1921 Einstein received the Nobel Prize. Nobel Prize in Physics. Dossier. Brief biographical information

In the history of world science it is difficult to find a scientist of the same caliber as Albert Einstein. However, his path to fame and universal recognition was not easy. Suffice it to say that Albert Einstein received the Nobel Prize only after he had been unsuccessfully nominated for it more than 10 times.

Brief biographical information

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in the German city of Ulm into a middle-class Jewish family. His father was first involved in the production of mattresses, and after moving to Munich he opened a company that sold electrical equipment.

At the age of 7, Albert was sent to a Catholic school, and then to a gymnasium, which today bears the name of the great scientist. According to the recollections of classmates and teachers, he did not show much zeal for study and had high grades only in mathematics and Latin. In 1896, Einstein entered the Faculty of Education at the Zurich Polytechnic on his second attempt, as he later wanted to work as a physics teacher. There he devoted a lot of time to studying Maxwell's electromagnetic theory. Although it was already impossible not to notice Einstein’s outstanding abilities, by the time he received his diploma, none of the teachers wanted to see him as their assistant. Subsequently, the scientist noted that at the Zurich Polytechnic he was obstructed and bullied for his independent character.

The beginning of the path to world fame

After graduating from university, Albert Einstein could not find a job for a long time and even went hungry. However, it was during this period that he wrote and published his first work.

In 1902, the future great scientist began working at the Patent Office. 3 years later, he published 3 articles in the leading German journal “Annals of Physics”, which were subsequently recognized as harbingers of the scientific revolution. In them, he outlined the foundations of the theory of relativity, the fundamental quantum theory, from which Einstein's theory of the photoelectric effect later emerged, and his ideas regarding the statistical description of Brownian motion.

Revolutionary ideas of Einstein

All 3 articles of the scientist, published in 1905 in the Annals of Physics, became the subject of heated discussion among colleagues. The ideas he introduced to the scientific community certainly deserved to earn Albert Einstein a Nobel Prize. However, they were not immediately recognized in academic circles. If some scientists unconditionally supported their colleague, then there was a fairly large group of physicists who, being experimenters, demanded to present the results of empirical research.

Nobel Prize

Shortly before his death, the famous arms magnate wrote a will, according to which all his property was transferred to a special fund. This organization was supposed to select candidates and annually award large cash prizes to those “who have brought the greatest benefit to humanity” by making a significant discovery in the field of physics, chemistry, and physiology or medicine. In addition, prizes were awarded to the creator of the most outstanding work in the field of literature, as well as for contributions to the unity of nations, the reduction of the size of the armed forces and "the promotion of peace congresses."

In his will, Nobel, in a separate clause, demanded that when nominating candidates their nationality should not be taken into account, since he did not want his prize to be politicized.

The first Nobel Prize ceremony took place in 1901. Over the next decade, such outstanding physicists as:

• Hendrik Lorenz;
• Peter Zeeman;
• Antoine Becquerel;
• Marie Curie;
• John William Strett;
• Philip Lenard;
• Joseph John Thomson;
• Albert Abraham Michelson;
• Gabriel Lippman;
• Guglielmo Marconi;
• Karl Brown.

Albert Einstein and the Nobel Prize: first nomination

The great scientist was first nominated for this award in 1910. Wilhelm Ostwald became his “godfather” in the field of chemistry. Interestingly, 9 years before this event, the latter refused to hire Einstein. In his presentation, he emphasized that the theory of relativity is deeply scientific and physical, and not just philosophical reasoning, as Einstein’s detractors tried to present it. In subsequent years, Ostwald repeatedly defended this point of view, reiterating it over several years.

The Nobel Committee rejected Einstein's candidacy, with the wording that the theory of relativity did not exactly meet any of these criteria. In particular, it was noted that we should wait for its more explicit experimental confirmation.

Be that as it may, in 1910 the prize was awarded to Jan van der Waals for deriving the equation of state of gases and liquids.

Nominations in subsequent years

Over the next 10 years, Albert Einstein was nominated for the Nobel Prize almost every year, with the exception of 1911 and 1915. At the same time, the theory of relativity was always cited as the work that was worthy of such a prestigious award. It was this circumstance that became the reason that even his contemporaries often doubted how many Nobel Prizes Einstein received.

Unfortunately, 3 out of 5 members of the Nobel Committee were from the Swedish University of Uppsala, known for its powerful scientific school, whose representatives achieved great success in improving measuring instruments and experimental techniques. They were extremely suspicious of pure theorists. Einstein was not the only “victim” of them. The Nobel Prize was never awarded to the outstanding scientist Henri Poincaré, but Max Planck received it in 1919 after much discussion.

Solar eclipse

As already mentioned, most physicists demanded experimental confirmation of the theory of relativity. However, at that time it was not possible to do this. The sun helped. The fact is that in order to be convinced of the correctness of Einstein’s theory, it was necessary to predict the behavior of an object with a huge mass. The Sun was perfectly suited for these purposes. It was decided to find out the position of the stars during the solar eclipse, which was supposed to occur in November 1919, and compare them with “ordinary” ones. The results were supposed to confirm or refute the presence of space-time distortion, which is a consequence of the theory of relativity.

Expeditions were organized to the island of Princip and to the tropics of Brazil. Measurements taken during the 6 minutes of the eclipse were studied by Eddington. As a result, Newton's classical theory of inert space was defeated and gave way to Einstein's.

Confession

1919 was the year of Einstein's triumph. Even Lorenz, who had previously been skeptical of his ideas, recognized their value. At the same time as Niels Bohr and 6 other scientists who had the right to nominate colleagues for the Nobel Prize, he spoke out in support of Albert Einstein.

However, politics intervened in the matter. Although it was clear to everyone that the most deserved candidate was Einstein, the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1920 was awarded to Charles Edouard Guillaume for his study of anomalies in nickel and steel alloys.

Nevertheless, the debate continued, and it was obvious that the world community would not understand if the scientist was left without a well-deserved reward.

Nobel Prize and Einstein

In 1921, the number of scientists proposing the candidacy of the creator of the theory of relativity reached its apogee. 14 people spoke for Einstein, who officially had the right to nominate candidates. One of the most authoritative members of the Royal Society of Sweden, Eddington, in his letter even compared him with Newton and pointed out that he was superior to all his contemporaries.

However, the Nobel Committee assigned the 1911 medical laureate Alvar Gullstrand to give a talk on the value of the theory of relativity. This scientist, being a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Uppsala, sharply and illiterately criticized Einstein. In particular, he argued that bending a light beam could not be considered a true test of Albert Einstein's theory. He also urged that observations made regarding the orbits of Mercury should not be considered evidence. In addition, he was especially outraged by the fact that the length of the measuring ruler could change depending on whether the observer was moving or not, and at what speed he was doing so.

As a result, the Nobel Prize was not awarded to Einstein in 1921, and it was decided not to award it to anyone.

1922

Theoretical physicist Karl Wilhelm Oseen from the University of Uppsala helped the Nobel Committee save face. He proceeded from the fact that it did not matter at all what Einstein received the Nobel Prize for. In this regard, he proposed to award it “for the discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.”

Oseen also advised committee members that Einstein should not only be honored during the 22nd ceremony. The Nobel Prize was not awarded in the year preceding 1921, according to uh It became possible to celebrate the merits of two scientists at once. The second laureate was Niels Bohr.

Einstein missed the official Nobel Prize ceremony. He gave his speech later, and it was devoted to the theory of relativity.

Now you know why Einstein received the Nobel Prize. Time has shown the significance of this scientist’s discoveries for world science. Even if Einstein had not been awarded the Nobel Prize, he would still have gone down in the annals of world history as a person who changed humanity’s understanding of space and time.

Nobel laureate Fridtjof Nansen, a world-famous Arctic explorer, oceanographer and public figure, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922 “for his humanitarian activities.” After his polar expedition, Fridtjof Nansen devoted most of his time to the affairs of refugees, prisoners of war, those suffering from hunger, or those left homeless, people deprived of hope for the future.

In his speech when presenting him with the prize, the newly minted Nobel laureate drew attention to the fact that the living conditions of people who found themselves in dire straits after the World War were extremely poor. He was convinced that the League of Nations was the only organization capable of preventing wars and helping to overcome their destructive consequences.

Nansen said: “It is the blind fanaticism of both sides that takes conflicts to the level of struggle and destruction, whereas discussion, mutual understanding and tolerance can bring much greater success.” The Nobel laureate was confident that all interstate conflicts could be resolved peacefully. He encouraged other European countries to join the League.

A future Nobel laureate, but already a world-famous polar explorer, Nansen was highly respected by the international community. They listened to his words. Therefore, Fridtjof Nansen managed to overcome the political barriers that divided the world community into capitalist and socialist. Neither other people, nor even reputable international organizations such as the Red Cross, for example, were able to achieve such an agreement at that time.

Even before receiving the title of Nobel laureate, immediately after the First World War, Fridtjof Nansen actively worked in the League of Nations. In 1920, Nansen was invited to take part in monitoring the removal of German and Austrian prisoners of war from the territory of Soviet Russia. It was known that after the First World War, about half a million people were kept in camps. They were almost forgotten, since the power of the proletariat was just being established in the country, and chaos reigned. What was needed was a person capable of quickly and effectively solving problems of this level. The League of Nations entrusted this mission to Nansen.

The task was complicated by the fact that revolutionary Russia did not want to recognize the League of Nations, and therefore its decisions. And only the high international authority of the polar explorer made it possible to carry out the repatriation of prisoners. We can say that this was the personal contribution of a man who saved 437 thousand people from hunger, cold, disease, and sometimes even from death.

It was thanks to Nansen that about half a million prisoners of war who fought on the side of Germany and lost in camps in Europe and Asia after the First World War were liberated and returned to their homeland. Therefore, Nobel laureate Fridtjof Nansen deservedly received his title.

The respect of the world community for the man who conquered the Arctic also helped when famine broke out in the Volga region and Ukraine. Nansen achieved the organization of assistance to people in need, despite the initial resistance - the Soviet Union on the one hand and the League of Nations on the other. However, the future Nobel laureate insists on providing assistance, and in 1921, on behalf of the International Red Cross, the “Nansen Help” committee was created to save the starving people of the Volga region. The funds collected by the committee saved the lives of ten million.

After the revolutionary coup, 1.5-2 million people fled from Russia, not recognizing the workers' and peasants' power. They wandered from country to country, finding no refuge. They were poor and sick. Typhus was raging then, and thousands of people were dying. Nansen began developing international agreements for refugees. Over time, 52 countries around the world recognized these documents. They were called “Nansen passports”. This was a year before Nansen received the Nobel laureate, or rather in 1921. At that time the great Norwegian held the post of High Commissioner of the League of Nations.

During the war between Greece and Turkey in 1922, Nansen helps the people of both sides, returning a million Greeks living in Turkey and half a million Turks living in Greece to the land of their ancestors.

The noble peacekeeping activities of Nobel laureate Fridtjof Nansen did not stop with his passing. In 1931, the Nansen International Refugee Agency was created in Geneva. And in 1938, following in the footsteps of its inspiration, it was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Albert Einstein , without any doubt, is one of the greatest scientists of the twentieth century. This is probably why there have always been many rumors and myths around his figure, many of which are still popular today, although they do not correspond to reality at all.

I bring to your attention a short note in which an attempt is made to refute a couple of such persistent misconceptions about the personality of the great physicist.

I assure you that I am not going to lure anyone into the deep theoretical jungle in this note, especially since I myself know little about physics (only at the level of a long-forgotten school curriculum). To convince you of this, I will start my post with an anecdote about Einstein (and end it with an anecdote).

An American journalist once interviewed Einstein.
- What is the difference between time and eternity? - she asked.
“Dear child,” Einstein replied good-naturedly, “if I had time to explain this difference to you, an eternity would pass before you would understand it.”

Try asking someone Why Albert Einstein received the Nobel Prize . Most likely they will tell you what kind of creature it is theory of relativity .
In fact, this is not at all the case.

Albert Einstein in 1921
(Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921)

Nobel Committee in 1922 awarded Einstein a prize for discovery of the laws of the photoelectric effect (and this confirms the quantum theory of Max Planck).
However, Albert Einstein had previously been nominated for the Nobel Prize three times (and specifically for the theory of relativity) - in 1910, 1911 and 1915. But to the members of the Nobel Committee, Einstein's work seemed so revolutionary that they did not dare to recognize it.

This is best seen in a letter to Einstein from the Secretary of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, Christopher Aurivillius, dated November 10, 1922: “As I have already informed you by telegram, the Royal Academy of Sciences, at its meeting yesterday, decided to award you the Prize in Physics for the past year, thereby recognizing your work in theoretical physics, in particular the discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect, without taking into account your work on the theory of relativity and the theory of gravity, which will be evaluated once confirmed in the future."

Among modern schoolchildren with poor grades (those who are ordinary lazy people, but not without intellectual abilities, otherwise they would not even know the name of a physicist) it has long been circulating the story that Einstein did poorly at school and even failed the math exam. Apparently they are trying to justify themselves with this: you see, Einstein was, like me, a poor student, and then became a great scientist! And I can do it, look!

I hasten to disappoint them.

Einstein's grades in both mathematics and physics were beyond praise. Another thing is that he was intolerant of the cane discipline that reigned in the Munich gymnasium (now, by the way, it bears his name). According to Einstein, the teachers of the junior classes reminded him of sergeants in their behavior, and the senior teachers reminded him of lieutenants. The teachers didn’t particularly like him either, because the behavior of the obstinate student called into question the entire orderly education system at the school. It was because of this that he gained a reputation as a bad student, and not at all because of a lack of knowledge or ability to think.

Albert Einstein's certificate from the Swiss school in Aarau in 1879
(grades are given on a 6-point scale). As you can see, in algebra, geometry and physics
The highest scores were given, but only a “C” in French:

In fairness, it should be noted that among the legends about the great scientist there are also stories that, quite possibly, could actually happen to him.

So, they write that one day he opened a book and found in it as a bookmark an unused check for one and a half thousand dollars. This could well have happened, since Einstein was extremely absent-minded in everyday life. They say that he did not even remember his home address - 112 Mercer Street, Princeton, New Jersey.

It is quite possible that the following anecdotal story is true:

Albert Einstein in his youth loved to wear only a tattered jacket.
- How do you dress so casually that people will talk about you? - the neighbors were surprised.
“Why,” Einstein asked, “nobody knows me here anyway.”
Thirty years have passed. Einstein wore the same jacket.
- Why do you dress so casually that people will talk about you? - the new neighbors were already surprised.
- And what? - asked the now famous physicist. - Everyone here already knows me!

Thank you for attention.
Sergey Vorobiev.

It was obvious that Einstein would one day receive the Nobel Prize in Physics. In fact, he has already even agreed, when this happens, to transfer the bonus money to his first wife Mileva Maric. The only question was when this would happen. And why?

When it was announced in November 1922 that he had been awarded the prize for 1921, new questions arose: why so late? And why “especially for the discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect”?

There is such a legend: Einstein learned that he was finally the winner on his way to Japan. “The Nobel Prize has been awarded to you. Details by letter,” read the telegram sent on November 10. However, in fact, he was warned about this long before the trip, as soon as the Swedish Academy made its decision in September.

Even knowing that he had finally won, Einstein did not consider it possible to postpone the trip - to some extent because he was bypassed so often that it had already begun to irritate him.

1910s

He was first nominated for the prize in 1910 by Wilhelm Ostwald, the Nobel Prize winner in chemistry who had refused to hire Einstein nine years earlier. Ostwald referred to the special theory of relativity, emphasizing that it is a fundamental physical theory, and not just a philosophy, as some of Einstein's detractors claimed. He defended this point of view again and again, re-promoting Einstein for several more years in a row.

The Swedish Nobel Committee strictly followed the instructions of Alfred Nobel's will: the Nobel Prize is awarded for "the most important discovery or invention." The committee members believed that the theory of relativity did not exactly meet any of these criteria. Therefore, they replied that “before agreeing with this theory, and in particular awarding the Nobel Prize for it,” we should wait for its more explicit experimental confirmation.

There is such a legend: Einstein learned that he was finally the winner on his way to Japan. However, in reality in fact he was warned about this long ago before the trip

Over the next decade, Einstein continued to be nominated for a Nobel Prize for his work on the theory of relativity. He received the support of many prominent theorists, such as Wilhelm Wien. True, Hendrik Lorenz, who was still skeptical about this theory, was not one of them. The main obstacle was that at that time the committee was suspicious of pure theorists. Between 1910 and 1922, three of the five committee members were from Sweden's Uppsala University, known for its ardent passion for improving experimental techniques and measuring instruments. “The committee was dominated by Swedish physicists, known for their love of experimentation,” notes Robert Mark Friedman, a science historian in Oslo. “They considered precision measurement to be the highest goal of their science.” This was one of the reasons why Max Planck had to wait until 1919 (he was awarded the prize for 1918, which had not been awarded the previous year), and Henri Poincaré did not receive the Nobel Prize at all.

1919

In November 1919, exciting news arrived: the observation of a solar eclipse largely confirmed Einstein's theory; 1920 became the year of Einstein. By this time, Lorenz was no longer so skeptical. Along with Bohr and six other scientists who officially had the right to nominate for the Nobel Prize, he spoke out in support of Einstein, emphasizing the completeness of his theory of relativity. (Planck also wrote a letter in support of Einstein, but it was late, arriving after the deadline for nominations.) As Lorentz's letter stated, Einstein "ranks with the most outstanding physicists of all time." Bohr's letter was equally clear: "Here we are dealing with an achievement of fundamental importance."

Politics intervened. Until now, the main justification for refusing the Nobel Prize has been purely scientific: the work is entirely theoretical, not based on experiment, and does not appear to involve the discovery of new laws. After the observation of the eclipse, the explanation of the shift in the orbits of Mercury and other experimental confirmations, these objections were still voiced, but now they sounded more like a prejudice associated both with differences in cultural levels and with a prejudiced attitude towards Einstein himself. To Einstein's critics, the fact that he suddenly became a superstar, the most famous international scientist since lightning tamer Benjamin Franklin was a Parisian street idol, was more a testament to his penchant for self-promotion than to his being worthy of a Nobel Prize.

1921

For better or for worse, Einstein mania reached its apogee in 1921, and his work gained widespread support among both theorists and experimentalists. Among them was the German Planck, and among the foreigners was Eddington. Fourteen people who officially had the right to nominate candidates spoke for Einstein, far more than for any of his competitors. “Einstein, like Newton, is far superior to all his contemporaries,” Eddington wrote. Coming from a member of the Royal Society, this was the highest praise.

The committee now assigned a report on the theory of relativity to Alvar Gullstrand, professor of ophthalmology at the University of Uppsala, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine for 1911. Not being competent in either physics or the mathematical apparatus of the theory of relativity, he sharply but illiterately criticized Einstein. Gullstrand clearly intended to reject Einstein's candidacy in any way, so in his fifty-page report, for example, he argued that bending a light beam could not in fact serve as a true test of Einstein's theory. He said that Einstein's results have not been confirmed experimentally, but even if this is so, there remain other possibilities to explain this phenomenon within the framework of classical mechanics. As for the orbits of Mercury, Gullstrand stated, “without further observations it is generally not clear whether Einstein’s theory corresponds to the experiments in which the precession of its perihelion was determined.” And the effects of the special theory of relativity, in his words, “lie beyond the limits of experimental error.” As a man who had won laurels for inventing equipment for precision optical measurements, Gullstrand seemed particularly outraged by Einstein's theory that the length of a rigid measuring stick could change depending on the movement of the observer.

Einstein's lack of a Nobel Prize began to have a negative impact not only on Einstein, how much for the award itself

Although some members of the entire Academy were aware that Gullstrand's objections were naive, this obstacle was not easy to overcome. He was a respected, popular Swedish professor. He insisted both publicly and privately that the great Nobel Prize should not be awarded to a highly speculative theory that would cause inexplicable mass hysteria, the end of which could be expected very soon. Instead of finding another speaker, the Academy did something that was less (or perhaps more) a public slap in the face to Einstein: the academicians voted not to select anyone and, as an experiment, to postpone the award of the prize for 1921

The deadlocked situation threatened to become indecent. Einstein's lack of a Nobel Prize began to have a negative impact not so much on Einstein, but on the prize itself.

1922

Salvation came from theoretical physicist Karl Wilhelm Oseen of the University of Uppsala, who became a member of the Nobel Committee in 1922. Oseen was a colleague and friend of Gullstrand's, which helped him carefully deal with some of the ophthalmologist's obscure but stubbornly defended objections. But Oseen understood that this whole story with the theory of relativity had gone so far that it was better to use a different tactic. Therefore, it was he who made considerable efforts to ensure that the prize was awarded to Einstein “for the discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.”

Every part of this sentence was carefully thought out. Of course, it was not the theory of relativity that was nominated. Although some historians think so, in essence it was not Einstein’s theory of light quanta, even though the corresponding article for 1905 was mainly meant. The prize was not for any theory at all, but for the discovery of a law. The previous year's paper had discussed Einstein's "theory of the photoelectric effect," but Oseen clearly outlined a different approach to the problem, calling his paper "Einstein's Law of the Photoelectric Effect." Oseen did not dwell in detail on the theoretical aspects of Einstein's work. Instead, he talked about a law of nature proposed by Einstein and reliably confirmed by experiments, which was called fundamental. Namely, they meant mathematical formulas showing how the photoelectric effect could be explained if we assumed that light was emitted and absorbed in discrete quanta, and how this related to the frequency of light.

Oseen also proposed giving Einstein the prize that had not been awarded in 1921, allowing the Academy to use this as a basis for simultaneously awarding the 1922 prize to Niels Bohr, given that his model of the atom was based on the laws that explain the photoelectric effect. It was a smart ticket for two, ensuring that two of the greatest theorists of the time became Nobel laureates without irritating conservative academic circles. Gulstrand agreed. Arrhenius, having met Einstein in Berlin and been fascinated by him, was ready to accept the inevitable. On September 6, 1922, a vote was held at the Academy: Einstein received the prize for 1921, and Bohr, respectively, for 1922. So, Einstein won the Nobel Prize for 1921, which, according to the official wording, was awarded “for services to theoretical physics and especially for the discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.” Both here and in the letter from the Secretary of the Academy officially notifying Einstein of this, a clearly unusual explanation was added. Both documents specifically emphasized that the prize was awarded “without taking into account your theories of relativity and gravity, the importance of which will be assessed after their confirmation.” It ended up that Einstein did not receive the Nobel Prize for either the special or the general theory of relativity or for anything else except the photoelectric effect.

Einstein missed December 10 official award ceremony. After much debate about Should he be considered German or Swiss?, the award was presented to the German ambassador

The fact that it was the photoelectric effect that allowed Einstein to receive the prize seemed like a bad joke. In deducing this "law" it was based mainly on measurements made by Philip Lenard, who was now the most passionate participant in the campaign to persecute Einstein. In a 1905 paper, Einstein praised Lenard's "pioneering" work. But after the anti-Semitic rally of 1920 in Berlin, they became bitter enemies. Therefore, Lenard was doubly furious: despite his opposition, Einstein received the prize, and, worst of all, for work in the field where he, Lenard, was a pioneer. He wrote an angry letter to the Academy - the only official protest received - where he argued that Einstein misunderstood the real nature of light and, moreover, that he was a Jew flirting with the public, which was alien to the spirit of a truly German physicist.

Einstein missed the official award ceremony on December 10. At this time he traveled by train around Japan. After much debate about whether he should be considered German or Swiss, the prize was awarded to the German ambassador, although both citizenships were indicated on the documents.

The speech of the Chairman of the Arrhenius Committee, who represented Einstein, was carefully verified. “There is probably no living physicist whose name is as widely known as Albert Einstein,” he began. “His theory of relativity became the central topic of most discussions.” He then went on to say, with obvious relief, that “it has chiefly to do with epistemology and is therefore hotly debated in philosophical circles.”

That year the bonus in monetary terms was 121,572 Swedish kronor, or $32,250, which was more than ten times the average salary of a professor for the year. According to the divorce agreement from Mileva Maric, Einstein sent part of this amount directly to Zurich, placing it in a trust fund from which she and their sons were to receive income. The rest was sent to an account in America, from which she could also enjoy interest.

Ultimately, Maric used the money to buy three apartment buildings in Zurich.

Book PROVIDED published by Corpus

Names of Nobel Prize laureates in physics. According to Alfred Nobel's will, the prize is awarded to "whoever makes the most important discovery or invention" in this field.

The editors of TASS-DOSSIER have prepared material about the procedure for awarding this prize and its laureates.

Awarding the Prize and Nominating Candidates

The prize is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, located in Stockholm. Its working body is the Nobel Committee on Physics, consisting of five to six members who are elected by the Academy for three years.

Scientists from different countries have the right to nominate candidates for the prize, including members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Nobel Prize laureates in physics who have received special invitations from the committee. Candidates can be proposed from September until January 31 of the following year. Then the Nobel Committee, with the help of scientific experts, selects the most worthy candidates, and in early October the Academy selects the laureate by a majority vote.

Laureates

The first to receive the prize in 1901 was William Roentgen (Germany) for the discovery of radiation named after him. Among the most famous laureates are Joseph Thomson (Great Britain), recognized in 1906 for his studies of the passage of electricity through gases; Albert Einstein (Germany), who received the prize in 1921 for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect; Niels Bohr (Denmark), awarded in 1922 for his atomic research; John Bardeen (USA), two-time winner of the prize (1956 for research into semiconductors and the discovery of the transistor effect and 1972 for the creation of the theory of superconductivity).

To date, there are 203 people on the list of recipients (including John Bardeen, who was awarded twice). Only two women were awarded this prize: in 1903, Marie Curie shared it with her husband Pierre Curie and Antoine Henri Becquerel (for studying the phenomenon of radioactivity), and in 1963, Maria Goppert-Mayer (USA) received the award together with Eugene Wigner (USA ) and Hans Jensen (Germany) for work in the field of the structure of the atomic nucleus.

Among the laureates are 12 Soviet and Russian physicists, as well as scientists who were born and educated in the USSR and who took second citizenship. In 1958, the prize was awarded to Pavel Cherenkov, Ilya Frank and Igor Tamm for their discovery of the radiation of charged particles moving at superluminal speeds. Lev Landau became a laureate in 1962 for the theories of condensed matter and liquid helium. Since Landau was in the hospital after being seriously injured in a car accident, the prize was presented to him in Moscow by the Swedish Ambassador to the USSR.

Nikolai Basov and Alexander Prokhorov were awarded the prize in 1964 for the creation of a maser (quantum amplifier). Their work in this area was first published in 1954. In the same year, the American scientist Charles Townes, independently of them, came to similar results, and as a result, all three received the Nobel Prize.

In 1978, Pyotr Kapitsa was awarded for his discovery in low temperature physics (the scientist began working in this area in the 1930s). In 2000, Zhores Alferov became the laureate for developments in semiconductor technology (shared the award with German physicist Herbert Kremer). In 2003, Vitaly Ginzburg and Alexei Abrikosov, who took American citizenship in 1999, were awarded the prize for their fundamental work on the theory of superconductors and superfluids (the award was shared with the British-American physicist Anthony Leggett).

In 2010, the prize was awarded to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who conducted experiments with the two-dimensional material graphene. The technology for producing graphene was developed by them in 2004. Game was born in 1958 in Sochi, and in 1990 he left the USSR, subsequently receiving Dutch citizenship. Konstantin Novoselov was born in 1974 in Nizhny Tagil, in 1999 he left for the Netherlands, where he began working with Game, and was later granted British citizenship.

In 2016, the prize was awarded to British physicists working in the United States: David Thoules, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz "for their theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter."

Statistics

In 1901-2016, the prize in physics was awarded 110 times (in 1916, 1931, 1934, 1940-1942 it was not possible to find a worthy candidate). 32 times the prize was divided between two laureates and 31 times between three. The average age of the laureates is 55 years. Until now, the youngest winner of the physics prize is 25-year-old Englishman Lawrence Bragg (1915), and the oldest is 88-year-old American Raymond Davis (2002).