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Items

• Pen
  This pen was Akira Yoshino’s favourite pen, which he used for 10 years. Akira Yoshino donated the pen to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2019.
• Brochure
  This brochure, printed in 1978, introduced and marketed a new type of rechargeable batteries, which were produced at the battery unit of the oil and gas company Exxon. Stanley Whittingham made pivotal contributions to the development of the batteries. Stanley Whittingham donated the brochure to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2019.
• Two batteries
  These two batteries are early versions of lithium batteries from the 1970s. They were produced at the battery unit of Exxon, the oil and gas company where Stanley Whittingham made pivotal contributions to the development of the batteries. The smaller battery was intended for a watch and the larger one for a solar cell. Stanley Whittingham donated the lithium batteries to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2019.
• Witness to Grace by John B. Goodenough
  This book Witness to Grace is John B. Goodenough’s autobiography. In the book he recounts his upbringing and intellectual development, his Christian faith and how he came to devote himself to science and technology. John B. Goodenough donated the book to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2019.
• Key
  This key, labelled “OHP,” goes to the Haute-Provence observatory in southern France. It was given to Didier Queloz during his time as a doctoral student by his supervisor, Michel Mayor, who was about to leave on an extended trip. Soon afterwards, Queloz made an interesting observation of a star’s movements. After additional observations of the star, Queloz and Mayor concluded that they had made the first discovery of a planet orbiting a star other than our sun. Didier Queloz donated the key to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2019.
• Glass with template
  This glass was an important part of the equipment Michel Mayor used to search for exoplanets – planets in solar systems other than ours. Stars with planets display a slightly rocking motion. As a result of the Doppler effect, the movement causes the color of the star to change – its spectrum shifts. To study this, a spectrograph coupled with a telescope was used. The glass, which belonged to the spectrograph, served as a template to effectively compare many spectral lines at the same time. If the entire spectrum shifts, the light passing through increases or decreases, depending on the amount of incident light covered by the dark spots on the glass. This glass was the first used when Mayor began investigations in 1977 that would eventually lead to the discovery of exoplanets. Michel Mayor donated the glass template to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2019.
• Slide rule
  James Peebles bought this slide rule in 1953 when he was studying at the University of Manitoba. It cost 20 Canadian dollars, a rather hefty sum for a student. It became his constant companion in life as a physicist until 1970, when he bought an electronic calculator. He put the slide rule in a desk drawer, where it lay for years, acquiring a patina. James Peebles donated the slide rule to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2019.
• Slide rule
  Werner Arber bought this slide rule when he was a high-school student in Aarau, Switzerland. He used it for several decades for his studies and research, before replacing it with electronic devices. Arber's Nobel Prize-winning work is about restriction enzymes, which are used for DNA analysis and modification. Werner Arber donated the slide rule to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2019.
• HPLC apparatus
  This HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) apparatus was used by Robert Lefkowitz and colleagues in the early 1980s, as one of the steps to purify the beta adrenergic receptor, the first G protein coupled receptor to be purified. Drugs targeting G protein coupled receptors account for a substantial part of all drugs used in clinical medicine. In chemistry, chromatography is an important method for separating substances. A mixture of substances dissolved in a liquid or gas is allowed to migrate through a stationary phase, for example a granular material consisting of solid particles. Because the components in the mixture interact with the grains in different ways, they will move at different speeds. In this way, the components are separated. Robert Lefkowitz donated the HPLC apparatus to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2019.
• Manuscript
  This manuscript was written in 1922, when Albert Einstein had just heard that he had been awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics. Many physicists were still skeptical of his theory of general relativity, which turned the conceptions of time, space and gravity of classical physics upside down. Einstein did not receive the prize for his theory of relativity but for other ground-breaking work. However, many physicists and mathematicians continued to work according to the theory of relativity. One of the them was Eric Trefftz, who thought he had found a solution to a problem in the theory of general relativity – how two bodies move around a common center of mass. In the manuscript, Einstein comments on Trefftz’s article and demonstrates problems with his solution. One of the previous owners of the manuscript was Max von Laue, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914. This manuscript was donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by Åsa and Per Taube.
• Trunk
  This trunk belonged to Erwin Schrödinger, a pioneer of quantum physics. Schrödinger lived an itinerant life. He grew up and studied in Vienna, Austria and later worked at several European universities. When Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938, he was working at the University of Graz. Schrödinger, who strongly opposed Nazism, fled to Italy and eventually to Ireland. However, he left this trunk behind in Graz, where it was kept by Schrödinger's friend and colleague Fritz Kohlrausch. The Kohlrausch family stored it in their attic until 2019, when they donated it to the Nobel Prize Museum.
• Tres Poemas by Gabriela Mistral
  The book Tres Poemas contains poems by Gabriela Mistral that have been set to music in arrangements for voice and piano by the Chilean composer Jorge Urrutia Blondel. The book was signed by Mistral, with a dedication to Manuel Sayago. The book was donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by Heraldo Muñoz, Chile’s former minister of foreign affairs, in 2019.
• Poèmes choisis av Gabriela Mistral
  Boken Poèmes choisis innehåller dikter av Gabriela Mistral i fransk översättning. Boken är signerad av Mistral och dedicerad till den chilenske författaren och arkitekten Pedro Prado 1946. Detta exemplar är nummer 5 av 200 numrerade exemplar i denna upplaga. Boken donerades till Nobelprismuseet av Chiles tidigare utrikesminister Heraldo Muñoz 2019.
• Giotto by Carlo Carrá
  Boken Giotto av Carlo Carrà kommer från Gabriela Mistrals personliga bibliotek. Hennes samling av böcker avspeglar hennes intresse för en rad områden, bland annat biografier, zoologi, geografi och religion. Denna bok om den medeltida konstnären Giotto di Bondone är på italienska och skriven 1924 av konstnären Carlo Carrà, som under början av 1910-talet var en av futurismens ledande företrädare. Boken överlämnades till Nobelprismuseet 2019 av Pedro Pablo Zegers, chef för Chiles nationalbibliotek, och Hernán Bascuñán, Chiles ambassadör.
• Pipe
  For Pablo Neruda, this pipe was associated with an effort he made at the end of the 1930s alongside his literary work. After the Spanish Civil War, thousands of refugees were living in camps in France under harsh conditions. Pablo Neruda was appointed by the president of Chile, Pedro Aguirre Cerda, to help them get to Chile. On 3 September 1939, the steamer Winnipeg arrived at Valparaiso, Chile. Neruda used to smoke this pipe in those days. He called his achievement his “greatest poem” and preserved the pipe with great care as a memory. The pipe was donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by the Pablo Neruda Foundation in 2019.
• Recorders
  Since childhood, Richard Ernst has been deeply interested in music. His first musical instrument was a soprano recorder. He later acquired an alto recorder because a wider range of notes appealed to him. Richard Ernst donated the recorders to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2019.
• Gas mantle
  Paul Romer regards this gas mantle as a fine example of the historical importance of technological innovation. Romer’s research focuses on how knowledge and new ideas drive economic growth. This type of lamp is based on the principle of Auer’s incandescent light. An incandescent mantle emits light because of the heat given off by burning gas. The lamp was a far more efficient light source than oil lamps and the earlier gas lights. After the lamp was invented in the 1880s, it soon became common as street lighting. Nowadays, lamps like these are used by campers. Paul Romer donated the gas mantle to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2018.
• Oil lamp
  William Nordhaus acquired this Roman oil lamp in conjunction with an economic-historical study on lighting. The lamp is about 2,500 years old. In his work, Nordhaus examined the cost of achieving a certain amount of light at different times in human history. He investigated methods of producing light, from open fires all the way to incandescent light. He was struck by how much more efficient they have become. William Nordhaus donated the oil lamp to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2018.
• Calligraphy
  In this calligraphy, Tasuku Honjo has written a motto that has been important to him throughout his life: “Without ambition, success cannot be achieved.” The motto is written in Chinese characters and comes from Chinese Emperor Guangwu of Han, who lived from 6 BCE to 57 CE. When Honjo did his groundbreaking work on how the immune system can be used to fight cancer, what he encountered was not direct resistance but indifference and scepticism. But he kept going and ultimately reached his goal. Tasuku Honjo donated the calligraphy to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2018.
• Photograph
  This photograph shows James Allison and his wife and colleague Padmanee Sharma. James Allison donated the photograph to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2018.
• Specification for apparatus and photograph
  This apparatus specification tells of an early stage in Gregory P. Winter's research. In the late 1970s Winter went to Poland for a conference to raise awareness of new methods for mapping genes, DNA sequencing. At the conference, Soviet researchers told him how they prepared agarose gel, a gelatinous substance used in the sequencing. Inspired by what he learned, Winter developed a simple apparatus back home in Cambridge. However, those responsible for safety in the laboratory considered the apparatus dangerous and drew up specifications for a safer one. The photo shows an apparatus that no longer exists. Gregory P. Winter donated the specification and the photograph to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2018.
• Reconstruction, specification and photo of an apparatus for DNA sequencing
  This apparatus is a reconstruction of an apparatus for DNA sequencing. In the late 1970s Gregory P. Winter went to Poland for a conference to raise awareness of new methods for mapping genes, DNA sequencing. At the conference, Soviet researchers told him how they prepared agarose gel, a gelatinous substance used in the sequencing. Inspired by what he learned, Winter developed a simple apparatus back home in Cambridge. However, those responsible for safety in the laboratory considered the apparatus dangerous and drew up specifications for a safer one. The photo shows an apparatus that no longer exists.
• Piggy bank
  George Smith gave this piggy bank to one of his colleagues, Stephen Parmley, as a memento of an early experiment when working on phage display. Parmley had developed a vector, a particle used to inject DNA in living cells. The vector was named pIG3C. The experiment was unsuccessful, but the piggy bank became the laboratory mascot for decades. The piggy bank was donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by Stephen Parmley in 2018.
• Vial with solution
  This test tube contains the solution in which George P. Smith first applied the phage display method. The phage display method, which Smith developed, uses bacteriophages, viruses that attack bacteria, to produce new proteins. Smith received the test solution from Paul Modrich (who, incidentally, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2015). George P. Smith donated the test tube to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2018.
• T-shirt
  A T-shirt from Frances Arnold’s laboratory bears the image of the laboratory’s Wolfird mascot, a combination of a wolf and a bird. Arnold uses the mascot to convey the message that when you culture molecules in test tubes, you can mix anything. This particular light blue shirt was worn by Arnold during a trip with all of her lab colleagues. The names of all members of the team are on the back of the t-shirt. Frances Arnold donated the T-shirt to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2018.
• Button
  A button from Frances Arnold’s laboratory bears the image of the laboratory’s Wolfird mascot, a combination of a wolf and a bird. Arnold uses the mascot to convey the message that when you culture molecules in test tubes, you can mix anything. Frances Arnold donated the button to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2018.
• T-shirt
  A T-shirt from Arnold’s laboratory bears the image of the laboratory’s Wolfird mascot, a combination of a wolf and a bird. Arnold uses the mascot to convey the message that when you culture molecules in test tubes, you can mix anything. Frances Arnold donated the T-shirt to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2018.
• Test plate and pipette
  This plate with wells for 96 different samples was especially made for Frances Arnold’s experiments with enzymes. By lowering the plate into a water bath near boiling point, the test series could be kept hot, to examine the ability of the various enzymes to facilitate chemical reactions at high temperatures. The distances between the wells correspond to those between the tips of a pipette that was used to produce eight samples simultaneously. In later experiments, plates with wells could be purchased ready-made. The researchers then used this plate simply as a weight to hold down materials in the water bath. Frances Arnold donated the test plate and the pipette to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2018.
• Photograph and laser rod
  Donna Strickland’s Nobel Prize-awarded work involves creating extremely short and intense laser pulses. She used this laser rod in her experiments. It consists of glass treated with neodymium and was used to create infrared laser light. Strickland did her work when she was still a doctoral student at the University of Rochester. Donna Strickland donated the photograph and laser rod to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2018.
• Laser amplifier
  During an experiment, a laser beam happened to hit one of Gerard Mourou’s students in the eye. When a doctor examined the damage, he asked which laser had caused it. When Mourou wondered why, he replied: “The injury is perfect!” The idea of using this type of laser as a precision instrument for eye surgery was born. This laser amplifier for use in eye surgery was developed at the University of Michigan in 1998. Gerard Mourou donated the laser amplifier to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2018.
• Diffraction grating
  This “diffraction grating” is a glass sheet covered with a thin film of gold. The many microscopic lines in the surface split light into various wavelengths when it is reflected. Gerard Mourou used this diffraction grate to first spread out a laser pulse, then amplify it, and finally transform it into a short laser pulse far more intense than the original. The damage to the surface is from experiments with laser light that was too powerful. Gerard Mourou donated the diffraction grating to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2018.
• Magnetrons
  Even in his youth, Arthur Ashkin was fascinated by the possibility of moving objects using light. In the early 1940s, he worked on building magnetrons for the U.S. military radar system. Magnetrons produce microwaves, which, like visual light, are a form of electromagnetic radiation. Ashkin tried to move objects using radiation but did not achieve any unequivocal results. Many years later, he succeeded by using laser light instead. These experiments gave rise to optical tweezers. Arthur Ashkin donated the magnetrons to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2018.
• Clothing fabric
  Leymah Gbowee used this fabric in protests to put an end to a devastating civil war in Liberia. In 2002, she assembled women of different ethnic and religious affiliations to protest against violence. The women gathered at a fish market in Monrovia, all wearing white T-shirts and lappas, a traditional Liberian clothing wrapped around the midriff. This is a lappa of that kind. Leymah Gbowee donated the fabric to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2018.
• Journalist ID
  Salvatore Quasimodo’s journalist ID has him down as a theatre critic at the magazine Tempo. Quasimodo first studied to be an engineer and worked a few years in that field, but he had always been writing poetry and focused entirely on literature from 1938, as a poet, translator and editor. The journalist ID was donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by the Quasimodo family in 2018.
• Lighter
  This lighter belonged to Salvatore Quasimodo and bears his initials in gold. The lighter was donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by the Quasimodo family in 2018.
• Fountain pens
  These pens belonged to Salvatore Quasimodo. The pens were donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by the Quasimodo family in 2018.
• Wristwatch
  Armbandsuret är ett av många som ingick i Gabriel García Márquez samling. De olika utformningarna och materialen var en referens för de armbandsur som han lät sina karaktärer bära. Armbandsuret donerades till Nobelprismuseet av Gabriel García Márquez efterlevande 2018.
• Glasses
  Gabriel García Márquez’ sons convinced their father to wear these small bifocals. They would tell him that these glasses were more modern and youthful. He wore them on several occasions, but he preferred larger glasses. The eyeglasses were donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by Gabriel García Márquez’ family in 2018.
• Glasses
  Gabriel García Márquez used this type of large bifocals while working. According to him, these eyeglasses made him forget he had presbyopia, which causes poor near vision, because they covered his entire field of vision. The eyeglasses were donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by Gabriel García Márquez’ family in 2018.
• Handbag
  Väskan har tillhört Gabriel García Márquez. Väskan väckte många minnen till liv hos hans hustru Mercedes Barcha: ”I mer än 30 år såg jag honom bära denna väska på varenda en av våra resor. I väskan lade han alltid en bok, dagens tidning. ett anteckningsblock och en penna.” Väskan har donerats till Nobelprismuseet 2018.
• 1000 paper cranes
  These 1,000 paper cranes are hand-folded by schoolchildren. They were donated by ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. On the 468 red paper cranes are the names of ICAN’s member organisations. Paper cranes have become a symbol of the innocent victims of nuclear weapons. The reason is the story of Sadako Sasaki, who suffered from leukaemia after the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. According to Japanese folklore, folding 1,000 paper cranes will grant you a wish and good luck. When Sadako became ill, she started folding cranes. Despite folding more than a thousand cranes, she passed away when she was only 12 years old. ICAN donated the paper cranes to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017.
• Photodetector
  Rainer Weiss var en pionjär inom projektet LIGO där gravitationsvågor studeras. I ett tidigt skede av projektet byggde han denna prototypdetektor för att mäta hur laserstrålar förskjuts i förhållande till varandra på grund av gravitationsvågor. Begreppet gravitationsvågor har sin grund i Einsteins allmänna relativitetsteori. Gravitationsvågor innebär att rumtiden utvidgas och krymper, men förändringar är mycket små och svåra att mäta. Rainer Weiss donerade prototypdetektorn till Nobelprismuseet 2017.
• Mug
  Richard Thaler’s research demonstrates that we do not always think and act in a completely rational way in economic matters. This mug is one of several mugs used for an experiment in 1991 about how we value things. Some research subjects received mugs as gifts while others did not. When the research subjects were asked to evaluate the mugs, it turned out that those who received a mug gave it a higher value than those that did not receive one. This mug was never given away and is the only one remaining of those used in the experiment. Richard Thaler donated the mug to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017.
• Tray
  At the filming of _Remains of the Day_, this tray was used as a prop. The story is set in an upper-class environment, and the main character is a butler. The film was based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s same-titled book. When Ishiguro visited the film set, he took the tray with him as a memento. Another memory from the filming was that Ishiguro had lunch with the actors and was seated behind two of cinematic history’s most legendary actors: Anthony Hopkins (the serial killer Hannibal Lecter) and Christopher Reeve (Superman). Kazuo Ishiguro donated the tray to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017.
• DNA sequencing images, photographic copies
  DNA molecules contain the code for the properties of an organism. These images were created by Frederick Sanger, who devised a method for determining the genetic code. More precisely, the sequence of nucleotides in DNA is determined by reading the bands in the picture. The photographs were presented to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017 by Richard Henderson, chemistry laureate this year. Sanger and Henderson were both affiliated to the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK.
• DNP-derivatives of amino acids
  Frederick Sanger used this set of 29 DNP-derivatives of different amino acids to study the composition of the insulin molecule. They have different colours, and can be used to determine which amino acids a sample is composed of. These samples were used to calibrate the measuring instruments. Proteins are large molecules that are essential to the life processes of our cells. They consist of chains of amino acids. The samples were presented to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017 by Richard Henderson, chemistry laureate this year. Sanger and Henderson were both affiliated to the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK.
• Model of bacteriorhodopsin
  The molecular model shows the structure of the protein bacteriorhodopsin, which was discovered by Richard Henderson. Bacteriorhodopsin is embedded in the bacterium’s cell membrane. Its function is to pump hydrogen ions from the inside to the outside of the membrane. Richard Henderson donated the model and the map to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017.
• Map of bacteriorhodopsin
  This map shows the structure of the protein bacteriorhodopsin. The map was created in 1974 by Richard Henderson, using groundbreaking methods. Richard Henderson donated the map to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017.
• Apparatus
  This apparatus was used by Jacques Dubochet in the 1980s in experiments to create images of biological molecules. With the electron microscope, it is possible to create images of objects as small as molecules. One problem with biological molecules, however, is that they dry out and are destroyed in the vacuum needed in the electron microscope. Ice crystals also distort the image. To avoid this, Dubochet designed this apparatus, which freezes water so quickly that ice crystals do not have time to form. The samples were lowered into a cold liquid using an arm with a pair of tweezers. At first, liquid nitrogen was used, but this was later replaced by liquid ethane. Jacques Dubochet donated the apparatus to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017.
• Light baffle
  Kip Thorne has mainly worked on the theoretical aspects of how gravitational waves can be observed in the large LIGO facilities. This metal plate is a more practical contribution to the experiments, however. The plate is used as a baffle to screen off intrusive light during the observations. The heights of the plate’s “teeth” are random in a conscious way; they vary according to statistical normal distribution. This makes it possible to effectively eliminate intrusive light. Kip Thorne donated the light baffle to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017.