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Millennium Technology Prize Awarded to LED Creator

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the seeing-the-award-by-led-lined-light dept.

mapkinase writes "This year's Millennium Technology Prize was awarded to Prof. Nakamura of Japan, for invention of white, blue and green light emitting diodes." From the article: "His other inventions such as blue LEDs are used in flat-screen displays, while blue lasers are already being exploited in the next generation of DVD player. 'Professor Nakamura's technological innovations in the field of semiconductor materials and devices are groundbreaking,' said Jaakko Ihamuotila, chairman of the Millennium Prize Foundation. The Millennium Technology Prize is the world's largest technology award, equivalent to the Nobel Prizes for science. It recognizes technological developments that have a positive impact on quality of life and sustainable development."

2 of 64 comments (clear)

  1. Nobel equivalent? I don't think so. by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why is it that every large prize (Fields medal, Millenium Prize etc.) is described as being equivalent to the Nobel Prize? When in fact it isn't?

    The Nobel Prize is occasionally awarded to technologists, or inventions by scientists that were not new science but rather applications. Jack Kilby's Nobel is a perfect example. The Millenium Technology Prize does not carry anything like the history or even the sensibility of the Nobel. For example how is the invention of HTML such a big deal? Compared to the work of a technologist like Norman Borlaug it is laughable.

    There isn't a Nobel for mathematics - one could make a pretty good case there should have been. But there is no 'equivalent' to the Nobel.

    1. Re:Nobel equivalent? I don't think so. by Dahamma · · Score: 2, Insightful

      For example how is the invention of HTML such a big deal?

      Thanks, you have neatly summed up the term "academic arrogance". I'm not going to argue that HTML is a particularly complex invention, but the impact of this simple idea is probably larger then the research of 95% of the Nobel prizes awarded in the last few decades. Oh no, TBL doesn't have a PhD, and sometimes worked in industry! Despite this, HTTP (even simpler than HTML, yet even more ubiquitous) and HTML evolved over years of his research and development...

      Would it be too blatantly obvious to mention it enabled the publishing of your comment in the first place?