News from Nobelprize.org

January 30, 2009

As well as being a time of new beginnings, the start of the year is a moment for looking back, reflecting on what came to pass in the previous year. This newsletter focuses on the eight Nobel Laureates who died during 2008. Some of them will be familiar, and I daresay some you will never have heard of before. But all made significant contributions to the "benefit of mankind", and you can get to know each one a little better through Nobelprize.org.

The eight Laureates listed below had rather differing amounts of time to enjoy their Laureate status, from just a few months in the case of Leonid Hurwicz, to over 50 years for Thomas Weller and Willis Lamb. Of the 789 individuals who have so far been made Laureates, 285, or around 36%, are currently living.

As we near the end of January, and the close of the nominations for 2009, thoughts turn to who will be awarded Nobel Prizes next December. For those wanting to know more about the selection process, a succinct description of how it works in each discipline can be found on Nobelprize.org (see, for instance, the process for the Nobel Prize in Physics).

Adam Smith
Editor-in-Chief