Alfred Nobel's Last Will

I subscribed to www.nobelprize.org's free monthly newsletter and I've been receiving a lot of treats!

You see when I was studying my bachelor's in biochemistry in DLSU-Manila, we have been bombarded by posters and by our professors about Nobel laureates in chemistry. Being a naivete at that time, my brain was absorbing all the amazing and wonderful moments happening in my surroundings. I was drawn to read these posters framed along our building's hallway and outside the chemistry department. I remember clearly that there was this poster of Marie Curie hanging and it said on the poster in italicised font: Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood. And it stuck with me ever since.

I was fascinated with great achievements in the field of science, It made me ask questions such as, 'how were these scientists able to do what they've done?'; or 'what pushed them to do it?'; another one was 'will I ever contribute something great to mankind in my lifetime?'

Apparently after seven years in grad school, I don't think I'll be able to achieve what the Nobel Laureates have done, Hahaha!Well, perhaps NOT yet. The oldest woman who received a Nobel prize was 88 years old. I still have 59 years to prove myself! Haha!

So, let me share here on my blog what I've read today in the March monthly:

MONTHLY MARCH 2015 Linda Buck. Six Nobel Women in Focus Linda Buck - Discovered How Our Sense of Smell Works Linda Buck's parents urged her to think independently, to be critical of her own ideas and to do something worthwhile with her life. By chance, she read an article about odor detection. The basic principles for recognizing and remembering about 10,000 different odors were not understood. This fascinated Linda Buck, who tried to determine how odorants are initially detected in the nose. Together with co-Laureate Richard Axel, she clarified how our olfactory system works. Linda Buck is one of eleven female Medicine Laureates.  Short video documentary about the 2004 Medicine Laureates Maria Goeppert Mayer. Maria Goeppert Mayer Made the First Advanced Model of Nuclear Structure Maria Goeppert Mayer was determined to become the seventh professor in her family. She started at the university - yet, at that time it was not trivially easy for a woman to do so. She was attracted to physics, and later began researching how atomic nuclei are built up, including the so-called "magic numbers" that had long puzzled scientists. After only a year, in 1949, she found the solution! Maria Goeppert Mayer is one of two women awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.  More about Maria Goeppert Mayer's work Irène Joliot-Curie Discovered Artificial Radioactivity Daughter to Nobel Laureates Marie and Pierre Curie, she became involved in her mother's work at an early age, exposing herself to large doses of radiation. Either alone or in collaboration with her husband, Frédéric Joliot, she did important work on natural and artificial radioactivity. They were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize, an honor Marie Curie never witnessed, as she died of leukemia in 1934. Irène Joliot-Curie is one of four women awarded the Chemistry Prize.  Watch Irène Joliot-Curie's photo gallery Irène Joliot-Curie. Alice Munro. Alice Munro Depicts Difficult Relationships By the time she was eleven, Alice Munro was a reader. She also wrote poetry, and made up stories in her mind on her way home from school, stories which she later wrote down. Alice Munro portrays the everyday world. The flat Canadian agricultural landscape, with its broad rivers and seemingly bland small towns, is where most of her short stories unfold. But the serenity and simplicity are deceptive in every way. Alice Munro is the most recently awarded of the 13 female Literature Laureates.  Read Alice Munro's novel In Sight of the Lake Malala Yousafzai Works for Children's Right to Education Young Malala Yousafzai always had a thirst for education. She loved learning and discovering new things. But in 2012, her world changed into a place of terrorism, and girls were stopped from going to school. Malala Yousafzai raised her voice in protest and was shot, but survived. Sixteen women have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize during the years. Malala Yousafzai is the most recent Laureate, and the youngest ever, only 17 years. She was awarded for her struggle against the suppression of children and for their right to education.  Listen to Malala Yousafzai's Nobel Lecture Malala Yousafzai Elinor Ostrom. Elinor Ostrom Studied the Management of Common Property Elinor Ostrom is the first and only woman awarded a Prize in Economic Sciences. She grew up during the depression, being a poor kid in a rich kid's school. Despite a lack of support from home, she went to college. Although the university discouraged her from studying political science, she earned a Ph.D. in the field. She challenged the conventional wisdom by demonstrating how local property can be successfully managed by local commons without any regulation by central authorities or privatization.  Read more about her life Monthly Quiz Oldest Awarded Woman? The average age when awarded is 57 for the female Nobel Laureates in all prize categories. Do you know who was oldest when awarded the Nobel Prize? Make a guess and click to submit your answer.  Doris Lessing, 2007 Literature Prize  Barbara McClintock, 1983 Medicine Prize  Mother Teresa, 1979 Nobel Peace Prize Follow us:  Twitter Facebook Google+ Youtube This e-mail was sent to you using the Nobelprize.org distribution service: We maintain a strict policy for the Nobelprize.org Monthly. When you sign up, you can be assured that your e-mail address will not be sold, given or traded to any third party.  Read this on the web  Contact the Nobelprize.org team  Unsubscribe All content copyright © Nobel Media AB 2015  Read the copyright information  Read the legal notice (pdf)

 image from nobelprize.org

WOMEN OF THE NOBEL PRIZE!!! 

Which eventually led me to explore more of the website and here's what I found:

Alfred Nobel's Will

On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his third and last will at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris. When it was opened and read after his death, the will caused a lot of controversy both in Sweden and internationally, as Nobel had left much of his wealth for the establishment of a prize. His family opposed the establishment of the Nobel Prize, and the prize awarders he named refused to do what he had requested in his will. It was five years before the first Nobel Prize could be awarded in 1901.

The Establishment of the Nobel Prize

In this excerpt of the will, Alfred Nobel dictates that his entire remaining estate should be used to endow "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind."

"The whole of my remaining realizable estate shall be dealt with in the following way: the capital, invested in safe securities by my executors, shall constitute a fund, the interest on which shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind. The said interest shall be divided into five equal parts, which shall be apportioned as follows: one part to the person who shall have made the most important discovery or invention within the field of physics; one part to the person who shall have made the most important chemical discovery or improvement; one part to the person who shall have made the most important discovery within the domain of physiology or medicine; one part to the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction; and one part to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses. The prizes for physics and chemistry shall be awarded by the Swedish Academy of Sciences; that for physiology or medical works by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm; that for literature by the Academy in Stockholm, and that for champions of peace by a committee of five persons to be elected by the Norwegian Storting. It is my express wish that in awarding the prizes no consideration be given to the nationality of the candidates, but that the most worthy shall receive the prize, whether he be Scandinavian or not."

text and images from nobelprize.org

This is my first time to see the last will of Alfred Nobel and how he stated that his "whole remaining realizable estate" be invested and constitute a fund that will give prizes to people who have contributed greatest to mankind. He worded his last will beautifully. I at awe. I wish I can also write with coherence and flow this way, haha!

Well, that's my morning dose of inspiration. Time to work! Time to work on my way of becoming a Nobel Laureate! (char!!!)  :)