Nobel prizes and life sciences / Erling Norrby.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Norrby, Erling.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Life sciences.

Nobel Prizes.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (334 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Singapore ; Hackensack : World Scientific, c2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Nobel Prizes in natural sciences have developed to become a unique measure of scientific excellence. Using archival documents, which have been released (50 years secrecy) for scholarly work, the author expertly traces the strengths and weaknesses of the Nobel system as exemplified by individual prizes. Surveys of the more than 100 years that the Prizes have been awarded are also presented. This book discusses the most important prize in the world of science and gives unique historical insights into how the laureate selection process has developed to secure optimal choice. No other book has

Contents:

CONTENTS; Preface; Chapter 1; More than a Century of Nobel Prizes; Alfred Nobel and his life; Academies and prizes; The will; Implementation of the will; The selection process; The awarding institutions and the prizes; The secrecy of the prize selection process; The number of prize recipients; The nationality of Nobel Prize recipients; The awardee and the prize; There is no Nobel Prize in economics; The enigmatic concept of discovery; Coda - Alfred Nobel's surprise; Chapter 2; Serendipity and Nobel Prizes; The origin of "serendipity"; Horace Walpole; Serendipity and scientific endeavor

Serendipitous events in scienceThe magic of invisible rays; Patterns of background radiation; The "vital force" of Nature dismissed; Helpful students' mistakes; From observational to evidence-based medicine; The paradigm example of a serendipitous finding?; The discovery of infectious agents in a remarkable context; "Serendipity" - From arcane to en vogue; What's in a word?; The capricious nature of the scientific process; Coda - Minute infectious agents; Chapter 3; Nobel Prizes and the Emerging Virus Concept; Nobel Prizes in the field of virology

Nobel archives and the evolving virus conceptThe first Nobel Prize in virology: Wendell Stanley; Stanley's findings and the discussions of infectious proteins; Bacteriophage replication and the studies of genes; Animal viruses and the understanding of the nature of viruses; The final synthesis of the virus concept; A counterfactual history of virology; Virology 50 years later; Coda - Are viruses live or dead material?; Chapter 4; The Only Nobel Prize for a Virus Vaccine:Yellow Fever and Max Theiler; The disease and the epidemics; The virus and possibilities for vaccine development

Max Theiler, the experimental scientistThe first deliberations by the Nobel Committee; Theiler's road toward the critical discovery; Continued deliberations by the Nobel Committee; The history of viral vaccines; What is a discovery?; A charming encounter; Coda - Sven Gard's return; Chapter 5; Polio and Nobel Prizes; Polio epidemics in the 20th century; Initial attempts to produce a vaccine; Early deliberations by the Nobel Committee; Enders, viruses and cultured cells; Sven Gard and his role; Nomination of Enders in 1952; Nominations of Enders and collaborators in 1953 and 1954; The decision

Polio research and vaccine productionWhy not wait for the first vaccine trials?; Coda - A unique contact; Chapter 6; Unusual Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine; The first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; The enigma of Alexis Carrel; The rapid advance toward a Nobel Prize; Eternal life in cultures; Carrel's engagement during the two world wars; Did Carrel's scientific contributions motivate his Nobel Prize in 1912?; The importance of friendship across the Kattegat; The attraction of contraction; Powerful developments in a subfield of physiology; Embden never received a Nobel Prize

Insulin, its remarkable discovery and a much debated Nobel Prize

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 281-298) and indexes.

ISBN:

1-283-14435-2

9786613144355

981-4299-38-3

OCLC:

740435806