Rainer Weiss was a pioneer within the LIGO project, where gravitational waves are studied. In an early stage of the project, he built this prototype detector for measuring how laser beams are displaced relative to each other due to gravitational waves.
The concept of gravitational waves has its basis in Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Gravitational waves are generated when space-time expands and contracts, but the changes are infinitesimal and hard to measure.
Rainer Weiss donated the prototype detector to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Barry Barish was the manager of the LIGO project, where detectors that register shifts in laser beams are a vital part of the instruments. These are the two detectors that were used in 2015 at the two LIGO facilities in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana, when gravitational waves were recorded for the first time.
Barry Barish donated the detectors to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017.
This stack of contour maps represents the first clear three-dimensional image of the large subunit of the ribosome from the E. coli bacterium. Ribosomes are large molecules in the cells of all organisms. Their function is to make proteins by translating the genetic messages. The stack of maps was reconstructed in 1986 from many electron microscope images of individual large subunits lying in random orientations, using ideas and computer programs that Frank and his colleagues had developed over a period of 10 years. For a long time, these plastic maps lay around in Frank’s office until the husband of one of his postdoctoral students, a craftsman, offered to mount them in this wooden box for back-lit display.
Joachim Frank donated the contour maps to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017.
Jeffrey Hall designed this device in the early 1980s to study how fruit flies follow the fluctuations of day and night. The circadian rhythm is rooted in the genes of both animals and plants. With this device, Hall and Michael Rosbash could record the activity of fruit flies with genetic variations. The flies were placed in small compartments. To register their movements, the researchers used beams of infrared light that were broken when a fly passed.
The graph shows the activities of the fruit flies.
Jeffrey Hall and Michael Rosbash donated the apparatus and the graph to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017.
Does playing provide vital stimulus for both young and old? This is how Louis Ignarro describes a model train car that he made:
“This is a freight car from my current toy train set. As a very inquisitive young child growing up in New York City, I was fascinated with model toy trains. My father bought me my first train set when I was 8 years old. Being a carpenter by trade, my dad built a large table in our basement for me to build a model train layout. Dad was quite impressed with my ability to learn electrical wiring, modelling scenery, and weathering objects at the age of only 8 years. He fuelled my passion for this hobby by buying me more trains on a regular basis over the next few years, which led to expansion of my layout throughout the entire basement. Such a technically demanding hobby motivated me to study hard in school, especially science and mathematics. After a time lapse of 55 years, I’ve taken up the demanding hobby once again, and love it. Represented here is a freight boxcar, which I’ve weathered to simulate the original 1944 vintage boxcar.”
Louis Ignarro donated the freight car to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017.
This is how Louis Ignarro describes this tie with a pattern of Viagra tablets:
“This special tie was fabricated just for me and presented to me by a representative of the Pfizer Pharmaceutical Company in New York City. The tie subtly depicts dozens of blue ‘VIAGRA’ tablets scattered throughout the tie. The significance of the tie is that my laboratory, in 1992, reported that the long sought-after neurotransmitter that causes penile erection is nitric oxide (NO). Based on our work, Pfizer developed and marketed Viagra, which works by increasing the erectile action of NO. Interestingly, Viagra was approved and marketed in April 1998, and the Nobel Prize for our research on nitric oxide was announced only a few months later, in October 1998. Amusingly, I am often referred to as the Father of Viagra.”
Louis Ignarro donated the tie to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017.
This is how Louis Ignarro describes this tie with a pattern of chemical structures:
“This special tie was fabricated just for me and presented to me at a Nitric Oxide conference held in 1999 in celebration of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The tie depicts a pattern of chemical structures, also showing the chemical symbol for nitric oxide, which is NO. I wore this tie at many nitric oxide conferences that followed. The significance of the tie is that my laboratory originally discovered in 1986 that our bodies produce NO to maintain cardiovascular health. This discovery resulted in the Nobel Prize.”
Louis Ignarro donated the tie to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017.
Music and science play an important part in Louis Ignarro’s life. This is how he describes his accordion:
“This is a 1944 model Fontanella Pesaro accordion made originally in Napoli, Italy, the birthplace of my father. My parents presented it to me on my 6th birthday in May of 1947 in New York City, where we resided. After quickly learning to play by ear without any instruction, my parents had me take professional lessons. Within a few years, I became proficient enough to play at traditional Italian weddings and parties. Playing the accordion in front of large crowds gave me greater confidence to interact with adults. Moreover, learning to play music composed by Vivaldi, Mozart, and Bach led me to appreciate the scientific approach taken by such scholars in composing their masterpieces. Playing such music on my accordion motivated me toward the field of science. In the 40 plus years of my scientific career, I routinely listened to the compositions of Vivaldi, Mozart and Bach while working. I attribute my career success in large part to that little accordion that I started playing at the age of 6 years.”
Louis Ignarro donated the accordion to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017.
During a period in the 1970s, Ralph Steinman used this microscope several times a day to study the reactions of white blood cells. Steinman’s research related to how our immune system defends the body against foreign substances and microorganisms. The study in which he used the microscope was part of the work that was awarded the Nobel Prize.
Ralph Steinman died a couple of days before the Nobel Prize was announced in October 2011. It was decided long ago that a Nobel Prize can only be awarded to people who are alive, but word of his death had not reached the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, and the decision was made to let Steinman be represented by his family at the Nobel Prize ceremony.
The microscope was presented to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017 by Maggi Pack, a colleague of Ralph Steinman at Rockefeller University.
This is a sculpture of Boris Pasternak, who died at his dacha in Peredelkino outside Moscow in May 1960. The family agreed they wanted a sculptor to capture his final facial expression. They contacted a family acquaintance, the sculptor Zinovi Vilensky. Alone in the room with the deceased, Vilensky made these sculptures of Pasternak’s face and hands over the ensuing days.
The sculptures were donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by Vera Kovalskaya, a great-grandchild of Pasternak, and her husband Artem Platov. Kovalskaya sees capturing the final facial expression of a person as a contribution to history rather than anything personal. For this reason, she felt it was appropriate to donate the sculptures to the Nobel Prize Museum.
On a visit in 2017, Orhan Pamuk donated ink cartridges and a manuscript page from the book he was writing to the Nobel Prize Museum.
Pamuk writes his books in longhand with a fountain pen. He writes slowly, one or two sentences at a time, and then thinks for several minutes about the next sentence. He uses black ink and makes corrections in other colours. This makes it easier to follow the writing process, as he has the old versions available and can easily compare them.
Avhandlingarna är tillkomna vid Molecular Biology Institute vid University of California Los Angeles. Ett fruktbart utbyte med doktorander och andra kolleger var av stor vikt för den forskning som gav institutets förste föreståndare, Paul Boyer, Nobelpriset. Avhandlingarna handlar liksom Boyers Nobelprisbelönade forskning om hur den energirika molekylen ATP (adenosintrifosfat) bildas i kroppens celler. I sin Nobelföreläsning refererade Boyer bland annat till artiklar han producerat tillsammans med avhandlingarnas författare: Karen Justine Guerrero, Richard I Feldman, Jill Ann Myers, Gary Rosen och Zhixiong Xue.
Avhandlingarna överlämnades till Nobelprismuseet 2017 av professor Steve Clarke, University of California Los Angeles, vars kontor en gång var Paul Boyers kontor.
These stamps were used by Paul Boyer in his work in his office. As the head of a major research institute, Paul Boyer had many documents to sign and keep track of. The stamps probably made him more efficient.
Molecular biology rocketed in the 1960s. Boyer was in charge of activities at the Molecular Biology Institute of University of California Los Angeles from its founding in 1965 until 1983. The Institute had its own new building and included a cross-departmental research training scheme.
The stamps were presented to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017 by Professor Steve Clarke, University of California Los Angeles, whose office once was Paul Boyer's office.
Portföljen användes av Paul Boyer för att ta med sig anteckningar och dokument till möten vid University of California Los Angeles. Som föreståndare för ett molekylärbiologiskt forskningsinstitut behövde Boyer delta i många möten vid sidan av den egna forskningen. Troligen hade han fått väskan vid en vetenskaplig konferens utomlands.
Portföljen överlämnades till Nobelprismuseet 2017 av professor Steve Clarke, University of California Los Angeles, vars kontor en gång var Paul Boyers kontor.
The stone comes from the large stone bridge in Višegrad in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The bridge is at the heart of Ivo Andrićs most important work, The Bridge on the Drina. In the novel the bridge is the backdrop for a series of stories spanning several centuries. The book captures a range of human destinies and casts light upon the encounters and frictions between different cultures and religions.
The stone was presented to the Nobel Prize Museum by Igor Crnadak, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2017.
Go is an ancient Chinese board game. This board belonged to Bengt Holmström, who lists game theory as one of his interests in economic science. The game has simple rules, such as allowing players to lay down only one stone at a time, but involves very complicated strategies. Holmström practises in the US, where he has a Go game. This one belonged to him when he was still living in Finland, where he also played Go with his friends.
Bengt Holmström donated the Go game to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016.
When the peace agreement between Colombia’s government and the FARC rebel group was signed, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos used a pen made of ammunition. The pen was originally created as a symbol of change when Colombia’s budget for education became larger than the military budget.
Juan Manuel Santos donated the pen to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016.
Juan Manuel Santos wears a button with a dove on his jacket lapel daily. The emblem with the dove was designed for his wife in connection with his presidential campaign in 2010. The insignia is a symbol of the transition from conflict to peace in Colombia.
Juan Manuel Santos donated the button to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016.
These models depict molecules that are essential for autophagy. Autophagy means “self-devouring” and is a process in our cells where molecules are broken down and recycled. These structures are composed of "ATG proteins", where ATG stands for "autophagy-related". The club-shaped structure is composed of ATG 12, ATG 15 and ATG 16. The spherical structure depicts the ATG 8 protein.
Yoshinori Ohsumi donated the models to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2012.
The statuette represents Yoshinori Ohsumi at his microscope when he started his research on autophagy, the process cells use to recycle chemical substances. Ohsumi was a professor at Tokyo University at the time. The statuette was made several years later, and Ohsumi received it as a gift from his colleagues.
Yoshinori Ohsumi donated the statuette to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2012.
Ben Feringa has a predecessor in Sibrandus Stratingh, who designed the first electric carriage in 1835. This is a replica of this carriage. Like Stratingh, Feringa, is a professor at the University of Groningen. In 2011, he produced a molecular car.
Ben Feringa donated the carriage to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016.
Ben Feringa was the first to produce molecules that look and behave like extremely small cars. In the vial is a white powder that consists of a quintillion (10^18) molecular cars.
Ben Feringa donated the molecular motors to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016.
When Ben Feringa grew up on his parents’ farm in the Netherlands, he wore traditional Dutch clogs, and when he put his right foot in the left shoe or vice versa, it hurt. Since then, he has never forgotten the difference between right and left. This was useful when he later devoted himself to chemistry, where mirror symmetry (or “chirality”) is an important concept when describing various molecular properties. Feringa developed a molecule that worked like a rotary motor. A basic problem with the molecular motor was how to control the rotation to the right or left, respectively.
Ben Feringa donated the clogs to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016.
This document by Jean-Pierre Sauvage includes sketches of rings that are interlinked. The document deals with molecules that are linked together to form molecular machines. The first articles about catenanes, ring-shaped molecules that fit together like the links of a chain, were published a few years later.
Jean-Pierre Sauvage donated the document to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016.
This guidebook describes a cliff in North Wales where Michael Kosterlitz spent a lot of free time. Rock climbing is Kosterlitz’s passion, alongside physics. Rock climbing involves risks, and mistakes can be fatal. During the climb, all other thoughts are excluded. You must constantly concentrate on the next metres of the climb, and the outside world is blocked out.
Michael Kosterlitz donated the guidebook to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016.
In this copy of a manuscript, Duncan Haldane presents some of the ideas that laid the foundation for his theories that were awarded the Nobel Prize. The article was never published, however, as some of the manuscript’s reviewers felt that the content ran counter to basic principles of physics. When Haldane won the Nobel Prize and was contemplating a gift to the Nobel Prize Museum’s collections, he happened to think of this article. He no longer had a copy of the manuscript himself, but it turned out that a colleague had kept one.
Duncan Haldane donated the manuscript copy to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016.
This graph shows data that are consistent with the theory of phase transitions that David Thouless and Michael Kosterlitz developed. Thouless received the graph as a gift from colleagues on his 65th birthday and hung it on his office wall. David Thouless’ main contributions to physics are theoretical discoveries. Experiments confirming his theories have been performed by other physicists. This graph shows data from experiments by John Reppy and David Bishop.
David Thouless donated the graph to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016.
This cap is one that Desmond Tutu owned and wore for more than 30 years of his life. His enthusiasm for this type of cap arose in the 1970s when he saw German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt wearing one. After a while, he bought one for himself and was later given several as gifts. This type of cap probably originated in France and is used by sailors. Tutu used it in the winter to protect against the cold and in the summer to protect against the sun.
Desmond Tutu donated the cap to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016.
This small reaction vessel was used for the synthesis of small amount of peptides that Bruce Merrifield used in experiments. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for his efficient methods for the synthesis of peptides and proteins. The reaction vessel was made at the Rockefeller University glass blowing shop.
The reaction vessel was donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by Bruce Merrifield's family in 2016.
This book, Philosophy of Mathematics and Natural Science by Herman Weyl, was an important source of inspiration for Frank Wilczek, who has done his ground-breaking work in theoretical physics. In an introduction to a new edition of Weyl’s book, Wilczek wrote: “I’ve consulted Philosophy of Mathematics and Natural Science many times, and each time I've come away enriched.”
Frank Wilczek donated the book to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016.
These high jumping shoes with spikes were used by Kurt Wüthrich in the early 1960s. Wüthrich’s interest in competitive sports was awakened during his years as a high school student at Biel high school in Switzerland. Although he decided to pursue a career in chemistry and physics, athletics remained an important part of his life.
Kurt Wüthrich donated the shoes to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016.
The knowledge found in the Encyclopaedia Britannica was vital for chemist Archer Martin. But obtaining knowledge from the world of books was not easy at first. As a child, he struggled with dyslexia, and he took a long time learning to read. His love of science began with devices and experiments that he assembled in his family’s basement.
The encyclopedia was donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by Archer Martin's daughter Sara Beck in 2016.
This watercolour, dedicated to Edward B. Lewis, was painted by his wife Pamela Lewis. Butterflies and other insects refer to Edward Lewis’s scientific interest in genetic traits and the development of organisms. In addition to science, the flute was central to his life. He played the instrument from early childhood and continued playing in a chamber orchestra and taking lessons. While fighting his losing battle against cancer, he found comfort in playing the flute. Chess pieces also feature in the picture, reflecting another of Lewis’s interests. The keys hint at his absent-mindedness, which caused him to lose his car keys, glasses and other important objects.
The watercolour was donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by Pamela Lewis in 2016.
This is Françoise Barré-Sinoussi’s description of these puppets:
“In the 90s, I attended the show of the world-famous Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre in Hanoi and received this gift from Vietnamese colleagues when visiting Vietnam to develop an official partnership with the Health Authorities.
This is symbolic of the day-to-day life of people in low-middle-income countries, with their culture and traditions from which I personally have learned a lot. It embodies my respect for these people, but also my love for theatre.
I think this gift also quite well represents my commitment to strengthening capacity and for developing evidence-based interventions, including community-based interventions to improve access to health care services in low-middle-income countries.”
Françoise Barré-Sinoussi donated the puppets to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016.
A 1994 issue of the journal Science largely focused on the cell’s system for repairing continuous damage to DNA. The enzymes that handle DNA repair were named Molecule of the Year. Aziz Sancar and Paul Modrich were among the scientists noted in the journal, and they also contributed articles.
Aziz Sancar donated the journal issue to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2015.
Using this model, Aziz Sancar illustrates how our cells repair damage to their DNA molecules. It was built in 1986 and shows at the red mark how UV radiation has caused two base pairs of the DNA double helix to join together. Bacteria and humans have molecules – repair enzymes – that sense damage and remove strings of 12 or 27 half-base pairs around the damage. The model indicates the boundaries of these areas with the yellow and green markers. The double spiral's remaining strand then acts as a template to recreate the damaged strand.
Aziz Sancar donated the model to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2015.
Peter Agre has completed the 90-kilometre Swedish ski-race Vasaloppet five times together with his brother Jim. This is some of the equipment he used.
A descendent of Norwegian and Swedish emigrants to the US in the 19th century, Peter Agre has always felt a strong link to his Scandinavian heritage. Besides research in biochemistry, Agre enjoys outdoor life, especially canoeing and cross-country skiing.
Peter Agre donated the skiing equipment to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016.
This is part of a microscope that was vital to Eric Betzig’s work on super-resolved fluorescence microscopy. Betzig made his breakthrough after leaving academia. Together with his colleague and friend Harald Hess, he built the new microscope in Hess’s living room.
Eric Betzig donated the microscope parts to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016.
On the title page of this copy of his collected works, Sully Prudhomme has written and signed one of his poems, “Les Yeux” – “The Eyes”.
The book was presented to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016 by Dr. Maarten Asscher, director of Athenaeum Booksellers in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
This document, known as the Road Map, describes a way toward democracy in Tunisia. After the Jasmine Revolution in 2011, Tunisia experienced social unrest. To establish a stable democracy, the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA), the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH), and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers formed the National Dialogue Quartet. In this document, the quartet presented four proposals: the government would resign, a new constitution would be adopted, a new prime minister would be appointed, and a date for general elections would be determined. The document was signed by the leaders of the four organisations on 17 September 2013 and presented to the parties the following day.
The National Dialogue Quartet donated the road map to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2015.
