Society
The Nobel Prize It is widely accepted as the most prestigious award in the world – and the priciest. Today, winners of the Nobel Prize take home not only a great honor, a beautiful medal, and a certificate, but also about € 1 million (about $1.3 million dollars). The Prizes are awarded to people, generally, but the Nobel Peace Prize may also go to organizations that have done outstanding*research, invented groundbreaking*techniques or equipment, or made outstanding contributions to society.
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There are five prizes, for outstanding achievement in: chemistry, phy-
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siology or medicine, literature, and peace, this last for “those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred* the greatest benefit on mankind.” Sometimes, the prize is awarded to encourage those who receive it to see* the effort through, perhaps at critical moments in a process. And there may be one or more years in which a prize or prizes may not be awarded. However, prizes must be awarded at least once every five years. If more than one person or institution wins in a category, the prize money allotted* to the category is equally divided amongst them.
A Bit of History: Alfred A. Nobel, the Pacifist Who Invented Dynamite
A Swedish chemist by the name of Alfred Nobel, born in 1833 in Stockholm of a family descended from a technical genius of 17th century Sweden, founded the Nobel Prize. One day Alfred and his brother, both chemical engineers, were working on an experiment when an explosion involving liquid nitro-glycerine resulted in the death of his brother. Alfred vowed* to develop a safer explosive and eventually discovered a mixture of nitro-glycerine and silica. He patented the product, calling it dynamite, in 1867. Soon, dynamite was being used