Physics

Robert Millikan measured the electric charge of a single electron by watching tiny charged oil drops float between metal plates.

Robert A. Millikan

Official reason

“for his work on the elementary charge of electricity and on the photoelectric effect”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Fritz Pregl found ways to analyze tiny samples, just a few milligrams, of a substance.

Today Medical labs can run many tests on a small tube of blood.

Fritz Pregl

Official reason

“for his invention of the method of micro-analysis of organic substances”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Frederick Banting and John Macleod discovered insulin, the hormone that controls sugar in the blood.

Today Insulin keeps millions of people with diabetes alive. Banting’s birthday, 14 November, is World Diabetes Day.
Did you know? Banting shared his prize money with his student Charles Best, who had worked with him.

Frederick G. Banting and John Macleod

The full story →
Official reason

“for the discovery of insulin”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1922
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Physics

Niels Bohr pictured the atom with electrons on fixed shells around the nucleus, giving off light of one exact color when they jump between shells.

Today This is why neon signs, street lights, and fireworks each glow with their own colors. See the shells on our Periodic Table.

Niels Bohr

The full story →
Official reason

“for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Francis Aston built the mass spectrograph, which sorts atoms by weight, and found isotopes of many ordinary elements.

Today Mass spectrometers check food for poisons, athletes for doping, and bags for explosives.

Francis W. Aston

Official reason

“for his discovery, by means of his mass spectrograph, of isotopes, in a large number of non-radioactive elements, and for his enunciation of the whole-number rule”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Archibald Hill and Otto Meyerhof studied how muscles turn food into movement and heat.

Today The beginning of sports science.

Archibald V. Hill and Otto Meyerhof

Official reason

Archibald V. Hill: “for his discovery relating to the production of heat in the muscle”
Otto Meyerhof: “for his discovery of the fixed relationship between the consumption of oxygen and the metabolism of lactic acid in the muscle”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1921
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Physics

Albert Einstein explained the photoelectric effect: light comes in packets (photons) that can knock electrons out of metal.

Today Solar panels and the camera in your phone turn light into electricity using this idea.
Did you know? Einstein did not win for relativity, his most famous idea; the committee still thought it unproven.

Albert Einstein

The full story →
Official reason

“for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Frederick Soddy found that one element can come in versions of different weights, and named them isotopes.

Today Isotopes are used in medical scans, for dating old things, and in nuclear power.

Frederick Soddy

Official reason

“for his contributions to our knowledge of the chemistry of radioactive substances, and his investigations into the origin and nature of isotopes”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
No Medicine prize this year.
1920
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Physics

Charles Guillaume invented Invar, a mix of nickel and steel that hardly grows or shrinks when it gets hot or cold.

Today Invar is used where size must not change: precise clocks and instruments, and tanks for super-cold liquid gas.

Charles Edouard Guillaume

Official reason

“in recognition of the service he has rendered to precision measurements in Physics by his discovery of anomalies in nickel steel alloys”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Walther Nernst studied the heat given off and taken in by reactions, and found that nothing can ever be cooled to absolute zero.

Walther Nernst

Official reason

“in recognition of his work in thermochemistry”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

August Krogh found that tiny blood vessels, capillaries, open up when muscles need more oxygen.

August Krogh

Official reason

“for his discovery of the capillary motor regulating mechanism”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1919
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Physics

Johannes Stark found that an electric field splits the colors of light given off by atoms, just as a magnet does (see 1902).

Johannes Stark

The full story →
Official reason

“for his discovery of the Doppler effect in canal rays and the splitting of spectral lines in electric fields”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
No Chemistry prize this year.
Medicine

Jules Bordet discovered how parts of the blood help antibodies kill germs, and found the germ that causes whooping cough.

Today Whooping cough is the “P” (pertussis) in the DPT vaccine.

Jules Bordet

Official reason

“for his discoveries relating to immunity”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1918
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Physics

Max Planck discovered that energy comes in tiny fixed packets, called quanta. It was the start of quantum physics.

Today Quantum physics is behind lasers, LEDs, solar panels, and every computer chip.

Max Planck

The full story →
Official reason

“in recognition of the services he rendered to the advancement of Physics by his discovery of energy quanta”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Fritz Haber found how to make ammonia from the nitrogen in air, the key step in making fertilizer.

Today Fertilizer made this way grows the food for about half the people on Earth.
Second thoughts Haber also led Germany’s use of poison gas in World War I, so this prize is still argued about.

Fritz Haber

The full story →
Official reason

“for the synthesis of ammonia from its elements”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
No Medicine prize this year (World War I).
1917
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Physics

Charles Barkla found that each element gives off its own “fingerprint” X-rays when it is hit by X-rays.

Today Handheld X-ray guns use these fingerprints to check what metals are in jewelry or scrap.

Charles Glover Barkla

Official reason

“for his discovery of the characteristic Röntgen radiation of the elements”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
No Chemistry prize this year (World War I).
No Medicine prize this year (World War I).
1916
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No Physics prize this year (World War I).
No Chemistry prize this year (World War I).
No Medicine prize this year (World War I).
1915
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Physics

A father and son, William and Lawrence Bragg, used X-rays to work out exactly how atoms are arranged in crystals like table salt.

Today X-ray crystallography revealed the shape of DNA and is used to design new medicines.
Did you know? Lawrence Bragg was 25, still the youngest person ever to win a Nobel Prize in Physics.

William Bragg and Lawrence Bragg

The full story →
Official reason

“for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Richard Willstätter studied plant colors, especially chlorophyll, the green that plants use to catch sunlight, and found magnesium at its heart.

Richard Willstätter

Official reason

“for his researches on plant pigments, especially chlorophyll”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
No Medicine prize this year (World War I).
1914
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Physics

Max von Laue shone X-rays through a crystal and got a pattern of spots, proving that X-rays are waves and that the atoms in crystals sit in neat rows.

Max von Laue

Official reason

“for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Theodore Richards weighed atoms of many elements with record precision.

Did you know? He was the first American to win the Chemistry prize.

Theodore W. Richards

Official reason

“in recognition of his accurate determinations of the atomic weight of a large number of chemical elements”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Robert Bárány showed how the inner ear controls our balance.

Today It explains why you feel dizzy after spinning, and doctors still test balance his way.

Robert Bárány

Official reason

“for his work on the physiology and pathology of the vestibular apparatus”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1913
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Physics

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes cooled helium until it turned into a liquid, at −269 °C, and found that some metals then lose all electrical resistance: superconductivity.

Today Liquid helium keeps the superconducting magnets of hospital MRI scanners cold.

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes

Official reason

“for his investigations on the properties of matter at low temperatures which led, inter alia, to the production of liquid helium”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Alfred Werner showed how a metal atom can sit at the center of a molecule with other molecules arranged around it, like a little star.

Today Cisplatin, a cancer medicine, is a molecule of exactly this kind.

Alfred Werner

Official reason

“in recognition of his work on the linkage of atoms in molecules by which he has thrown new light on earlier investigations and opened up new fields of research especially in inorganic chemistry”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Charles Richet discovered anaphylaxis, a sudden, dangerous allergic reaction.

Today People with severe allergies carry adrenaline injectors for it.

Charles Richet

Official reason

“in recognition of his work on anaphylaxis”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1912
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Physics

Gustaf Dalén invented a valve that switched lighthouse lamps on at dusk and off at dawn by itself, so lighthouses could run without keepers.

Did you know? An explosion blinded him the year he won. He went on inventing anyway, including a famous cooking stove.

Gustaf Dalén

Official reason

“for his invention of automatic regulators for use in conjunction with gas accumulators for illuminating lighthouses and buoys”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Victor Grignard found a handy way to join carbon atoms into bigger molecules. Paul Sabatier used fine metal powder to add hydrogen to molecules.

Today Sabatier’s method turns oil into solid fats like margarine and vegetable ghee.

Victor Grignard and Paul Sabatier

Official reason

Victor Grignard: “for the discovery of the so-called Grignard reagent, which in recent years has greatly advanced the progress of organic chemistry”
Paul Sabatier: “for his method of hydrogenating organic compounds in the presence of finely disintegrated metals whereby the progress of organic chemistry has been greatly advanced in recent years”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Alexis Carrel found how to sew blood vessels together and moved organs between animals.

Today Organ transplants and heart bypass surgery use his stitching method.

Alexis Carrel

Official reason

“in recognition of his work on vascular suture and the transplantation of blood vessels and organs”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1911
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Physics

Wilhelm Wien found the rule linking an object’s temperature to the color of the light it glows with: the hotter, the bluer.

Today Astronomers read a star’s temperature from its color, and thermal cameras see the heat glow of warm bodies.

Wilhelm Wien

Official reason

“for his discoveries regarding the laws governing the radiation of heat”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Marie Curie discovered two new elements, polonium and radium, and isolated pure radium.

Today Radium led to the first radiation treatments for cancer.
Did you know? She was the first person to win two Nobel Prizes (see Physics 1903). She named polonium after her homeland, Poland.

Marie Curie

The full story →
Official reason

“in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Allvar Gullstrand worked out how the eye bends light to focus.

Today His slit lamp, a microscope with a thin beam of light, is used in every eye exam.

Allvar Gullstrand

Official reason

“for his work on the dioptrics of the eye”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1910
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Physics

Johannes van der Waals explained how real gases and liquids behave: their molecules take up space and pull on each other a little.

Today This weak pull between molecules is what lets a gecko walk up a wall.

Johannes Diderik van der Waals

Official reason

“for his work on the equation of state for gases and liquids”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Otto Wallach worked out the molecules that give plants their smells, like those in lemon peel, pine, and mint oils.

Today The perfume and flavor industry is built on his work.

Otto Wallach

Official reason

“in recognition of his services to organic chemistry and the chemical industry by his pioneer work in the field of alicyclic compounds”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Albrecht Kossel studied the chemistry of cells and showed what DNA is made of, finding three of its four bases, the letters now called A, C and T (G was already known).

Albrecht Kossel

The full story →
Official reason

“in recognition of the contributions to our knowledge of cell chemistry made through his work on proteins, including the nucleic substances”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1909
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Physics

Guglielmo Marconi sent messages by radio waves, with no wires, all the way across the Atlantic Ocean; Ferdinand Braun made the transmitters stronger and tunable.

Today Radio, TV, mobile phones, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth all send their signals through the air as radio waves.

Guglielmo Marconi and Ferdinand Braun

The full story →
Official reason

“in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Wilhelm Ostwald studied catalysts, substances that speed up a reaction without getting used up.

Today Catalysts clean car exhaust and help make fertilizer, plastics, and medicines.

Wilhelm Ostwald

Official reason

“in recognition of his work on catalysis and for his investigations into the fundamental principles governing chemical equilibria and rates of reaction”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Theodor Kocher studied the thyroid gland in the neck and made surgery on it safe.

In Nepal Goiter, a swollen thyroid from too little iodine, was once very common in Nepal’s hills. Today iodized salt prevents it.

Theodor Kocher

Official reason

“for his work on the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid gland”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1908
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Physics

Gabriel Lippmann made some of the first color photographs, using the same effect that makes colors on a soap bubble.

Gabriel Lippmann

Official reason

“for his method of reproducing colours photographically based on the phenomenon of interference”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Ernest Rutherford showed that radioactive elements slowly turn into other elements, each at its own steady pace (its half-life).

Today Measuring this steady decay tells us the age of rocks and of the Earth itself, about 4.5 billion years.
Did you know? A physicist, he joked that his own fastest transformation was into a chemist.

Ernest Rutherford

The full story →
Official reason

“for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Ilya Mechnikov found white blood cells that eat germs. Paul Ehrlich explained antibodies, the body’s targeted weapons.

Today Vaccines work by training both parts of this defense.
Did you know? Ehrlich later made the first “magic bullet” drug, aimed at one germ.

Ilya Mechnikov and Paul Ehrlich

Official reason

“in recognition of their work on immunity”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1907
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Physics

Albert Michelson built instruments that used light waves to measure lengths and speeds more precisely than anyone before.

Today His instrument, the interferometer, grew into LIGO, which caught gravitational waves in 2015 (see 2017).
Did you know? He was the first American to win a Nobel Prize in science.

Albert A. Michelson

Official reason

“for his optical precision instruments and the spectroscopic and metrological investigations carried out with their aid”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Eduard Buchner showed that juice squeezed from yeast can still ferment sugar with no living cells: the work is done by chemicals in the cells, enzymes.

Today Enzymes do jobs in washing powder, cheese-making, and medicine.

Eduard Buchner

Official reason

“for his biochemical researches and his discovery of cell-free fermentation”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Alphonse Laveran found that malaria is caused by a tiny one-celled parasite living in the blood.

Today Malaria tests still look for this parasite under a microscope.

Alphonse Laveran

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Official reason

“in recognition of his work on the role played by protozoa in causing diseases”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1906
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Physics

J. J. Thomson discovered the electron, the tiny particle that carries electricity, and showed it is far smaller than an atom.

Today Electricity is moving electrons, so every switch, battery, and phone depends on his particle.
Did you know? His son George won the 1937 prize for showing the electron also behaves like a wave.

J.J. Thomson

Official reason

“in recognition of the great merits of his theoretical and experimental investigations on the conduction of electricity by gases”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Henri Moissan was the first to capture fluorine, the most violent of all the elements, and built a very hot electric furnace.

Today Fluorine compounds are in fluoride toothpaste and non-stick pans.
Did you know? Fluorine is so dangerous that several chemists were hurt or killed trying to isolate it before him.

Henri Moissan

Official reason

“in recognition of the great services rendered by him in his investigation and isolation of the element fluorine, and for the adoption in the service of science of the electric furnace called after him”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Camillo Golgi found a stain that shows nerve cells. Santiago Ramón y Cajal used it to show the brain is made of separate cells, neurons.

Did you know? The two disagreed about how the brain was built, and said so in their Nobel lectures. Cajal was right.

Camillo Golgi and Santiago Ramón y Cajal

Official reason

“in recognition of their work on the structure of the nervous system”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1905
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Physics

Philipp Lenard studied cathode rays, the glowing beams inside glass tubes with the air pumped out. They turned out to be streams of electrons.

Today Old box-shaped TVs made their picture by firing cathode rays at the screen.

Philipp Lenard

Official reason

“for his work on cathode rays”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Adolf von Baeyer studied the molecules of dyes and was the first to make indigo, the blue dye, in a lab.

Today Almost all the blue in blue jeans is lab-made indigo.

Adolf von Baeyer

Official reason

“in recognition of his services in the advancement of organic chemistry and the chemical industry, through his work on organic dyes and hydroaromatic compounds”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Robert Koch discovered the germ that causes tuberculosis (TB) and showed how to prove which germ causes a disease.

Today World TB Day, 24 March, marks the day in 1882 he announced the TB germ.
In Nepal TB is still one of the most serious infectious diseases in Nepal; it is curable with medicine taken for six months.

Robert Koch

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Official reason

“for his investigations and discoveries in relation to tuberculosis”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1904
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Physics

Lord Rayleigh weighed the gases in air very carefully, noticed a tiny difference, and tracked it down to a hidden gas: argon.

Today Argon fills many light bulbs and protects metal while it is welded.
Did you know? Rayleigh also explained why the sky is blue: air scatters blue sunlight much more than red.

Lord Rayleigh

Official reason

“for his investigations of the densities of the most important gases and for his discovery of argon in connection with these studies”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

William Ramsay discovered a whole new column of the periodic table: the noble gases neon, argon, krypton, and xenon, and found helium on Earth.

Today Neon signs, helium balloons, and the bright xenon headlights of some cars.

Sir William Ramsay

Official reason

“in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air, and his determination of their place in the periodic system”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Ivan Pavlov found how the stomach, pancreas, and nerves work together to digest food.

Did you know? He is more famous for later work: dogs that drooled when they heard a sound they linked to food.

Ivan Pavlov

Official reason

“in recognition of his work on the physiology of digestion, through which knowledge on vital aspects of the subject has been transformed and enlarged”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1903
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Physics

Some elements, like uranium, give off rays all by themselves. Becquerel found it; Pierre and Marie Curie studied it and named it radioactivity.

Today Radiation treatment for cancer, nuclear power, and the smoke detectors on many ceilings.
Did you know? Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. She won a second one, in Chemistry, in 1911.

Henri Becquerel, Pierre Curie, and Marie Curie

The full story →
Official reason

Henri Becquerel: “in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity”
Pierre Curie and Marie Curie: “in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Svante Arrhenius showed that salts and acids split into electrically charged pieces, called ions, when they dissolve in water.

Today This is why salty water conducts electricity, and how batteries work.
Did you know? In 1896 he was also the first to calculate that more carbon dioxide in the air would warm the Earth.

Svante Arrhenius

Official reason

“in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered to the advancement of chemistry by his electrolytic theory of dissociation”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Niels Finsen treated a skin disease (a form of tuberculosis) with strong light.

Today Light treatments are still used for skin diseases, and for newborn babies with jaundice.

Niels Ryberg Finsen

Official reason

“in recognition of his contribution to the treatment of diseases, especially lupus vulgaris, with concentrated light radiation, whereby he has opened a new avenue for medical science”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1902
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Physics

A magnet splits the colors of light that atoms give off into several thin lines. Lorentz explained why; Zeeman saw it happen.

Today Astronomers use this splitting to measure the magnetic fields of sunspots on the Sun.

Hendrik A. Lorentz and Pieter Zeeman

Official reason

“in recognition of the extraordinary service they rendered by their researches into the influence of magnetism upon radiation phenomena”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Emil Fischer worked out the structures of sugars and of caffeine-like molecules, and made them in the lab.

Today His “lock and key” picture of how enzymes fit the molecules they work on is still taught today.

Emil Fischer

Official reason

“in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by his work on sugar and purine syntheses”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Ronald Ross showed that mosquitoes spread malaria: he found the parasite growing inside a mosquito and traced its whole journey in birds.

Today Bed nets, mosquito spraying, and draining standing water all fight malaria because of him.
In Nepal Malaria was once common in the Terai; mosquito control helped make it rare, and Nepal is working to end it.
Born in South Asia Born in Almora, India, near Nepal’s western border. He made his discovery working as a doctor in India.

Ronald Ross

The full story →
Official reason

“for his work on malaria, by which he has shown how it enters the organism and thereby has laid the foundation for successful research on this disease and methods of combating it”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
1901
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Physics

Wilhelm Röntgen found invisible rays that pass through skin but not bone. He didn’t know what they were, so he called them X-rays.

Today Every X-ray of a broken arm, every dentist’s X-ray, and the scanner that checks bags at the airport.
Did you know? One of the first X-ray photos of a person was of his wife Anna’s hand, wedding ring and all. This was the first Nobel Prize in Physics ever given.

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen

The full story →
Official reason

“in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by the discovery of the remarkable rays subsequently named after him”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Chemistry

Jacobus van ’t Hoff found the rules for how fast reactions go, and explained osmosis: water moving through a skin toward the saltier side.

Today Osmosis is why salt draws water out of vegetables in achar, and why water purifiers with “RO” filters work.
Did you know? This was the first Nobel Prize in Chemistry ever given.

Jacobus H. van 't Hoff

Official reason

“in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by the discovery of the laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic pressure in solutions”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)
Medicine

Emil von Behring treated diphtheria, a disease that choked children to death, with serum from immunized animals that carried antitoxins.

Today Diphtheria is now prevented by the “D” in the DPT vaccine that babies get.
Did you know? This was the first Nobel Prize in Medicine ever given.

Emil von Behring

The full story →
Official reason

“for his work on serum therapy, especially its application against diphtheria, by which he has opened a new road in the domain of medical science and thereby placed in the hands of the physician a victorious weapon against illness and deaths”
More at nobelprize.org(opens in a new tab)

Prize data: Nobel Prize Outreach. “Official reason” is the prize committee’s own wording; the short explanations are ours.

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Nobel Prizes in Science

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