As we know, the Nobel Prize is the most prestigious award that is given for the highest intellectual achievement and unforgettable contribution to the world. Swedish inventor and philanthropist Alfred Nobel introduced this prize which recognizes excellence in the scientific and cultural domain. It includes physics, chemistry, medicine, economics, literature, and peace. Today we are going to talk about some Nobel Laureates who changed the entire look of this world and helped it move towards a better and advanced future.
- Marie Curie: We will start the discussion with one of the greatest of all time, Marie Curie. She did a lot more than just contribute to the field of science. She paved the path for a lot of women to follow their dreams, breaking the shackles of society. Curie was a French-Polish scientist who was born in 1867. During her career, her main focus was studying the principles of radioactivity. In 1903, she received the Nobel Prize for their research on radiation-related phenomena along with her husband Pierre and colleague Henri Becquerel. But the story does not end here. In 1911 she was awarded the Nobel Prize again for discovering radium and polonium, and this time she did not have to share the prize with anyone. Her Contribution during WWI is unforgettable. She invented X-Ray machines using her radiation knowledge, did much of the X-Rays, and also taught women how to use the machine. In an era where women were considered the less intelligent sex, Curie showed the world what they were capable of and made history.
- Albert Einstein: You can never talk about science and contribution to science without mentioning Albert Einstein. A person whose discoveries were so groundbreaking that they turned the concept of the universe inside out. People started looking at this world differently because this man found something that did not seem to exist before. He discovered the mass-energy equivalence and theory of relativity. Not just that, his discovery of the photoelectric effect, which proved that light is made of particles, nudged the development of photoelectric cells that later paved the way for countless inventions like television, motion pictures, etc.
- Alexander Fleming: A groundbreaking contribution to the medical world was the invention of Penicillium-based antibiotics. It almost sounds unbelievable that Flemming accidentally found out that a mold growing in a petri dish had killed adjacent Staphylococci bacteria. This is how he started the experiment with the mold called Penicillium notatum and later invented penicillin-based antibiotics. Humankind can not grow without medical advancement; that is why they are so essential. This invention was even more important because it stopped the diseases that had been wreaking havoc on human lives for ages. It was effective against diseases like Tuberculosis, gangrene, syphilis, and many other bacterial infections. There is no doubt that without this invention, we would not have survived this long.
- Ivan Pavlov: Another important field of science is psychology which, nowadays, is finally getting the value it deserves. Ivan Pavlov is one of the earliest psychologists who is famous for his discovery of Classical Conditioning, for which he received the Nobel Prize in the year 1904. Pavlov did this experiment with dogs. He would ring a bell before feeding the dogs, and later, the dogs would begin salivating just at the sound of the bell, even if there was no food. Soon it was proved that humans are not much different after all. We all react to various stimuli in more or less the same way. Pavlov’s research on conditioned reflexes is one of the most important discoveries in psychology and Behaviourism, which still reverberates.
We can find innumerable journal call for paper that are talking about these epoch making scientists. These Nobel Laureates are not just prize winners; they are thinkers who dedicated their whole life to the service of humankind. Their contribution to this world can not be repaid with mere awards, but this is the least the world can give them back.
