2. Alfred Nobel
• Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm, Sweden on
October 21, 1833. The men in his family history
were mostly engineers and inventors which he
was destined to soon follow.
• Alfred is famously known for his discovery of
dynamite. In fact, his father was a manufacturer
of nitroglycerine. Yet due to the amount of
accidents handling this dangerous explosive,
Alfred was determined to finding a way to make
it safer and more manageable for use.
• In Alfred’s will, he set aside a large sum of
money to set up annual awards for outstanding
intellectual achievements in several different
fields including chemistry, physics, medicine,
literature and more.
Alfred Bernhard Nobel
Swedish chemist, inventor and engineer
3. The Nobel Prize
• The Nobel Prize is regarded as the most
prestigious award given for intellectual
achievement in the world. Funding for this award
was provided by Alfred Nobel in his will “to those
who, during the preceding year, shall have
conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.”
• Nobel Prizes are established for accomplishments
in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine,
Literature and the Nobel Prize for Peace. The
Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences was first
established in 1968 and was first awarded in 1969.
• The first Nobel prizes were awarded on Dec 10th
1901 which included winners:
•
•
•
•
•
Jacobus H. van’t Hoff – Chemistry
Wilhelm C. Röntgen – Physics
Emil A. von Behring – Physiology or Medicine
Rene F. A. Sully Prudhomme – Literature
Jean H. Dunant and Frédéric Passy – Peace
4. Selection Process
• The Nobel prizes' famous
prestige is stemmed from the
serious research and
investigation involved in the
selection of the prizewinners.
Winners are selected in the
early autumn of the preceding
year. There are generally
between 100 to 250 nominees
for each prize.
• Respondents attach a
written proposal that details
the candidate’s worthiness.
Prize proposals are required
to be submitted on or before
January 31st of the award
year.
• Nominations are given out by
Nobel laureates as well as
other scholars and officials
from the prize-awarding
institutions in fields of physics,
chemistry, medicine,
economics and more.
• The final decision by the
evaluators are made by
November 15th. Prizes are
generally given only to
individuals, except for the
Peace Prize which may also be
conferred by an institution.
5. Nobel Prizes in Physics
• The first Nobel prize in physics was awarded to
Wilhelm Röntgen in “recognition of the
extraordinary services he has rendered by the
discovery of the remarkable rays subsequently
named after him” in 1901. There have been many
notable Nobel prize winners throughout the
years, as of today totaling 107 prizes. most
recently:
• 2012 – Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland for
“ground-breaking experimental methods that
enable measuring and manipulation of individual
quantum systems.”
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen,
1901 Nobel Prize winner in atomic physics, x-rays
• 2011 – Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt and
Adam G. Riess for “the discovery of the
accelerating expansion of the Universe through
observations of distant supernovae.”
6. Nobel Prizes in Physics 2013
Francois Englert and Peter W. Higgs
2013 Nobel Prize winners
• Renowned physicists Englert and Higgs earned the Nobel Prize in physics for “the
theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the
origin of mass subatomic particles” which was demonstrated by the ATLAS and CMS
experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.
• During the 1960s, both Higgs and Englert theorized the existence of the particle to help
expand and explain how matter has mass. Decades later, CERN research helped confirm
the particle’s existence.
7. Large Hadron Collider
• The Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
is the world’s largest and fastest
particle accelerator. It is the
result of 10 years of construction
from 1998-2008. The LHC was
developed at CERN in Geneva.
• Simply put, the design purpose
behind LHC was the ability to
collide particles at high energy
and therefore accommodate and
make new discoveries in physics
never before possible until now.
• In fact, several of the most
powerful physics experiments
can be hosted through the LHC. It
was constructed in a circular
shape, 17 miles in length.
Above ground and underground images of CERN’s
Large Hadron Collider
8. Higgs Boson (God Particle)
• Higgs boson or “god particle” helps
uncover and explain one of the most
important theories of science: the big bang
theory. The discovery was made at the
European Organization for Nuclear
Research also known as CERN. The term
boson refers to the type of fundamental
particle with many characteristics similar
to a photon.
• Higgs is a reference to Peter Higgs, a
physicist who alongside his colleagues
published studies in predicting the
mechanism in which could house such
particle activity.
• The Higgs is a new and crucial component
in the Standard Model of physics.
CERN’s computer rendered image of Higgs boson
particle
9. The Future of Physics
• With the discovery of the Higgs boson, the
face and future of theoretical physics has
changed significantly. Post-Higgs discoveries
like supersymmetry give greater insight into
dark matter. Probing into these theories are
given great precision thanks to the
technological power of the LHC.
• It is no secret that physics is all around us.
With great intellectual leaps in the
understanding of new physics, there are
consequently new advancements in
technology, chemistry, engineering,
biomedical sciences and much more. These
disciplines help improve our way of life and
our relationship with our environment.
10. About Us
• Founded in 2008, LabRoots brings together
networks of professionals from all fields of
science on a single platform.
• Features include usage of over 30,000,000
documents of publication metadata,
community engagement on a wide variety of
relevant topics, hundreds of up-to-date
scientific news feeds, accessibility to
thousands of science events, webinars,
conferences and much more.
• LabRoots’ goal is to connect like-minded
professionals of all scientific backgrounds
together to make new and meaningful
discoveries through collaboration and
connectivity. Visit us online today at
http://www.labroots.com
