ABC presents Nobel Prize Winners in Chemistry

Abstract

Recently the Editorial board of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry decided to devote, every year, a brief article to highlighting the Nobel Prize laureate(s) in Chemistry. Readers will find two Feature Articles highlighting the winning work in 2008 and 2009 in this journal issue. The foundation for the establishment of the Nobel Prize was laid in 1895 when Alfred Nobel wrote his last will, leaving much of his wealth to the organization of the Nobel Prize. But, who was Alfred Nobel? Readers may not know that Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, and the inventor of dynamite. Some believe that he established the Prize to compensate for the “evil” that dynamite may have caused. Whether this is true or not, we do not know, because dynamite is also essential for many important “good” industrial and other applications. The reasons for launching a Nobel feature into our journal are multiple: The first, and perhaps the most significant, is that the chemistry scientific community is always proud to be able to recognize distinguished colleagues that achieve this prestigious recognition of their research activities. The achievement of this award is an example to “emulate” for scientist of all ages and serves as a stimulus for young researchers to pursue their dreams. The Nobel Prize recognition of scientists, for example chemists, clearly demonstrates the achievement of important objectives throughout continuous, meticulous, and creative day-by-day work which produced advances in basic chemistry concepts and theory along with technological application to varied fields of chemistry. The second reason is related to the fact that many recent Nobel Prizes have been awarded not to a single researcher, but rather shared by two or three scientists who did the scientific work independently, reaching a goal by tackling the problem from different angles. Nowadays, the internet and abundant sophisticated multimedia are able to keep the scientific community very close to, and up-to date on, new scientific developments. This also facilitates continuous debate and exchange of information during conferences and Alfred Nobel's laboratory in Bofors, Sweden. ®© The Nobel Foundation Explosion in the laboratory in Stockholm ®© The Nobel Foundation