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• Letter from Albert Einstein to Evert Fornäs
  In a 1954 letter Albert Einstein replies to Evert Fornäs, a teacher at a Swedish folk high school, who had written Einstein about his general theory of relativity and the limitations of science based on mathematics. Einstein believes that in principle the laws of nature can be described in mathematical terms, but that the limitations of human intelligence makes it impossible to describe even elementary rules of psychology on the basis of physics and chemistry. This letter was donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by the Fornäs family.
• Greeting
  When Kailash Satyarthi visited the Nobel Prize Museum in December 2014 and donated a costume, he also handed over a sheet of paper with a message: I am TODAY You are TODAY Let us march from apathy to compassion TOGETHER. From here and NOW.
• Khadi
  Kailash Satyarthi wore this garment to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo in 2014. It is a khadi kurta, a traditional shirt of hand-spun and hand-woven cotton fabric. Khadi was also the name of a movement that the Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi began in the 1920s and which campaigned for domestically-produced goods and reduced imports. When Kailash Satyarthi visited the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm a few days after the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo, he donated his khadi to the museum.
• Light emitting diode (LED)
  This diode is an early version of the blue-light-emitting diode (LED) developed by Isamu Akasaki in 1978. It is a MIS (metal-insulator-semiconductor) LED and was the brightest until then. In the 1980s, working with Hiroshi Amano, Akasaki did further research on gallium nitride crystals, which eventually led to blue diodes that could be combined with red and green ones to make white light. Isamu Akasaki donated the LED to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2014.
• Umbrella
  For Mario Molina, this umbrella symbolised both his old school and the fragile ozone layer, to which he devoted his research. When Molina was 11 years old, his parents sent him to the Institut auf dem Rosenberg boarding school in St. Gallen, Switzerland. It was there he developed his interest in chemistry and mathematics. Many years later, Molina was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research on the atmosphere’s ozone layer. His Nobel Prize diploma bears the image of an umbrella; a symbol for the way the ozone layer protects us from harmful ultraviolet radiation. When Molina later visited his old boarding school, this umbrella was presented to him as a gift. Mario Molina donated the umbrella to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2014.
• Dress
  For women Nobel Prize laureates, the choice of attire for the Nobel Prize banquet is more complicated than for men. Men wear tailcoats, while women wear long evening dresses that can be in a variety of colours and designs. Elizabeth Blackburn, a 2009 laureate in medicine, had only a black dress and wanted to wear another colour to the banquet. The day before she went to the Nobel Week in Stockholm, she found this dress in a small shop in Paris. She wore her black dress to the award ceremony and changed into this red dress for the banquet. The dress was donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by Elizabeth Blackburn in 2009.
• Photograph
  Patrick Modiano often draws the inspiration for his books from interviews, old newspaper cuttings, and his own notes. For many years, he also had this photograph on his desk, which gave him inspiration for his writing. It was taken by photographer Willy Ronis and is entitled The Caretaker’s Cat. Patrick Modiano donated the photograph to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2014.
• Paper with measurement data
  For William E. Moerner, a paper with measurement data mark an important step in the development of microscopes capable of showing levels of detail that had previously been impossible. When an electron shifts to a lower energy level, light is emitted. When it shifts to a higher energy level, light is absorbed. The wavelengths of the light emitted differ for each element. In 1989, Moerner succeeded in measuring the light-absorption for a single molecule. The curves on the paper show which wavelengths were absorbed. William E. Moerner donated the graph to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2014.
• Book "The Quantum Theory of Light"
  When Stefan Hell read a section in this book, it opened up a new way of thinking. For many years, he had pondered the possibility of circumventing the theoretical boundary that limited the size of objects visible through a microscope. His idea met scepticism in Germany, so he left for Turku, Finland. While in Turku, he read this book about quantum optics. Reading about stimulated emission, the basis of laser technology, he had a new idea. This led to the development of a new form of microscopy that gave more detailed images than had previously been thought possible. Stefan Hell donated the book to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2014.
• LED lamp
  Even after completing his Nobel Prize-awarded work on blue-light-emitting diodes (LEDs), Shuji Nakamura has continued to research this field. This LED lamp is an example of a later generation of LED lamps that Nakamura has helped to develop. Shuji Nakamura donated the LED lamp to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2014.
• Graphite
  Graphite, one of the forms in which pure carbon occurs, has played a part in many vital experiments. Together with his mentor, Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano worked doggedly to produce extremely pure crystals of gallium nitride. He used these pieces of graphite as a base and applied a layer of sapphire, followed by layers of gallium nitride. Hiroshi Amano donated the graphite to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2014.
• Toy rat with electrodes
  Using very thin electrodes to measure nerve impulses in the cells of rats' brains May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser succeeded in mapping the brain’s navigation system. May-Britt Moser och Edvard Moser donated the electrodes and the toy rat to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2014.
• Cage
  May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser explored how rats navigate by letting them move around in this box. By registering a rat’s position and the impulses in different cells in its brain, they succeeded in mapping the brain’s navigation system. May-Britt Moser och Edvard Moser donated the box to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2014.
• Laboratory equipment
  May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser used this electronic equipment to simultaneously register a rat’s position and the nerve impulses in the cells of the rat’s brain. The experiments aimed to understand how humans and animals find their way. May-Britt Moser och Edvard Moser donated the laboratory equipment to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2014.
• Scarf
  This shawl was worn by Malala Yousafzai on her 16th birthday on 12 July 2013, when she held a speech at the UN Headquarters in New York. Powerfully and persuasively, she conveyed her message – that all children have the right to schooling and education. Books and pencils are the mightiest weapons in the fight against poverty and terrorism. Even as an eleven-year-old, Malala Yousafzai was campaigning for girls' right to education. When two men affiliated with the Taliban regime tried to kill her in 2012, her fight became internationally famous. Malala Yousafzai donated the shawl to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2014.
• Blouse
  Rigoberta Menchú Tum has received many traditional blouses, “huipil” or “güipil”, as gifts on her visits to different parts of her home country, Guatemala. Menchú Tum has fought for the rights of indigenous people in her country. They belong to the Mayan people, who speak different languages and dialects. Their blouses vary from region to region in Guatemala. This blouse is from the Maya Ixil people in the Ixil region, next to Uspantán, where Rigoberta Menchú Tum was born and grew up. She herself is Maya Quiché. Rigoberta Menchú Tum donated the blouse to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2014.
• Computer output
  These computer printouts show data and calculations behind a 1981 pioneering study on the rise and fall of share prices by Robert Shiller. In contrast to the dominating idea at the time, he showed that stock prices fluctuated much more than corporate dividends. Shiller’s conclusion was that the market is inefficient. Robert Shiller donated the computer output to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2014.
• Apparatus
  These metal boxes contain electronics and have been part of the equipment in Keffer Hartline's laboratory at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Hartline studied how the signals from photoreceptor cells are processed in networks of neurons. The electronics in the boxes were used to amplify the electrical signals from the neurons. The devices were built by Ted MacNichol, who was Hartline's first graduate student. When the devices were no longer used in the laboratory, Hartline took them home so his sons could use them in school projects. The apparatus was donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by Keffer Hartline's family in 2014.
• Jigsaw puzzle
  Hugo Theorell made this puzzle at the age of 15 out of a painting by Swedish artist Carl Larsson. At school, Theorell was very interested in woodwork and crafts. Using a jigsaw of his own design, he became skilled at making jigsaw puzzles. By selling them, Theorell paid for violin lessons at home in Linköping and, later, trips to Stockholm for more lessons and other studies. He was a talented violinist, but an even better chemist, receiving the 1955 Medicine Prize for his work on enzymes. The puzzle was donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by Hugo Theorell’s family in 2014.
• Letter from Henry Moseley to George de Hevesy
  This letter was written in 1914 by the young physicist Henry Moseley to George de Hevesy, who many years later would be awarded the 1943 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Moseley talks about his investigations of various elements and asks for help in obtaining samples of various elements. Moseley used X-ray diffraction to study the spectra of different elements and found a relationship between the wavelengths of X-rays and the element's atomic number. This allowed the periodic table to be revised and supplemented. Moseley's life came to a tragic end when he was killed in the First World War in August 1915. Could his discoveries have resulted in a Nobel Prize? Yes, probably. Svante Arrhenius nominated him for the Nobel Prize in both Physics and Chemistry in 1915. In presenting a later Nobel Prize in a related field, the 1924 physics prize to Manne Siegbahn, Nobel Committee Chairman Allvar Gullstrand said: "Moseley fell at the Dardanelles before he could be awarded the prize... ". Gullstrand said that Moseley's work, however, had drawn the committee's attention to Charles Barkla, who was awarded the 1918 physics prize for his work on the X-ray spectra of atoms. The letter was presented to the Nobel Prize Museum by the Hevesy family in 2000.
• Soldbok
  En soldbok är en militär lönebok och identitetshandling. Denna soldbok har tillhört Werner Forssmann, som vid andra världskrigets utbrott 1939 blev militärläkare i tyska krigsmakten. Han avancerade så småningom till majors grad. Forssmann hade blivit medlem i nazistpartiet 1932 och förblev medlem till 1945. Vid krigsslutet hamnade han i ett läger för krigsfångar. Efter sin frigivning arbetade han som skogsarbetare och sedan som distriktsläkare. Soldboken donerades till Nobelprismuseet av Werner Forssmanns efterlevande 2014.
• Antagningsbevis
  Hösten 1922 fick den 18-årige Werner Forssmann besked om att han antagits till läkarutbildningen vid Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Berlin (numera Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin). Antagningsbeviset är skrivet på latin och undertecknat av universitetets rektor Walter Nernst, Nobelpristagare i kemi 1920. Werner Forssmann skulle många år senare, 1956, tilldelas Nobelpriset i fysiologi eller medicin för sina pionjärinsatser inom hjärtmedicin. Antagningsbeviset donerades till Nobelprismuseet av Werner Forssmanns efterlevande 2014.
• Bläckhus
  Werner Forssmann fick någon gång under 1930-talet detta bläckhus av en japansk läkare. Enligt hans dotter var gåvan mycket viktig för honom, annars hade han inte ansträngt sig för att bevara bläckhuset genom de turbulenta åren under andra världskriget. Bläckhuset donerades till Nobelprismuseet av Werners Forssmanns efterlevande 2014.
• T-shirt
  T-tröjan visar förstasidan av tidningen San Francisco Examiner den 9 oktober 1989, dagen efter tillkännagivandet av att Michael Bishop tillsammans med Harold Varmus tilldelats Nobelpriset i fysiologi eller medicin. Nyheten om Nobelpriset till de två forskarna vid University of California San Francisco var uppenbarligen en viktig nyhet. Av utrymmet att döma dock inte lika viktig som segrarna för San Francisco Giants och Oakland Athletics i det pågående slutspelet i Major League Baseball. Michael Bishop donerade tröjan till Nobelprismuseet 2014.
• Book by Tomas Tranströmer
  Boken bakom omslaget innehåller dikter av Tomas Tranströmer och användes av Peter Englund under arbetet med Nobelpriset i litteratur 2011. Det halvt borttagna bokomslaget berättar att arbetet med att välja Nobelpristagare är strikt sekretessbelagt. Englund använde bokomslaget för att dölja vad han läste i olika sammanhang. Han var vid tiden Svenska Akademiens ständiga sekreterare och skulle därmed tillkännage beslutet för media. Strax efter tillkännagivandet kunde Englund riva bort omslaget från boken som han bar på sig vid tillfället. I boken finns en lapp med telefonnumret till Tranströmers hem, anteckningar Englund gjorde när han förberedde sig för att berätta om beslutet, samt en lapp med de exakta formuleringar han läste upp vid tillkännagivandet. Boken donerades till Nobelprismuseet av Peter Englund 2014.
• Eyeglasses
  These glasses belonged to Seamus Heaney. They were donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by his wife Marie Devlin, who recalls one occasion when he was wearing them: In October 1995, when he received the phone call informing him that he had won the Nobel Prize in Literature. The glasses were donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by Marie Devlin in 2014.
• Leather slippers
  Tawakkol Karman sees her shoes as a symbol of how she is continuing her fight for democracy and human rights. Tawakkol Karman donated the shoes to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2014.
• Megaphone
  This megaphone was the first one Tawakkol Karman used when calling for democracy and human rights. Many protests erupted against incumbent regimes in Arab countries during the Arab Spring in 2011. In the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, journalist and activist Tawakkol Karman led demonstrations against her country's regime. When she donated the megaphone to the Nobel Prize Museum she said: “I would like to give you my voice.” Tawakkol Karman donated the megaphone to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2014.
• Gas mask
  A gas mask can provide protection against chemical warfare. The use of chemical weapons has long been banned, but they are still used. Civilians are usually the ones who suffer the most. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) makes use of international cooperation to help eliminate chemical weapons. After a visit to the Nobel Prize Museum by the organisation's Director General, Ahmet Üzümcü, the OPCW donated this gas mask to the museum. OPCW donated the gas mask to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2014.
• Painting
  This painting is an artistic representation of a diagram in a ground-breaking scholarly article by Susumu Tonegawa. To fight all viruses, bacteria and other damaging substances that we can be exposed to, we need the capacity to produce enormous amounts of different antibodies. The production of antibodies is controlled by genes, but the number of genes is much smaller than the number of antibodies that can be produced. In 1976, Tonegawa showed how this was possible. The genetic material in B cells, a type of white blood cell, can move and form new combinations, while B cells can convert to produce antibodies. Susumu Tonegawa donated the painting to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2013.
• Artwork by Plantu
  To commemorate the occasion of being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the European Union decided to let make a commemoratory poster. The basis for the poster is artwork by Plantu, Jean Plantureux, a French cartoonist specialized in political satire. The artwork, which is shown here, has as a motif a peace dove with the stars of the EU in its beak, amidst celebration and all the flags of the EU. The European Union donated the poster to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2013.
• Belt
  In his 2002 Nobel Prize lecture, Kurt Wüthrich used his belt to illustrate research on proteins he and his co-laureates had conducted. If the belt represented a polypeptide chain, which forms proteins, then the co-laureates’ work measured the belt’s length. Wüthrich's task was to map the three-dimensional coils of the belt. Kurt Wüthrich donated the belt to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2013.
• Beer bottles
  With two beer bottles, François Englert wanted to pay tribute to his friend and colleague Robert Brout, whose portrait is on the labels of the bottles. The Englert-Brout partnership stretched from 1961 more or less until Brout's death in 2011. In 1964, they co-authored an article that was a decisive step on the road to discovering the Higgs particle. It was not until 2012 that the existence of the Higgs particle could be conclusively proven by an experiment at the CERN laboratory, and Englert and Peter Higgs were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics the following year. François Englert donated the bottles to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2013.
• Frisch medal
  The Frisch Medal, awarded by the Econometric Society, was named after Ragnar Frisch. For many years, Frisch served as editor of the society's journal and became the first recipient of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. Lars Peter Hansen was jointly awarded the prize together with Kenneth Singleton in 1984. Hansen donated his medal to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2013.
• The Portable Chekhov
  One of the authors who inspired Alice Munro is Anton Chekhov. For years, Munro has brought a worn paperback edition of some of Chekhov's works, The Portable Chekhov, wherever she went. “It is a very battered copy!”, Munro commented when she donated it to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2013.
• Photographs
  This picture is not just a collection of photographs of members of Thomas Südhof's research team, but also gives an idea of their field of interest: the transportation of various substances inside the cell. Perhaps you could say that this is an image of organic collaboration in research. Thomas Südhof received the picture as a gift from his colleagues and in 2013 he donated it to the Nobel Prize Museum.
• Microscope
  Randy Schekman’s interest in science was sparked early in childhood. When his father explained to 12-year-old Randy that his microscope was only a toy, Randy was very disappointed. To save up for a “real” microscope, Randy ran errands for neighbours and others. His parents borrowed money from Randy's piggy bank to buy groceries, however, and forgot to return it. Randy went to the police station and reported his parents for theft. After receiving a phone call from the police, Randy’s father collected him from the station. On the way home, they stopped to buy this microscope. Randy Schekman donated the microscope to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2013.
• Visualisation of a molecule
  This film shows a simulation of a structural change in a molecule that is vital to vision. The retinal molecule is embedded in the protein rhodopsin, which is found in the light-sensitive rod cells in the retina of the eye. When the molecule absorbs light, one of the atoms in the structure changes position: from a cis form to a trans form. Using computer calculations, Arieh Warshel made simulations of the process. The film based on these simulations was made in 1980. Arieh Warshel donated the film to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2013.
• Book with photographs by Martin Karplus
  This book contains photographs taken by Martin Karplus on his travels in the 1950s. Karplus is a devoted photographer in addition to conducting research into chemical reactions. Martin Karplus donated the book to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2013.
• Reel of film
  This film shows simulations of chemical reactions between a hydrogen atom and a hydrogen molecule, which consists of two hydrogen atoms. The hydrogen molecule splits into two hydrogen atoms, after which one of these forms a new hydrogen molecule with the free hydrogen atom. The simulations were pivotal to Martin Karplus's pioneering work with computer-based methods to simulate the movements and reactions of atoms and molecules under diverse conditions. The film was made in 1967. Martin Karplus donated the reel of film to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2013.
• Gloves
  On September 11, 1916, Robert Bárány received his medal and his diploma, designed by Anna Berglund, from King Gustav V at the Royal Palace. On this occasion he wore these gloves. Bárány had been awarded the Nobel Prize the year before, but no award ceremonies were held during the First World War and Bárány had also been prevented from coming to Stockholm. As a volunteer, he served as a surgeon in the Austrian army on the Eastern Front. In 1915, he was a prisoner of war in Russia when it was announced that he had won the 1914 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. As a result of negotiations headed by Sweden's Prince Carl on behalf of the Red Cross, he was released in 1916. The gloves were donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by the Bárány family in 2013.
• Minnesmedalj
  Medaljen skapades i samband med att Mairead Corrigan Maguire och Betty Williams tilldelades The Norwegian People’s Peace Prize 1976. Initiativet till priset togs av media i Norge. Mer än 200 000 brittiska pund samlades in. Corrigan och Maguire tilldelades varsin medalj i guld och 5000 kopior präglades. Denna kopia har nummer 2265. Medaljen utformades av Øivind Hansen. Följande år, 1977, tilldelades Corrigan och Williams Nobels fredspris för 1976. Bakgrunden till Corrigans och Williams engagemang för fred i Nordirland var en händelse i Belfast i augusti 1976. En medlem av Provisoriska IRA (Irländska republikanska armén) blev under bilfärd skjuten till döds av brittisk militär. Bilen körde upp på trottoaren och träffade tre barn som omkom. Williams, som bevittnade olyckan, startade ett upprop för fred och Corrigan, som var barnens moster, anslöt sig till vad som blev en rörelse mot våldet. Mairead Corrigan Maguire donerade medaljen till Nobelprismuseet 2013.
• Towel
  This towel reminds Shirin Ebadi of her time in prison. The background is that in the wake of the student protests in Iran in 1999, lawyer Shirin Ebadi offered to represent a family whose son had been killed when armed groups cracked down on the protests. In June 2000, she was arrested on charges of having manipulated the filmed testimony of a defector from one of the armed groups. When Ebadi asked to wash herself in the prison, she was denied a towel. She did, however, have just enough money to buy a towel in the prison store. After her release, Ebadi kept the towel as a memento. Shirin Ebadi donated the towel to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2012.
• T-shirt
  This T-shirt has pictures of Alvin Roth's colleagues and was given to him by them. Alvin Roth donated the T-shirt to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2012.
• ”Mr Matching” T-shirt
  This T-shirt was given to Alvin Roth by his students. Connecting different agents in the best possible way is central in Roth's Nobel Prize-awarded work. Among other achievements, he has developed a system for matching organ donors with patients in need of transplants. What T-shirt could be more fitting for Roth than one with his portrait and the title "Mr. Matching" printed on the front? Alvin Roth donated the T-shirt to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2012.
• Molecular model etched in glass
  Inside the glass cube is a 3D image portraying an important process that occurs on the surface of our cells: a "receptor" is first activated by the hormone adrenaline, then transmits a signal down inside the cell through a connection to what is known as a G protein. The model was etched in glass in three dimensions. Brian Kobilka and his colleagues created the model after successfully mapping the structure of the linked molecules in 2011. Brian Kobilka donated the model to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2012.
• Fifteen books in a wooden case
  This ingeniously-designed wooden case with fifteen books contains a collection of Mo Yan's works. Mo Yan donated the books to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2012.
• Book
  This book was written by Shinya Yamanaka, Nobel Prize laureate in physiology or medicine 2012, and Toshihide Masakawa, Nobel Prize laureate in physics 2008. Shinya Yamanaka donated the book to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2012.
• Video camera
  This video camera was used by Steven Chu in a series of experiments where atoms were captured in a trap using laser. Atoms normally move at enormous speed, but Chu developed a method in 1985 for slowing them down with laser beams. When an atom is hit by light particles, photons, with particular energies, this affects its movement, like a shock. With six laser beams arranged two and two in opposite directions, around one million atoms could be captured. They formed a shimmering cloud the size of a pea, and the sequence could be recorded with a video camera. Steven Chu donated the video camera to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2012.
• Notebook
  In 1946, when Tomas Tranströmer was fifteen, he began using this notebook. Insects were one of his great interests early in life, and the first page shows a drawing of a beetle. A few years later, in 1951, when he started writing poems, he began to use the notebook again. On the page that is open here is a draft version of the first poem in his debut collection Seventeen Poems from 1954. Tranströmer’s interest in music, which isevident in his poems, is also noticeable in the notebook, in the form of drafts for musical compositions. Tomas Tranströmer donated the notebook to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2011.