It was October, and the streets and alleys of Stockholm were filled with a festive atmosphere.
Every time this happened, this city in the corner of the Baltic Sea would attract attention from all over the world because of the Nobel Prize list.
Even though the award was a matter for the academicians of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, most of the citizens of Stockholm were proud of this moment.
What was interesting was that "they" weren't always like this.
At that time, when patriotism swept across Europe, many Swedes had publicly complained and even criticized that a Swedish tycoon or scholar (Nobel) did not donate his inheritance to the country, nor did he give the Scandinavians any priority in winning the prize. What he left behind was not profit, but endless trouble.
Even the president of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Hans Forscher, complained that the Nobel Prize should have donated the money directly to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, instead of letting them do the thankless work of evaluating the prize. He refused to participate in the research review meetings.
Fortunately, with the unremitting efforts of Nobel's most trusted assistant, Lanner Solman, the King of Sweden finally announced the validity of the will, ending the debate surrounding the 31 million kronor.
Facts had proven that most people were short-sighted when standing at the height of history. In the era before the Internet, very few people had the opportunity to see the world outside of the Baltic Sea.
But looking back, even if they searched the entire world, it would be difficult to find a better investment than 31 million kronor.
There had never been a city that had received such an honor for an award. There had never been a Swede, not even the King or Prime Minister of Sweden, who had left such a huge and inexhaustible legacy to their country or people.
Of course, there were definitely troubles that came with it.
Especially for the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which had been watching this will for more than a century.
It was getting closer and closer to October 4th. Compared to Stockholm, which was getting more and more lively, the atmosphere in the ivory tower was getting more and more tense.
Logically speaking, the Nobel Prize list should have been ready three days ago.
But this time, the members of the Chemistry Prize Committee did not reach a consensus.
Even though there had been a few times in history when the Nobel Committee could not reach a consensus, causing the announcement to be delayed until mid-October, there was no reason for this year's Nobel Prize to happen.
At the urging of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the committee for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry held another meeting.
There were no changes in the members of the Chemistry Prize Committee compared to the previous two years. The only changes were that Snogerup Linse had stepped down from the chair to the second line, and 15-year member Claes Gustafasson had been promoted to the chair.
As for the other three academicians, they were Peter Brzezinski, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Stockholm, Olof Ramstrom, a professor of organic chemistry at the Royal Swedish Institute of Technology, and Johan Aqvist, a professor in the field of molecular biology and computational chemistry.
At the meeting, Ms. Linse, who was over fifty years old, glanced sharply at her peers and spoke in a domineering tone.
"We're the only ones left. The Royal Academy of Sciences hopes that we can make a decision as soon as possible, at least before the 4th."
In fact, they should have made a decision a month ago.
The chairman, Professor Klass, nodded.
"Like Academician Linse said, we have to make a decision. This will be the last meeting. I hope that if you have any opinions, don't keep them to yourself."
The other three committee members looked at each other and nodded.
This would be the last time they would discuss this issue.
This would also be the last review meeting of the year …
…
Objectively speaking, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry judges' way of thinking was indeed confusing. The cryogenic electron microscopy in 2017 was fine, but the molecular machine in 2016 was a completely novel concept. Even though the results were good enough, no one knew how long it would take for it to be practical.
For example, the most confusing thing was the lithium battery. Every year, when people predicted the Nobel Prize, people would put the name of the legendary "Mr. Good Enough" in the name of lithium battery expert. However, after so long, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences seemed to have forgotten his name.
In addition to the theoretical model of the electrochemical interface structure, Professor Franz-Ulrich Hartl from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry and Professor Arthur Horich from Yale University were also worthy of consideration for their research on the role of protein folding in cells.
Before this, these two big names had already won the Lasker Prize, which was the Nobel Prize's weathervane. Almost 50% of the winners of the Lasker Prize eventually won the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Chemistry.
Other than that, there was also the rapidly developing field of optogenetics, motor proteins, etc.
Facts had proven that in the field of biology, it was easier for chemists to produce beautiful results.
At first glance, this big pit of living creatures seemed to be quite attractive.
Of course, the premise was that the Nobel Prize was the goal …
After the initial exchange of opinions, the meeting continued to discuss the final nomination.
Unsurprisingly, the focus of the debate was still on the "theoretical model of the electrochemical interface structure".
The atmosphere of the debate became more and more intense …
Olof: "This year, no matter what, we should consider real chemistry results. If Mr. Nobel knows that we changed his favorite chemistry award into a biology award, I'm sure he won't be happy in heaven."
Peter said, "But he's only 24 years old! He's even younger than Lawrence Bragg! Can't we wait until his 25th birthday before we consider his name? "
Olof asked, "Other than him, are there any other outstanding results in the field of theoretical chemistry?"
Peter was slightly stunned. After frowning and thinking for a moment, he said in a hesitant tone, "Molecular dynamics research? Professor Robert Karl from Princeton is also outstanding in this field. "
Olof shook his head and said, "I admit that his work is outstanding, but it's far from outstanding."
Peter said, "Then give it to the protein folding in cells! Why do we have to consider theoretical chemistry? "
Ms. Linse nodded and said, "I agree with Peter."
In 2015, she was the one who advocated for the Nobel Prize to be awarded to DNA repair.
But now, her opinion was the same. She thought that the award should be given to biochemistry.
Olof said, "If we don't have to stick to the direction of research, then why do we have to stick to the age of the winner? Nobel didn't say in his will that he had to give his inheritance to a fifty-year-old man. "
John, who had been quiet all this time, suddenly said, "I think Academician Olof has a point. Not only is the electrochemical interface structure an achievement in the field of electrochemistry and theoretical chemistry, but it's also a groundbreaking contribution to the field of computational chemistry."
He was in the field of computational chemistry, so no one in the room knew better than him how outstanding the theoretical model was.
However, this was the biggest disagreement in the Nobel Prize selection.
With the development of science, the boundaries between disciplines became more and more blurred, but the distance between research directions became more and more distant. It was difficult for scholars outside of the field to understand research results from different directions, let alone compare them.
The conference table seemed to have entered a "free-for-all".
Academician Claes, the chairman, looked at Olof and Peter, who were arguing with each other. He pondered for a moment and clapped his hands, interrupting the argument on the conference table.
"Okay, gentlemen … and ladies, there's no point in continuing to argue. Let's use the most democratic, fairest, and traditional method to make the final decision."
The people in the room looked at each other.
Even though they didn't reach a consensus, they didn't have any objections to Academician Claes' argument.
When they couldn't reach a consensus, there was no better way to solve the problem than by voting.
Seeing that the other committee members didn't object, Academician Claes looked at his assistant.
The assistant read the look in his eyes and walked forward. He placed a piece of A4 paper on everyone's table.
He picked up a pen and wrote a word on the paper. Ms. Linse raised her eyebrows and looked at Claes as she said, "You already prepared?"
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