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Sydney Brenner wins the Nobel Prize

Sat, 2002-10-12 07:23 — Greg

Upon hearing that he was awarded the Nobel Prize with Brenner and Horvitz, Sir John Sulston is quoted as saying that; "The worm [C. elegans] worked so well because the community held an ethos of sharing - just as the public genome projects have - from the beginning. We gave all our results to others as soon as we had them. From sharing, discovery
is accelerated in the community. Research is hastened when people share results freely." (The Guardian, October 8, 2002)


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Mon, 2002-10-14 18:00 — Neil

sharing and prizes

That would be an example of "new science versus old science" mentality.

What do people think of the Nobels? I'm generally not one for traditions or awards (think Oscars and Emmys - I mean, when does the stuff you like win?) But it seems to me that the Nobels generally "get it right", in terms of rewarding genuinely important research, albeit sometimes years after the fact. Is this related to the nomination process, which as I understand it involves a large community of prominent scientists?


Tue, 2002-10-15 10:20 — chris

recognition

I think there's a very important distinction between awards such as the Oscars and the Nobel prizes. The former are in large part driven by corporate interests and fashions, whereas the latter are not. My impression of the Nobels is that awards are made after careful selection by a number of experts in the field. Given that the areas in which they are awarded are huge, and growing, the one problem is that many discoveries may be passed by or recognised much later (Barbara McClintock springs to mind - although politics was involved there).

All in all, I think they are a good institution. Recognition of merit, discovery, and/or services to humanity regardless of affiliations of any sort are a good thing, aren't they?

The citation for this year's Literature prize (Imre Kertesz, Hungary), reads: "for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history". More at the Nobel e-museum.