The Road to Stockholm: Nobel Prizes, Science, and Scientists [Hardcover]

Istvďż1/2n Hargittai (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 019850912X | ISBN-13: 978-0198509127 | Publication Date: May 23, 2002

The Nobel Prize is by far the highest recognition a scientist may receive and the only one with which the general public is familiar. Its prestige has reached improbable heights. At the same time a lot of myth surrounds the Nobel Prize, and this is compounded by the fact that people tend to view scientists with some bewilderment.
This book introduces the process of selection of the laureates, discusses the ingredients for scientific discovery and for getting recognition. It reviews the decisive moments of scientific careers en route to the Nobel Prize, points to characteristic features of the laureates, the importance of mentors and venues in scientific careers and other components of success. It also covers some discoverers and discoveries for whom and for which the Nobel Prize never materialized.
Whereas there is no general recipe for receiving the Nobel Prize, there are common features of successful scientific careers. The book reveals some information about the scientists' lives and careers that may guide other scientists in increasing their chances of becoming more effective and better recognized players--although it is not expected to help anyone to receive the Nobel Prize!
For the general reader The Road to Stockholm reveals the human face of scientists and the human side of their endeavours. The Nobel Prize has served as inspiration for scientists and the general public for a hundred years: this book discusses its problems and celebrates its triumphs.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The history of the Nobel prizes for science, first awarded in 1901, is an absorbing chronicle of perseverence and triumph, rivalry and vanity. Istv�n Hargittai tells it with gossipy aplomb and more than 100 interviews with living laureates."--The Sunday Times

About the Author

Istv�n Hargittai is Professor of Chemistry of the Budapest University of Technology, and Economics and Research Professor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences at E�tv�s University. He has done research in molecular structures, lectured in 30 countries, and authored books on structural chemistry and symmetry-related topics, including Symmetry through the Eyes of a Chemist (with Magdolna Hargittai), second edition, Plenum; Symmetry: A Unifying Concept, Shelter Publ.; In Our Own Image: Personal Symmetry in Discovery (with Magdolna Hargittai), Kluwer/Plenum; and Candid Science: Conversations with Famous Chemists and Candid Science II: Conversations with Famous Biomedical Scientists, Imperial College Press. He is Editor-in-Chief of Structural Chemistry (Kluwer, New York). He has been invited to present a lecture on the topic of The Road to Stockholm on December 12, 2001, at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 370 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (May 23, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019850912X
• ISBN-13: 978-0198509127
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,882,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Istvan Hargittai, PhD, DSc (Budapest, Hungary), is the author of several acclaimed books including the six-volume Candid Science series of interviews with famous scientists; The Road to Stockholm: Nobel Prizes, Science, and Scientists; The Martians of Science: Five Physicists Who Changed the Twentieth Century; and The DNA Doctor: Candid Conversations with James D. Watson. Dr. Hargittai is professor of chemistry at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics and head of the George A Olah PhD School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. He is a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, a foreign member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and a member of the Academia Europaea in London. His work on the Teller book was assisted by a generous grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to win (or not win) the Nobel Prize, December 2, 2002

By 

Pichierri Fabio (Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Road to Stockholm: Nobel Prizes, Science, and Scientists (Hardcover)

Professor István Hargittai, a Hungarian research chemist, has written a beautiful book about the myths and stories surrounding the Nobel Prizes for physics (P), chemistry (C), and medicine or physiology (M). Starting from the somewhat vague Nobel's Will, written in 1895, he goes on to analyze various aspects of the organization of the Nobel Foundation, national politics associated to the assignment of the prize, and the common characteristics of the winners. Many nobelists have carried out scientific experiments during their childhood while others have followed the steps of a great mentor, in some case himself a winner. Surprising for us is the kind of hardships (i.e., persecutions, illnesses, poverty, etc.) that many nobelists have faced during the initial steps of their scientific careers. Perhaps these hardships acted as catalysts in persuing one's goals. Working either in a stimulating and creative environment (for example, the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge produced a lot of winners) or in a research field different from that of origin may represent additional ingredients for success. A final (12-th) chapter is dedicated to the non-winners, i.e. top level scientists that didn't receive the prize in spite of their fundamental discoveries and contributions to science. Among them we find the russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev (Periodic Table of the Elements), the botanist Michael Tsweet (discoverer of chromatography), Oswald Avery (the proposer that DNA, not proteins, is the genetic material), Leo Szilard (physicist and molecular biologist), Arnold Sommerfeld (one of the founders of quantum mechanics), the chemist G.N. Lewis (important contributor to the fields of chemical thermodynamics and the electronic structure of molecules), and Lise Meitner (co-discoverer - with Otto Hahn - of nuclear fission), just to cite some examples. An important name missing here is that of John von Neumann, the Hungarian-born mathematical physichist that, in addition to having been a child prodigy, contributed greatly in the fields of set theory, algebra, quantum mechanics, and computer science. The reader interested in the remaining Nobel Prizes (Literature, Peace, Economics) may complement this book with Burton Feldman's "The Nobel Prize : A History of Genius, Controversy and Prestige".

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "What Singular Prize is only for Three, Two or One?", November 21, 2007

By 

Russell A. Rohde MD "Owl" (West Covina, California USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Road to Stockholm P (Oxford Paperbacks) (Paperback)

"The Road to Stockholm: Nobel Prizes, Science, and Scientists", by Istvan Hargittai, Frwd. James Watson, Oxford Univ. Press, GB 2002/3, ISBN: 0-19-860785-7, PC 344 pages, includes Preface, Acknowledgments, Notes 48 pgs., Nobelists (1901-2002) 28 pgs., & Name Index 10 pgs., plus 59 glossy B & W photographs. 7 7/8" x 5".

Hargittai, Professor of Chemistry and Structural Chemist Researcher at Budapest and Eotvos Univs. is extensively published. He's personally acquainted with many Nobelists discussed in this book and was guest lecturer at Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, 2001 on this book's contents.

He discusses establishment of the Nobel Prize(s) in 1895 by Alfred Nobel (1833-'96) and details his Will, it's Statutes, categories, nomination & selection processes, and awards bestowed (medals, money, and ceremonies). The book has focused chapters: -- on biases, who wins, discoveries, adversities, incentives toward science career, venues, mentors, changing fields, making impact, life after a Nobel Prize, and who did not win and why.

Of interest are the personal reflections of scientists both upon themselves, their associates and others in allied fields over impact of discoveries to themselves and society. Hargittai writes in interesting, educational and entertaining prose, a style to maintain the reader's interest. He discloses the primal nature of basic research, of asking the appropriate question, finding its answer and publishing results in peer-reviewed publications forthwith. He describes an exciting social subculture, a world-set of the Laureates and near-Laureatres who reflect, often at great length, upon discoveries, failures, impacts and he even renders a mild flirtation with hypotheses of how to achieve a Nobel Prize. Aside from some prolixity which establishes internal consistency, there are dozens of nicely stated maxims one is wont to memorize.