Top 10 Famous Nobel Prize Winners of all time

Top 10 Famous Nobel Prize Winners

Top 10 Famous Nobel Prize Winners of all time

Nobel prize winners are undoubtedly a gift to mankind. They are perhaps some most remarkable specimens of humanity that live or have lived among us. With their fascinating contribution to make this world a better place, they have remained revered timelessly. Here is a list of Top 10 Famous Nobel Prize Winners of all time and their accomplishments.

Top 10 Famous Nobel Prize Winners of all time

10. Watson, Crick and Wilkins

Francis Crick and James Watson were awarded for the discovery that DNA is shaped like a double helix in 1962. Wilkins shared the prize since he had first collected evidences. He did it through the handy technique of X-ray crystallography to map the shape of the DNA molecule. The prize was however rather controversial since Rosalind Franklin, a biophysicist, did not receive the award. She, in the draft of her paper had already informed of the helical form way before Watson or Crick did. In fact, they received the award four years after she died.

9. Martin Luther King Jr.

The American civil rights activist was actually the youngest person recognized by the Nobel foundation when he won the Peace Prize in 1964. It came at the age of 35, for his work to end racial discrimination through entirely non-violent means. Even after his death in 1968 King’s legacy lived on smoothly, and his image is still used today as a symbol by human rights groups all around the world, and we show our respect by including him in the list of Top 10 Famous Nobel Prize Winners of all time.

8. Sir Alexander Fleming and Co.

Sir Alexander Fleming along with Ernst Chain and Sir Howard Rorey received the prestigious Nobel Prize in 1945. He won the award in Physiology or Medicine for his remarkable discovery of Penicillin, the World’s first antibiotic. It may have happened rather accidentally (as stories suggest) though. On the contrary, the accident had happened while he happened to be away on a vacation in August. In September, when he returned to his laboratory, he discovered that a stack of Petri Dishes that contained Bacteria had developed Fungus. Because it did that, the Bacteria consequently had to die. The rest is history, but much as this was an accident sure was a breakthrough discovery in the history of Medicine. It makes him a valued addition in the list of Top 10 Famous Nobel Prize Winners of all time.

7. Jean Paul Sartre

Jean Paul Sartre was a remarkable figure of French Philosophy in the 20th century. Studies of Marxism and existentialism have had several notable contributions by him. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964. But he refused to accept it since he was not in favour of being one sided in the East vs. West cultural struggle. The award was clearly from a Western Cultural institution. Sartre along with Albert Camus popularized the existentialist movement that focused chiefly on experiences of life than on moral or universal teachings and hence obligations. His treatise “Being and Nothingness” is sure a historic contribution to the literature of existentialism, and undoubtedly one of the most remarkable ones of the Top 10 Famous Nobel Prize Winners of all time.

6. Hermann Muller

The American won the same prize as Fleming just a year later, in 1946. It was for his discovery of the mutating effects of X-ray radiation. His research and consistent argument against nuclear war made him a figure of great political significance in later years. Nuclear weapons became an increasingly controversial subject. Muller investigated the effects of X ray on organisms through the 1920’s and in 1926. He had then worked tirelessly to extensively prove the grave dangers due to radiation exposure had on organisms. It was only to be later recognized by the Nobel Committee.

5. Werner Heisenberg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCknp9cf6HQ

Heisenberg received the physics prize back in 1932 for discovering the underlying principles of quantum mechanics. They are the rules that govern the behavior of subatomic particles. Quantum mechanics completely changed our perception of reality. The so-called “uncertainty principle” follows from that; it states that it is therefore impossible to know with perfect accuracy both a particle’s position and its velocity.

4. Marie Curie

The leading light in a family that between them amassed a remarkable number of five Nobel Prizes in the fields of Chemistry and Physics. She became the very first woman to win a Nobel Prize in 1903 when she was recognized, along with her husband Pierre and Antoine Henri Becquerel. The award came through the Physics award for their research into radiation. She later became the first person to receive two Nobel Prizes again when she was given the Chemistry Prize in 1911 for her discovery of radium and polonium, and also for her further research into radium. She is truly deserving candidate to be among the Top 10 Famous Nobel Prize Winners of all time.

3. Mother Teresa

Another revolutionary figure whose tireless efforts had the impact upon the lives of many. The Roman Catholic nun, Mother Teresa was of Albanian ethnicity but later Indian nationality. She founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta back in 1950. She spent 45 years from then serving the poor, sick, orphaned and the dying. In 1997, when she died, there were already many number of 610 missions in 123 countries. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for being a soul that served so many of the other souls. Therefore, after her death, she was beautified by Pope John Paul II himself and was made a saint. Laurels to the Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, great soul indeed among the Top 10 Famous Nobel Prize Winners of all time.

2. Albert Einstein

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyK5SG9rwWI

Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize in Physics in the year 1921 for discovering the cause of the “photoelectric effect.” This was a phenomenon in which atoms, when bombarded with light, emitted electrons. In 1905, Einstein argued that light was divided into discrete packets. First of all, he popularly theorized that, when these light packets struck atoms, electrons in those atoms absorbed them due to the collision. Then, with the extra energy, wrested free of the atoms that had bounded them. Such genius therefore deserves a place among the Top 10 Famous Nobel Prize Winners of all time.

1. The Red Cross

The International Committee of the Red Cross has actually won the most Nobel Prizes of any one entity or person. It won Peace Prizes back in 1917 and 1944 for its work during the First and Second World Wars. It also won a third Peace Prize in 1963, along with the League of Red Cross Societies, thus marking the 100th anniversary of its founding. Meanwhile, during the world wars, the Red Cross visited and also monitored the POW camps of all warring parties. They organized relief assistance for civilian populations.

All their efforts and discoveries are today so ingrained in our lifestyles. We hardly ever give a thought to how a World without them would be. We cannot wonder of  a world without the atoms, particles and penicillin. And better still, a world without peace and those to serve humanity. Such a World would indeed be savage.

Top 10 Famous Nobel Prize Winners of all time

10. Watson, Crick and Wilkins

9. Martin Luther King Jr.

8. Sir Alexander Fleming and Co.

7. Jean Paul Sartre

6. Hermann Muller

5. Werner Heisenberg

4. Marie Curie

3. Mother Teresa

2. Albert Einstein

1. The Red Cross

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