Comments on: Nobel Nonsense

By: Getting What You Want Out Of Nobel at C&ENtral Science

Getting What You Want Out Of Nobel at C&ENtral Science — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:25:01 +0000

[...] busy newsrooms, a regular, token science story to do, regardless of whether the prize is as meaningful as it was back in the [...]

By: Kay

Kay — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:38:43 +0000

Perhaps the Swedish academies should research a bit more about who they should give the prize to. Who knows? Maybe (or not) they have given a lot of consideration before making the final decision. The whole selection process is almost a secret to the whole world. Maybe they want someone with a perfect track record, but I’m sure that there are some politics behind it.

As for the ‘brash and self-confident Americans’ comment, I feel also that it is a perception of non-Americans see the American public in general, so no surprise for me there. To me this is unfortunate and disappointing.

The bottom line is… it’s a prestigious prize (or name), if you don’t get it, don’t get hung over by it.

By: Marcia Goldfarb

Marcia Goldfarb — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:54:18 +0000

Dear Rudy,
I, too, was involved with HIV from the early days in 1980s. My company Anatek-EP, a contract lab doing electrophoresis made (tried to make) the Western Blot for HIV confirmation. We were part of a study done by CDC from 1989 to 1999, Model Performance Evaluation Program Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) Testing. We were given names of techs in Robert Gallo’s lab to contact for information and help. I did not know then and certainly don’t know now if these people were simply ignorant or deliberately wanted to prevent us from being successful. We could not use their information. The lead researcher in Gallo’s lab was Mika Popovic. He did not believe in keeping lab notebooks . Can you imagine giving the Nobel Prize to someone who does not have a written record of the work that was done!!! The Nobel committe is indeed thorough and wise.

By: AS

AS — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:56:17 +0000

Are you serious? Being American an impediment to winning the Nobel Prize? I’m not ignoring the ‘brash, self-confident’ modifier – but since many many good scientists have shared that exact attitude at some point in their careers, it hardly seems likely that that’s what kept these fine scientists from winning the prize.

Why don’t we take a look at the accomplishments of the unknown third-world leaders, those men and women working everyday for regional peace or equitable local economics or the preservation of wildlife in their own backyards – then come back to this year’s Nobel and see how petty it sounds to claim that the richest country in the world is being discriminated against by the committee.

I agree, Gallo should have been recognized – but let’s keep his nationality out of the debate.

By: rob

rob — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 09:31:09 +0000

boo hoo… America did not win… must throw toys out of pram and blame the foreigners…

By: Klug

Klug — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:31:11 +0000

I like the idea, Paul. But if Warren did do it, it’d be called “The Buffet Prize”, which sounds like something you get for 3rd place at a state fair.

I *do* however like the phrases that would come about: “Yes, Professor, you did win the Priestley this year. Don’t forget… you just might get that invitation to Omaha!”

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 08:02:35 +0000

It seems that the importance of any award will eventually diminish–who cares about the Emmys anymore?–but the Swedish Academy is accelerating the process of making the Nobel Prize less meaningful. The exclusions of Somorjai and Gallo were unconscionable. The self-imposed limit of three laureates per prize has forced the Academy to make some really difficult/questionable decisions, e.g., Chalfie over Prasher. The lack of a biology prize has also soured many chemists, as have some particularly dubious awards (fullerenes) when subjects like transition-metal-mediated cross-coupling reactions are still on the table.

The real question, my fellow Americans, is why are we letting an insignificant country like Sweden dictate what is and is not important? Can’t we get a rich American businessman (one who is still rich) to put up some money so we, as a country, can return to having our way with the rest of the world? Bill, Warren, Donald…call me. One of your names can be synonymous with scientific excellence.