The Nobel Prize is the most prestigious award internationally, which most of the famous scientists received. But there are some Nobel Prize snubs that we’ll be discussing.
Most famous scientists like Einstein, Marie Curie, Neils Bohr, etc. won the Nobel Prize in history. Scientists from different fields with different work won this precious award.
But there are still some of the most famous scientists whose work was really valuable to humanity but who did not receive any Nobel Prizes despite their contributions.
So, in today’s blog post, we will be discussing these Nobel Prize snubs. The scientists who deserved the award were ignored.
Starting with the history of the Nobel Prize, we will be discussing the most famous scientists who did not receive this prestigious award and will also discuss the reasons why.
Table of Contents
The History Of Nobel Prizes
In the late 1900s, there was a famous scientist named Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist, industrialist, and engineer. He was famously known for the discovery of dynamite.
Right before his death, he asked to use all of his assets to make five prizes for him, which later on famously became Nobel Prizes.
So, that is where Nobel prizes start. In 1901, Wilhelm Rontgen (a physicist) and Emil Van Behring (a physiologist) were the first to receive this prestigious international Nobel Prize award.
Since then, there have been some of the most famous scientists due to their work who got Nobel Prize snubs without any reason.
Nobel Prizes are given to people who have done something great for humanity and something most valuable.
This is the main reason why there is no Nobel Prize in mathematics, as there is nothing valuable left to discover in the field of mathematics.
Most Famous Nobel Prize Snubs in History
Despite their most valuable work and being famous for their work, many scientists did not receive any Nobel Prizes.
We will be discussing a very few of the most famous scientists that you can easily recognize or remember from the textbooks you read.
These greatest scientists include:
- Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958)
- Richard Feynman (1918–1988)
- Johann Gregor Mendel (1822–1884)
Let us discuss the contributions of all three one by one, and let us discuss why they never received a Nobel Prize despite making huge contributions to the world.
1. Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Elsin Franklin was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer. Her biographer, Maddox, called her the Dark Lady of DNA. due to her contribution to the DNA discovery.
She was also widely considered the Dark Lady in reality. She spent her entire life working on DNA and discovered some important findings about deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Let us recall her contribution to the world of chemistry and X-rays.
Rosalind Franklin played a very crucial role in the discovery of DNA structure. This is a major leap and breakthrough in the history of medicine. With the help of DNA structure, the whole concept of the medical field has changed.
Despite Franklin’s contribution to DNA discovery, she was not considered for the Nobel Prize in medicine. Watson and Wilkins were awarded this prestigious award, and Franklin’s Nobel Prize snubs.
2. Richard Feynman
Richard Philips Feynman was an American physicist, especially in theoretical physics. His major work was in quantum physics and the theory of quantum electrodynamics.
Despite his contribution to quantum physics and quantum electrodynamics, he was one of the people who got Nobel Prize snubs.
Richard Feynman made notable contributions to the development of quantum field theory. He also did notable work in quantum physics and quantum electrodynamics, as discussed earlier.
He also did work in particle physics and then proposed the Parton Model which got quite good recognition in the field of particle physics.
Despite his groundbreaking achievements in the quantum field, he never won a Nobel Prize. Yet he received other famous and prestigious awards. But his contributions never got enough to make him win a Nobel Prize.
3. Johann Gregor Mendel
Johann Gregor Mendel was a German-Czech biologist, mathematician, and meteorologist. He is widely considered the Father of Genetics for his notable work in genetics, which we will discuss later.
His nationality was Hungarian, and he spent his life studying genetics. Let us discuss his notable works and why he was also included in the Nobel Prize snub list.
Sadly, during his life, his work was never appreciated and recognized as it deserved to be. But when he died, then the world realized how valuable he was and how great his work was. But that was too late.
After his death, the world realized his greatness and appreciated it. So, he never received the Nobel Prize he deserves the most. This is a little disheartening to think about, but it is reality now.
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