Nobel Prize

The Will

Alfred Nobel (b. 1833 in Stockholm, d. 1896 in San Remo, Italy) stressed in his last will of 1895 the international character of the prize by stipulating that there should be no consideration of the nationality of the candidates in selecting the awardees. He named five categories of the award, namely, physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. The absence of mathematics is the most conspicuous, and there are various explanations for this omission. A benevolent and likely one is that Nobel, a chemical engineer, did not expect many new discoveries in mathematics; in this he was mistaken. Another missing field is biology, but some of its subfields, especially biochemistry, have been well covered in recent years within the chemistry and physiology or medicine prizes.

The Nobel Foundation administers the Nobel Prize, trying to follow Nobel's will as closely as possible; the details of the operations are described in the statutes. The will stipulates that the prizes, which gained the name Nobel Prizes after Nobel's death, should be awarded “to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind” (Nobel Foundation & Odelberg, 1972, p. x). There are some further special instructions with regard to physics, referring to “the most important discovery or invention”; to chemistry, “the most important chemical discovery or improvement”; to physiology or medicine, “the most important discovery”; to literature, “the most outstanding work in an ideal direction”; and to peace, “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses” (p. x). It is important to [Page 1246]remember these instructions because Nobel did not have in mind awarding the greatest scientist; rather, he meant to single out great discoveries. He did not look for the greatest writer; rather, he wanted to award works of literature in an ideal direction. He did not mean to find the most peace-loving person; rather, he meant those who did something important for improving conditions for achieving peace.

Following Nobel's instructions, the physics and chemistry prizes are awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences; the physiology or medicine prize by the Nobel Assembly of professors of the Karolinska Institute (a medical research establishment in Stockholm); the literature prize by the Swedish Academy, which has 18 members, all Swedish writers; and the peace prize by a committee appointed by the Storting, the Norwegian Parliament. The prizes are handed out every year on December 10, Nobel's birthday, the first four in Stockholm and the peace prize in Oslo. The Norwegian involvement is explained by historical circumstances. Sweden and Norway were united under the Swedish Crown at the time of Nobel's will. Norway became independent in 1905, but the Norwegian participation has remained in effect.

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