Winning the Nobel Prize in your subject of life long study is the epitome of success. It means that a group of specialists in this field feel as though you have done the most important work in that year. The prize is open to anyone in the entire world, and to know that out of everyone in Physics or Literature you are the best must be exhilarating. The prize has been awarded every since 1901. Jon Bruner of Forbes has done the research and using a simple but effective infographic, he has shared the home country and the field of study for every award winner. The infographic does a great job of showing the amount and type of nobel prices awarded since 1901. It can be seen that since around 1950 the United States has nearly monopolized the award in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and Economics. The graph continues down, listing all the countries who have been awarded the prize in descending order. The United Kingdom follows with China bringing up the rear.
This can be used in the classroom in at least two ways. First, a discussion can be introduced exploring the consequences of poverty on the knowledge of people. All things being equal, how many more Physicists would this world have? How many of the people barely able to provide food for their family have the potential to solve the energy crisis? How many people have solved the worlds problems on paper, but lack the resources to work it all out and share their research? If more people around the world had access to the education every American child has access to, would America still have the most awards or would China or Russia have more than America, would Nigeria or Chile have just as many per capital? Also, how many Americans have the potential, but not the support at home, think slightly differently and so told they think wrong, and just get so frustrated that they drop out at their first chance?
Another way to use this infographic is during Science, Social Studies or Literature. When a breakthrough is being discussed or a book read, the event being awarded could help students put into context the important of this event during the time period. For instance, the Nobel Peace Prize was given several times to those who fought against nuclear weapons. Nuclear Weapons aren’t feared as much as they were thirty plus years ago. They were a regular part of the vocabulary of boys I grew up with. So it may be difficult for some people to understand the significance of the Cold War and the potential of nuclear weapons in our backyard. But seeing someone getting a prize for making it their life’s mission to put a stop to them will help students realize how important it was at the time.
Blog: http://goo.gl/p3mPZ
Infographic on Forbes: http://goo.gl/l4aUY