 |
The Physics Hypertextbook © 1998–2013 Glenn Elert |
No condition is permanent.
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been honoring men and women from all corners of the globe for outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and for work in peace. The foundations for the prize were laid in 1895 when Alfred Nobel wrote his last will, leaving much of his wealth to the establishment of the Nobel Prize.
| year | laureate(s) | achievement |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 |
Serge Haroche David J. Wineland |
for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems |
| 2011 |
Saul Perlmutter Brian P. Schmidt Adam G. Riess |
for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe through observations of distant supernovae |
| 2010 |
Andre Geim Konstantin Novoselov |
for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene |
| 2009 |
Charles K. Kao Willard S. Boyle George E. Smith |
[Kao] for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication, [Boyle and Smith] for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor |
| 2008 |
Yoichiro Nambu Makoto Kobayashi Toshihide Maskawa |
[Nambu] for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics, [Kobayashi and Maskawa] for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature |
| 2007 |
Albert Fert Peter Grünberg |
for the discovery of giant magnetoresistance |
| 2006 |
John C. Mather George F. Smoot |
for their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation |
| 2005 |
Roy J. Glauber John L. Hall Theodor W. Hänsch |
[Glauber] for his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence, [Hall and Hänsch] for their contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique |
| 2004 |
David J. Gross H. David Politzer Frank Wilczek |
for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction |
| 2003 |
Alexei A. Abrikosov Vitaly L. Ginzburg Anthony J. Leggett |
for pioneering contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids |
| 2002 |
Raymond Davis Jr. Masatoshi Koshiba Riccardo Giacconi |
for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, [Davis and Koshiba] for the detection of cosmic neutrinos, [Giacconi] for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, which have led to the discovery of cosmic x‑ray sources |
| 2001 |
Eric A. Cornell Wolfgang Ketterle Carl E. Wieman |
for the achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms, and for early fundamental studies of the properties of the condensates |
| 2000 |
Zhores Alferov Herbert Kroemer Jack Kilby |
for basic work on information and communication technology, [Alferov and Kroemer] for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and opto-electronics, [Kilby] for his part in the invention of the integrated circuit |
| 1999 |
Gerardus 't Hooft Martinus Veltman |
for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions in physics |
| 1998 |
Robert Laughlin Horst Störmer Daniel Tsui |
for their discovery of a new form of quantum fluid with fractionally charged excitations |
| 1997 |
Steven Chu Claude Cohen-Tannoudji William Phillips |
for development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light |
| 1996 |
David Lee Douglas Osheroff Robert Richardson |
for their discovery of superfluidity in helium-3 |
| 1995 |
Martin Perl Frederick Reines |
for pioneering experimental contributions to lepton physics, [Perl] for the discovery of the tau lepton, [Reines] for the detection of the neutrino |
| 1994 |
Bertram Brockhouse Clifford Shull |
for pioneering contributions to the development of neutron scattering techniques for studies of condensed matte, [Brockhouse] for the development of neutron spectroscopy, [Shull] for the development of the neutron diffraction technique |
| 1993 |
Russell Hulse Joseph Taylor Jr. |
for the discovery of a new type of pulsar, a discovery that has opened up new possibilities for the study of gravitation |
| 1992 |
Georges Charpak | for his invention and development of particle detectors, in particular the multiwire proportional chamber |
| 1991 |
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes | for discovering that methods developed for studying order phenomena in simple systems can be generalized to more complex forms of matter, in particular to liquid crystals and polymers |
| 1990 |
Jerome Friedman Henry Kendall Richard Taylor |
for their pioneering investigations concerning deep inelastic scattering of electrons on protons and bound neutrons, which have been of essential importance for the development of the quark model in particle physics |
| 1989 |
Norman Ramsey Hans Dehmelt Wolfgang Paul |
[Ramsey] for the invention of the separated oscillatory fields method and its use in the hydrogen maser and other atomic clocks, [Dehmelt and Paul] for the development of the ion trap technique |
| 1988 |
Leon Lederman Melvin Schwartz Jack Steinberger |
for the neutrino beam method and the demonstration of the doublet structure of the leptons through the discovery of the muon neutrino |
| 1987 |
Georg Bednorz Alexander Müller |
for their important break-through in the discovery of superconductivity in ceramic materials |
| 1986 |
Ernst Ruska Gerd Binnig Heinrich Rohrer |
[Ruska] for his fundamental work in electron optics, and for the design of the first electron microscope, [Rohrer] for their design of the scanning tunneling microscope |
| 1985 |
Klaus von Klitzing | for the discovery of the quantized Hall effect |
| 1984 |
Carlo Rubbia Simon van der Meer |
for their decisive contributions to the large project, which led to the discovery of the field particles W and Z, communicators of weak interaction |
| 1983 |
Subramanyan Chandrasekhar William Fowler |
[Chandrasekhar] for his theoretical studies of the physical processes of importance to the structure and evolution of the stars, [Fowler] for his theoretical and experimental studies of the nuclear reactions of importance in the formation of the chemical elements in the universe |
| 1982 |
Kenneth Wilson | for his theory for critical phenomena in connection with phase transitions |
| 1981 |
Nicolaas Bloembergen Arthur Schawlow Kai Siegbahn |
[Bloembergen and Schawlow] for their contribution to the development of laser spectroscopy, [Siegbahn] for his contribution to the development of high-resolution electron spectroscopy |
| 1980 |
James Cronin Val Fitch |
for the discovery of violations of fundamental symmetry principles in the decay of neutral K-mesons |
| 1979 |
Sheldon Glashow Abdus Salam Steven Weinberg |
for their contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, including, inter alia, the prediction of the weak neutral current |
| 1978 |
Pyotr Kapitsa Arno Penzias Robert Wilson |
[Kapitsa] for his basic inventions and discoveries in the area of low-temperature physics, [Penzias and Wilson] for their discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation |
| 1977 |
Philip Anderson Nevill Mott John van Vleck |
for their fundamental theoretical investigations of the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems |
| 1976 |
Burton Richter Samuel Ting |
for their pioneering work in the discovery of a heavy elementary particle of a new kind |
| 1975 |
Aage Bohr Ben Mottelson Leo Rainwater |
for the discovery of the connection between collective motion and particle motion in atomic nuclei and the development of the theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus based on this connection |
| 1974 |
Martin Ryle Antony Hewish |
for their pioneering research in radio astrophysics: Ryle for his observations and inventions, in particular of the aperture synthesis technique, and Hewish for his decisive role in the discovery of pulsars |
| 1973 |
Leo Esaki Ivar Giaever Brian Josephson |
[Esaki and Giaever] for their experimental discoveries regarding tunneling phenomena in semiconductors and superconductors, respectively, [Josephson] for his theoretical predictions of the properties of a supercurrent through a tunnel barrier, in particular those phenomena which are generally known as the Josephson effects |
| 1972 |
John Bardeen Leon Cooper John Schrieffer |
for their jointly developed theory of superconductivity, usually called the BCS-theory |
| 1971 |
Dennis Gabor | for his invention and development of the holographic method |
| 1970 |
Hannes Alfvén Louis Néel |
[Alfvén] for fundamental work and discoveries in magneto-hydrodynamics with fruitful applications in different parts of plasma physics, [Néel] for fundamental work and discoveries concerning antiferromagnetism and ferrimagnetism which have led to important applications in solid state physics |
| 1969 |
Murray Gell-Mann | for his contributions and discoveries concerning the classification of elementary particles and their interactions |
| 1968 |
Luis Alvarez | for his decisive contributions to elementary particle physics, in particular the discovery of a large number of resonance states, made possible through his development of the technique of using hydrogen bubble chamber and data analysis |
| 1967 |
Hans Bethe | for his contributions to the theory of nuclear reactions, especially his discoveries concerning the energy production in stars |
| 1966 |
Alfred Kastler | for the discovery and development of optical methods for studying Hertzian resonances in atoms |
| 1965 |
Sin-Itiro Tomonaga Julian Schwinger Richard Feynman |
for their fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics, with deep-ploughing consequences for the physics of elementary particles |
| 1964 |
Charles Townes Nicolay Basov Aleksandr Prokhorov |
for fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle |
| 1963 |
Eugene Wigner Maria Goeppert-Mayer Hans Jensen |
[Wigner] for his contributions to the theory of the atomic nucleus and the elementary particles, particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental symmetry principles, [Mayer and Jensen] for their discoveries concerning nuclear shell structure |
| 1962 |
Lev Landau | for his pioneering theories for condensed matter, especially liquid helium |
| 1961 |
Robert Hofstadter Rudolf Mössbauer |
[Hofstadter] for his pioneering studies of electron scattering in atomic nuclei and for his thereby achieved discoveries concerning the stucture of the nucleons, [Mössbauer] for his researches concerning the resonance absorption of gamma radiation and his discovery in this connection of the effect which bears his name |
| 1960 |
Donald Glaser | for the invention of the bubble chamber |
| 1959 |
Emilio Segrè Owen Chamberlain |
for their discovery of the antiproton |
| 1958 |
Pavel Cherenkov Il´ja Frank Igor Tamm |
for the discovery and the interpretation of the Cherenkov effect |
| 1957 |
Chen Ning Yang Tsung-Dao Lee |
for their penetrating investigation of the so-called parity laws which has led to important discoveries regarding the elementary particles |
| 1956 |
William Shockley John Bardeen Walter Brattain |
for their researches on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect |
| 1955 |
Willis Lamb Polykarp Kusch |
[Lamb] for his discoveries concerning the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum, [Kusch] for his precision determination of the magnetic moment of the electron |
| 1954 |
Max Born Walther Bothe |
[Born] for his fundamental research in quantum mechanics, especially for his statistical interpretation of the wavefunction, [Bothe] for the coincidence method and his discoveries made therewith |
| 1953 |
Frits Zernike | for his demonstration of the phase contrast method, especially for his invention of the phase contrast microscope |
| 1952 |
Felix Bloch Edward Purcell |
for their development of new methods for nuclear magnetic precision measurements and discoveries in connection therewith |
| 1951 |
John Cockcroft Ernest Walton |
for their pioneer work on the transmutation of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles |
| 1950 |
Cecil Powell | for his development of the photographic method of studying nuclear processes and his discoveries regarding mesons made with this method |
| 1949 |
Hideki Yukawa | for his prediction of the existence of mesons on the basis of theoretical work on nuclear forces |
| 1948 |
Patrick Blackett | for his development of the Wilson cloud chamber method, and his discoveries therewith in the fields of nuclear physics and cosmic radiation |
| 1947 |
Edward Appleton | for his investigations of the physics of the upper atmosphere especially for the discovery of the so-called Appleton layer |
| 1946 |
Percy Bridgman | for the invention of an apparatus to produce extremely high pressures, and for the discoveries he made therewith in the field of high pressure physics |
| 1945 |
Wolfgang Pauli | for the discovery of the Exclusion Principle, also called the Pauli Principle |
| 1944 |
I.I. Rabi | for his resonance method for recording the magnetic properties of atomic nuclei |
| 1943 |
Otto Stern | for his contribution to the development of the molecular ray method and his discovery of the magnetic moment of the proton |
| 1942 |
||
| 1941 |
||
| 1940 |
||
| 1939 |
Ernest Lawrence | for the invention and development of the cyclotron and for results obtained with it, especially with regard to artificial radioactive elements |
| 1938 |
Enrico Fermi | for his demonstrations of the existence of new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation, and for his related discovery of nuclear reactions brought about by slow neutrons |
| 1937 |
Clinton Davisson George Thomson |
for their experimental discovery of the diffraction of electrons by crystals |
| 1936 |
Victor Hess Carl Anderson |
[Hess] for his discovery of cosmic radiation, [Anderson] for his discovery of the positron |
| 1935 |
James Chadwick | for the discovery of the neutron |
| 1934 |
||
| 1933 |
Erwin Schrödinger P.A.M. Dirac |
for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory |
| 1932 |
Werner Heisenberg | for the creation of quantum mechanics, the application of which has, inter alia, led to the discovery of the allotropic forms of hydrogen |
| 1931 |
||
| 1930 |
Chandrasekhara Raman | for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the effect named after him |
| 1929 |
Louis de Broglie | for his discovery of the wave nature of electrons |
| 1928 |
Owen Richardson | for his work on the thermionic phenomenon and especially for the discovery of the law named after him |
| 1927 |
Arthur Compton Charles Wilson |
[Compton] for his discovery of the effect named after him, [Wilson] for his method of making the paths of electrically charged particles visible by condensation of vapour |
| 1926 |
Jean Perrin | for his work on the discontinuous structure of matter, and especially for his discovery of sedimentation equilibrium |
| 1925 |
James Franck Gustav Hertz |
for their discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom |
| 1924 |
Karl Siegbahn | for his discoveries and research in the field of x‑ray spectroscopy |
| 1923 |
Robert Millikan | for his work on the elementary charge of electricity and on the photoelectric effect |
| 1922 |
Niels Bohr | for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them |
| 1921 |
Albert Einstein | for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect |
| 1920 |
Charles Guillaume | in recognition of the service he has rendered to precision measurements in Physics by his discovery of anomalies in nickel steel alloys |
| 1919 |
Johannes Stark | for his discovery of the Doppler effect in canal rays and the splitting of spectral lines in electric fields |
| 1918 |
Max Planck | in recognition of the services he rendered to the advancement of Physics by his discovery of energy quanta |
| 1917 |
Charles Barkla | for his discovery of the characteristic Röntgen radiation of the elements |
| 1916 |
||
| 1915 |
William Henry Bragg William Lawrence Bragg |
for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of x‑rays |
| 1914 |
Max von Laue | for his discovery of the diffraction of x‑rays by crystals |
| 1913 |
Heike Kamerlingh-Onnes | for his investigations on the properties of matter at low temperatures which led, inter alia, to the production of liquid helium |
| 1912 |
Nils Dalén | for his invention of automatic regulators for use in conjunction with gas accumulators for illuminating lighthouses and buoys |
| 1911 |
Wilhelm Wien | for his discoveries regarding the laws governing the radiation of heat |
| 1910 |
Johannes van der Waals | for his work on the equation of state for gases and liquids |
| 1909 |
Guglielmo Marconi Carl Braun |
in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy |
| 1908 |
Gabriel Lippmann | for his method of reproducing colours photographically based on the phenomenon of interference |
| 1907 |
Albert Michelson | for his optical precision instruments and the spectroscopic and metrological investigations carried out with their aid |
| 1906 |
J.J. Thomson | in recognition of the great merits of his theoretical and experimental investigations on the conduction of electricity by gases |
| 1905 |
Philipp Lenard | for his work on cathode rays |
| 1904 |
Lord Rayleigh | for his investigations of the densities of the most important gases and for his discovery of argon in connection with these studies |
| 1903 |
Antoine Becquerel Pierre Curie Marie Curie |
[Becquerel] in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity, [the Curies] in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel |
| 1902 |
Hendrik Lorentz Pieter Zeeman |
in recognition of the extraordinary service they rendered by their researches into the influence of magnetism upon radiation phenomena |
| 1901 |
Wilhelm Röntgen | in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by the discovery of the remarkable rays subsequently named after him |
The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology.
| year | laureate(s) | achievement |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 |
Joseph Keller Raymond Goldstein Patrick Warren Robin Ball |
for calculating the balance of forces that shape and move the hair in a human ponytail |
| 2011 |
Philippe Perrin Cyril Perrot Dominique Deviterne Bruno Ragaru Herman Kingma |
for determining why discus throwers become dizzy, and why hammer throwers don't |
| 2010 |
Lianne Parkin Sheila Williams Patricia Priest |
for demonstrating that, on icy footpaths in wintertime, people slip and fall less often if they wear socks on the outside of their shoes |
| 2009 |
Katherine K. Whitcome Daniel E. Lieberman Liza J. Shapiro |
for analytically determining why pregnant women don't tip over |
| 2008 |
Dorian Raymer Douglas Smith |
for proving mathematically that heaps of string or hair or almost anything else will inevitably tangle themselves up in knots |
| 2007 |
L. Mahadevan Enrique Cerda |
for studying how sheets become wrinkled |
| 2006 |
Basile Audoly Sebastien Neukirch |
for their insights into why, when you bend dry spaghetti, it often breaks into more than two pieces |
| 2005 |
John Mainstone Thomas Parnell |
for patiently conducting an experiment that began in the year 1927 in which a glob of congealed black tar has been slowly, slowly dripping through a funnel, at a rate of approximately one drop every nine years |
| 2004 |
Ramesh Balasubramaniam Michael Turvey |
for exploring and explaining the dynamics of hula-hooping |
| 2003 |
Jack Harvey John Culvenor Warren Payne Steve Cowley Michael Lawrance David Stuart Robyn Williams |
for their irresistible report "An Analysis of the Forces Required to Drag Sheep over Various Surfaces" |
| 2002 |
Arnd Leike | for demonstrating that beer froth obeys the mathematical Law of Exponential Decay |
| 2001 |
David Schmidt | for his partial solution to the question of why shower curtains billow inwards |
| 2000 |
Andre Geim Michael Berry |
for using magnets to levitate a frog |
| 1999 |
Len Fisher Jean-Marc Vanden-Broeck Joseph Keller |
[Fisher] for calculating the optimal way to dunk a biscuit, [Vanden-Broeck and Keller] for calculating how to make a teapot spout that does not drip |
| 1998 |
Deepak Chopra | for his unique interpretation of quantum physics as it applies to life, liberty, and the pursuit of economic happiness |
| 1997 |
John Bockris | for his wide-ranging achievements in cold fusion, in the transmutation of base elements into gold, and in the electrochemical incineration of domestic rubbish |
| 1996 |
Robert Matthews | for his studies of Murphy's Law, and especially for demonstrating that toast often falls on the buttered side |
| 1995 |
D.M.R. Georget R. Parker A.C. Smith |
for their rigorous analysis of soggy breakfast cereal, published in the report entitled "A Study of the Effects of Water Content on the Compaction Behaviour of Breakfast Cereal Flakes" |
| 1994 |
||
| 1993 |
Louis Kervran | for his conclusion that the calcium in chickens' eggshells is created by a process of cold fusion |
| 1992 |
David Chorley Doug Bower |
for their circular contributions to field theory based on the geometrical destruction of English crops |
| 1991 |
|
The Physics Hypertextbook © 1998–2013 Glenn Elert |
No condition is permanent.