This year an American, Roger D. Kornberg, won the Nobel Prize for chemistry. An American winner is not unusual. During the 105 years of Nobel Prizes for chemistry, 53 Americans have been honored. The first chemistry Nobel was awarded in 1901. The first American winner was in 1914.
The first chemistry Nobel shared by two or more winners went to two Germans in 1912. The first chemistry Nobel shared by two or more winners from different countries went to chemists from Sweden and the UK in 1929. In 1979 America for the first time shared a chemistry Nobel with someone from a foreign country, Germany. Throughout the next 26 years, Americans were named in 23 years, and in 14 of those years the prize was shared with someone from a foreign country. The point? Scientific research is an increasingly global activity. Or, you might put it this way: America is a strong player, but other countries are fielding strong teams also...
