The Road to Stockholm by Istvan Hargittai
The Nobel Prizes enjoy enormous prestige throughout the world. Every year, science is propelled into the limelight, and in October, when the prizes are announced, and December, when they are awarded at a ceremony in Stockholm, a chosen few scientists acquire celebrity status and their science receives wide coverage in the news media. First awarded in 1901, the Nobel Prize remains the only science prize widely recognized by the general public. What sort of scientists become Nobel laureates? How are they chosen? Are there features common to them, and to their prize-winning research? These sorts of questions have long intrigued Istvan Hargittai and seeking answers, he began interviewing Nobel prize-winning scientists about their careers. Some 70 laureates, and a similar number of other distinguished scientists, have been interviewed, most of them during the late 1990s, and the result is this remarkable book. Written for a general readership, "The Road to Stockholm" illuminates the nature of scientific discovery, the Nobel Prize selection process, the factors common to award-winning research, and the effects of the Nobel Prize on science itself. Here are stories of scientists who overcame adversity, eventually to win the Prize; insights into the importance of the laureate's mentor in earlier life, and into the significance of the location where prize-winning research is carried out; and a variety of responses to the question: what first turned you to science? No less fascinating are the well-publicised examples of deserving (in many eyes) scientists who were not awarded the Nobel Prize, and Professor Hargittai devotes a chapter to them. Here, then, is an absorbing account of science, scientists, and a Prize created a hundred years ago to reward those who, in the words of Alfred Nobel's Will, 'during the previous year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind'.
According to Hargittai, "Our students, our children, the general public, all of us would benefit from knowing a little more about science and how it comes about because so much in our modern life depends on it" (p xii)We think that The Road to Stockholm goes a long way toward making this goal a reality. The Chemical Educator ... an absorbing chronicle. The Sunday Times The Road to Stockholm is filled with interesting comparisons between scientists who won Nobel Prizes and those who did not, and between scientists whose lives were disrupted by Nobel fame and those who tried to carry on with business as usual after standing in the international spotlight. You won't find a universal recipe for winning science Nobel Prizes in the book, but the variety of ingredients in these success stories makes this a flavorful and interesting read. Chemical & Engineering News This volume [...] is engaging, rich with anecdote, and full of detail ... Although The the Road to Stockholm is factual and reliable, it has the flavour of a lengthy conversation with an intelligent and engaging friend. Lancet ... an interesting and important book. Chemistry International Newsmagazine
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780198509127 |
| ISBN 10 | 019850912X |
| Title | The Road to Stockholm |
| Author | Istvan Hargittai |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Year published | 2002-03-28 |
| Number of pages | 360 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |