Nobel Passions

October is nobel prize season.

It was 1895 when Alfred Nobel – a Swedish chemist and armaments manufacturer – signed the third and final version of his last will and testament, the basic gist of which is familiar to most inhabitants of our planet. After Nobel’s death, his heirs, outraged by the will’s overall intent, tried to contest it, but this did not stop the first Nobel Prize from being awarded in 1901.

From that time forward, the annual announcement of Nobel Prize recipients has been a cause of worldwide speculation, expectation, and consternation.