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Americans again dominate in science
What makes them so special?
By Svenska CNN Writer Bitte Roth
GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN (CNN) -- Once again, the spotlight during the Nobel Prize season focuses on American researchers, who this year won a prize in every science category.
What makes the Americans so successful? Their intelligence or their public relations skill? The latter, according to a claim from a group of indignant Russians who were passed over for the physics prize.
"Neither," said Professor Carl-Olof Jacobson, who recently retired as secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which selects the laureates in physics and chemistry. "No country has invested as much money in research over the years as the U.S. It's as simple as that."
This year's science awards featured Americans in each of the four science categories. And since the first prizes were awarded in 1901, Americans have won 76 medicine prizes, 65 physics prizes, 44 chemistry prizes and 27 prizes in economics.
"It's the richest country in the world", said Professor Emeritus Carl Nordling, former chairman of the Nobel Committee for Physics. "Besides, there's a lot of them. Maybe that's enough of an explanation. They can afford research."
Profiles of the Science Laureates Alfred Nobel stated in his will that the prizes should be rewarded regardless of nationality -- selecting scientists who had served mankind best. His concern was that the selection committees would favor Scandinavians over their international colleagues.
Ironically, it has been the Americans, not the Swedes or the Norwegians, who have had more than their share of the science prizes.
Russians complain
Some do not appreciate the American dominance. This fall, in an unusual attack, Russian scientists accused the Swedish Nobel committee for physics of having fallen for a massive American campaign, awarding the physics prize to two Americans and a Frenchman. The Russians claimed they had conducted the same research back in the mid-1980s.
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The $1 million physics prize was split between Americans Steven Chu and William D. Phillips, and Claude Cohen-Tannoudji of France for developing techniques to cool and trap atoms with laser light. It may lead to more precise atomic clocks and safer navigation in space.
The Nobel committee said that it was well aware of the Russians' work, but said it was not as developed as that of the winners. A bitter Russian scientist, Professor Vladimir Minogin, blamed what he called a powerful American lobby.
"We published the first work in this area," said Minogin.
But Jacobson commented, "You can't miss quality work. In the scientific world, we use the same criteria, and the Russians' work has been analyzed."
Said Nordling: "We are looking for the pioneers -- those who turned development in a new direction."
Neither of the two Swedish professors -- interviewed separately -- gave credence to charges of American favoritism.
Winners selected from pool of hundreds
The Nobel Committee for Physics each year invites 2,000 professors from universities and research institutes around the world to nominate candidates. "The list changes every year, to give as many as possible a chance", Nordling said.
Message Board Do Americans win more than their
share of Nobel science prizes?The process usually results in about 200 to 300 names. Then the committee starts its own thorough investigation into research projects and individuals.
The laureates used to be more spread out among nations. But the World Wars changed that. Europe was drained as prominent scientists fled to the United States. Said Nordling, "I'd love to see a survey on the importance of the 1930s generous American immigration policies toward prominent German scientists."
Universities and research labs candidates
He also stressed the importance of American industry, which has financed research labs generating basic research as well.
"That's the environment the transistor was invented in, something which awarded Shockley, Bardeen and Brattain the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1956. But such ventures have stopped now. Who knows, it might show in future Nobel ceremonies," said Nordling.
But the universities are still there. Elite universities like the University of California-Berkeley, Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and California Institute of Technology. Therefore, the United States remains the Promised Land for up-and-coming scientists.
Therefore, some U.S. laureates are naturalized citizens born in other countries. Many were attracted to American universities and corporations by generous research funds. But times are changing, and other nations are putting a stronger effort into science research.
As conditions change, future award ceremonies may be dominated by other countries.
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