Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded

An anonymous reader writes "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2005 has been jointly awarded to Robert H. Grubbs (California Institute of Technology), Richard R. Schrock (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and Yves Chauvin (Institut Français du Pétrole) for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis." Advanced [PDF] and supplementary [PDF] information is also available from the Nobel Prize site.

Comments

Re:Embarassed of a Nobel prize?

[DeeSnider]

That article was kind of sad to me. The guy seemed still in grief from his wife's death, and annoyed that 30 years after the fact tons of reporters started knocking on his door practically unannounced. Can't say I blame him. I wouldn't want that kind of sudden publicity now, much less at 74 for something I did half my life ago.

Re:dupe

[MagikSlinger]

for [frak]'s sake, do we have to read this twice? it was dull the first time round!

<sarcasm style="dripping">
I'm sorry today's omelette wasn't to your taste. Maybe tomorrow they'll talk about Halo and Doom 3 instead! That'd be more interesting, right?
</sarcasm>

Not meant to be a lifetime achievement award

[200_success]

Actually, according to Alfred Nobel's will and the statutes of the Nobel Foundation, the prizes are meant to be awarded rather promptly:

The interest... shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind.

Granted, the passage of time is often necessary for the relative importance of a work to become apparent, since bold new ideas tend to be controversial and cannot be appreciated without hindsight.

Heros

[Anonymous Coward]

In the end, the work these people do will mean much more than who put a puck in a net, a ball in a basket, or a jaunty tune in the public's ear.

If mankind has any sort of saviour these days, it's these sort of men: scientists who give us the tools to cure blindness, disease, hunger, and poverty. I'd probably be dead today without technology; the survival rate for near-blind kids was pretty grim just a few centuries ago. Today, thanks to powerful eyeglasses, and later on, laser eye surgury, I've got a normal life.

It's nice to see that these scientists are finally getting some recognition for the great work they do. I wish more scientists got more recognition, everyday, for the contributions to our collective knowledge and future happiness that they quietly make they make on a daily basis, despite a public who is apathetic or hostile to their efforts.

To all the scientists out there on slashdot, thanks, and keep up the good work!
--
AC

Re:Fuel?

[jimbolauski]

I doubt even gasoline would live up to those standards the energy to pump it out of the ground transport it to a refinary, transport to the gas station and pump it into your car. The more pertitant question would be can it be done cheaply enough to cost less than gas and the awnser is no. Synthic oil costs more than regular because it costs more to produce.