The+Nobel+Gene

=A Theory of Nobel Prize Winners=

It is believed by the author that there is some common thread of success among Nobel Laureates. If the essence of success among winners is understood, perhaps an upper limit or goal of scientific character can be pursued with confidence of some level of moderate success. Discussed here is a a shoot for the stars, settle for the moon approach.


 * Hypotheses**: **(1)** the character of a Nobel Laureate is universal, potentially marked by hard work and a bit of luck. **(2)** the character of a Nobel Laureate can be transfer by learning or acquisition through the proximity of a close relationship i.e. mentorship or kinship.


 * Specific Aim 1**: discover an underlying element of success of Nobel Laureates by analyzing their characters, disciplines, philosophies and eccentricities. This aim addresses hypothesis 1.
 * Specific Aim 2**: discover the ability to acquire the "Nobel Gene" of success by analyzing Laureate descendants of former winner family members. This aim addresses hypothesis 2.

=The Nobel Character (Specific Aim 1)=

What are the work ethics of key contributors to the sciences? What are their reputations like? What are their minds capable of? What odd idosyncracies distinguished them from the rest of scientists?

Lorentz []

Lord Rayleigh []

J.J. Thompson []

Rutherford []

Johannes van der Waals []

Max Planck []

Albert Einstein []

Niels Bohr []

Gustav Hertz []

Louis de Broglie []

Werner Heisenberg []

Irving Langmuir []

Erwin Schrodinger []

Paul Dirac []

1938 Nobel Prize in Physics
Fermi had an a gift for approximation. Fermi was a disciplined character. His wife has stated he woke at 5:30 and studied for two hours every morning. He studied at several universities and worked with Max Born! He developed the Fermi statistics used to describe fermions - particles restricted according to Pauli's Exclusion principle. He was an expert on neutrons and discovered the properties of slow neutrons that led to explain nuclear fission. He developed the beta-decay theory.

Wolfgang Pauli []

Max Born []

Linus Pauling [] []

1965 Nobel Prize in Physics


A point that perhaps addresses the issue of "proximity" is that after Feynman won the Nobel Prize in 1965, two of his close colleagues won the physics in later years: Han Bethe in 1967, and Murray Gell-Mann in 1969. Feynman worked with Bethe in the Manhattan Project and at Cornell. He published significant papers with Gell-Mann during his years at Cal Tech. Could the proximity offered through these relationships, the collaborations of great minds, ha ve been the spark that generated Nobel Laureates? The question of the influence of relationships is the subject of a later topic.

John Bardeen [] []

William Shockley []

Frederick Snager [] []

Significant work with rapid recombinant DNA sequencing.

2005 Nobel Prize in Physics
=The Nobel Gene (Specific Aim 2)=

As of 2011, 840 Nobel Laureates have been awarded. Of that number, 26 awardees were related to another Laureate (3%), fathers, sons, husbands and wives. Some were partners in the same laboratory. Some were descendants of a winder. How did these descendants acquire the skills that enable them too to win such an exclusive prize? Was it genetic, the so called "Nobel Gene?" Or were they influenced by their environments accessed through their family relationships? In other words, was the J. J. Thompson in the lab the same person at the dinner table? Was his son influenced by his influence?

J.J. Thomson [] George Paget Thompson []

William Bragg [] Lawrence Bragg []

Piere Cuire [] Marie Cuire [] Irene Joliot-Curie [] Frederic Joiliot []

Niels Bohr [] Aage Niels Bohr []

Manne Siegbahn [] Kai Siegbahn []

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