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What is the Nobel Prize & Why is it a Big Deal? - Behind the News

1,253 views · Published 19 October 2018 · 3:48 · Indexed 27 September 2026

Channel: Behind the News · 2018 · Education

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Is the Nobel Prize the greatest & most prestigious award on planet earth? 

Winning an award is exciting. While an Oscar, a Grammy, a Tony, a Pulitzer or even an MTV Award is great, there's one award that a lot of people agree is the greatest of them all, because it rewards people for helping mankind.

The story of this award all starts with this guy, Alfred Nobel or, in this case, a very trustworthy lookalike. Nobel was a Swedish scientist in the 1800s whose most famous invention was the explosive, dynamite. While dynamite was handy for lots of things, like mining or clearing the way for railway lines, it was also used a lot in war.

Legend has it, that one day a newspaper accidently reported Alfred was dead - even though he wasn't. But the article about his life said he'd got rich from killing people. Alfred didn't like that, so he decided that when he died for real his massive fortune would be used to set up an annual series of prizes for those who did the most to change the world for the better.

The categories - physics, chemistry, physiology (or medicine), literature and peace. The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901. Every winner gets a gold medal and a serious chunk of money, which is now around 1.4 million Aussie dollars.

So, who's been awarded a Nobel Prize? Well, a lot of really famous people and organisations, like physicist, Albert Einstein of E=MC squared fame. Sir Alexander Fleming who discovered bacteria-killing penicillin, former South African President, Nelson Mandela, The Red Cross, activist Malala Yousafzai the youngest winner ever and physicist and chemist Marie Curie who made history by winning a prize twice for her work with radiation.

So these guys, the winners for 2018, are in pretty good company. Canadian Dr. Donna Strickland is only the third woman ever to take home the physics prize. Her amazing work with lasers, yes lasers, has been used for important things like eye surgery.

Activist Nadia Murad and surgeon Denis Mukwege, were awarded the peace prize for promoting equal rights and helping women in developing countries. And a life-changing discovery made by these two doctors, James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo, scored them a nod too. They found a way to use the power of the body's immune system to fight cancer.

While getting one of these has got to be a great feeling; these guys say it's really all about the work and getting to help out humanity along the way. 


FRANCES ARNOLD, 2018 NOBEL PRIZE LAUREATE: We want to develop the science and technology that will help us survive on our planet, thrive on our planet and share it with all the other creatures that we share it with.

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