Each year, the Nobel Prize is awarded to people who have made outstanding contributions in several fields. This is the world’s greatest recognition. The awards are given according to the will of the famous Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel. The first Nobel Prize was awarded on December 10, 1901, five years after Nobel’s death. Since 1902, all awards, with the exception of the Peace Prize, have been presented in Stockholm by the King of Sweden. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo.
Why did Nobel create the awards? Alfred Nobel began working in his father’s factory, which produced naval mines and military equipment, and later explosives. His greatest scientific achievement was the invention of dynamite. Nobel believes that “when people discover that in an instant entire armies can be completely destroyed, they will certainly observe a golden peace.” Unfortunately, this is not the case. Nobel is aware of the damage to his own invention. Legend has it that when his brother died, his obituary was mistakenly printed in the newspaper, nicknamed the “Death Merchant”. Terrified by this, he decided to bequeath part of his vast fortune to fund annual awards to people who, unlike him, have made remarkable achievements for the benefit of mankind.
In which areas is the Nobel Prize awarded? The award is given in 6 areas: physics, chemistry, medicine, physiologists, literature, peace. Do you notice in which field the Nobel Prize is not awarded? In the field of mathematics. Why isn’t the Nobel Prize awarded in mathematics? There is a lot of speculation and suggestions about this. Here are the most popular among them: 1. The reason is too personal. The most talked about theory is that Nobel had a fiancée who abandoned him because of the famous Swedish mathematician Gosta Mitag-Lefler. There is no historical evidence for this assumption. The fact is that Nobel is not getting married. He later had a girlfriend, a Viennese florist, whom she called “Mrs. Sophie Nobel.”
1. The reason is too personal. The most talked about theory is that Nobel had a fiancée who abandoned him because of the famous Swedish mathematician Gosta Mitag-Lefler. There is no historical evidence for this assumption. The fact is that Nobel is not getting married. He later had a girlfriend, a Viennese florist, whom she called “Mrs. Sophie Nobel.”
2. There was a math prize.
In his time, the Scandinavian Prize was awarded to mathematicians by King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway, who was a mathematician. Maybe Nobel thought that would double the prize.
3. Mathematics is too theoretical. The Nobel Prize is awarded for “practical” inventions or discoveries for the benefit of mankind, and inventor and industrialist Alfred Nobel considers mathematics to be too theoretical a science without application.
4. Mathematics is not interesting. Nobel’s inventions and work are in the field of physics and chemistry. He was also interested in literature as well as medicine. The Peace Prize is included to clear the image of a “death dealer” for inventing dynamite. Mathematics was not among the sciences he found interesting.
5. Rivalry This reason is again related to the Guest Mitag-Lefler, the alleged lover of his fiancée. Lefler founded leading mathematical journals, and it was he who persuaded King Oscar II to present an award in mathematics. That is why Nobel does not want to award a prize and money to a person he does not like.
How much is the fund of the Nobel laureates? In 1901, for the first winners of the Nobel Prize, the fund was 150,782 Swedish kronor, which is about 8.1 million Swedish kronor today. For 2020, the prize fund is 10 million Swedish kronor, which is about 885 thousand British pounds.
