The five Scientists who won two Nobel Prizes.
Seven recipients have been awarded the Nobel Prize more than
once. Two of them were organisations - the International Committee of the Red
Cross has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize three times, and the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize two times. The remaining seven were all scientists.
This week I'm doing a profile on the five scientists who
managed to pull off not just one Nobel Prize- but two. This list is arranged in
date order, based on the awarding of the second Nobel Prize.
1.Marie Curie.
This incredible scientist was the first person to ever win more than two Nobel Prizes, as well as the first woman to ever win a Nobel Prize.
She, alongside her husband Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel
won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903, for their work on radiation.
Previously, radiation was believed to be caused by some sort of external effect
- like light exposure or chemical state. What these three proved is that
radiation, more precisely radiation being emitted by uranium was not altered by
temperature pressure or chemical state. Reacting uranium chemically or crushing
it did not change the radiation it was emitting. This allowed them to conclude
that the radiation came from the atom itself - proving for the first times that
atoms were not stable. Marie Curie actually coined the term 'radioactivity',
and it soon became a brand new branch of physics. This left the doors of
physics wide open to new aspects; nuclear physics, quantum theory, and atomic
energy to name a few. The doors of medicine were also violently opened
leading to medical radiation therapy.
Initially, the committee only intended to honour Pierre Curie and Becquerel. Luckily, Pierre complained after being alerted by committee member Magnus Gosta Mittag-Leffler, and Marie's name was added to the nomination. Pierre Curie- the ultimate green flag! This actually made Pierre Curie and Marie Curie the first married couple to win the Nobel Prize. Their daughter Irene and her husband Frederic Joliot were the second.
In 1911, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded solely to
her. This made Marie Curie not just the first person to be awarded two
Nobel Prizes, but the first person to win two Nobel Prizes in two different
sciences. Professor Curie remains the only person to have achieved this;
the remaining scientists in this exclusive club won two Nobel Prizes in the
same science or were awarded one Nobel Prize for Chemistry and another for
peace.
The 1911 prize was awarded to her for her discovery of the
elements radium and polonium, as well as the isolation of radium. She was
able to prove that these two elements are able to spontaneously decay into
other elements and continuously release energy. This also suggested that atoms
contained huge amounts of internal energy- which later fed directly into
Einstein's famous equation E = mc^2. Polonium also helped prove that there were
different types of radiation as it showed alpha radiation - it emitted two
protons and two neutrons, whilst radium was able to show both alpha and beta
radiation (emitting an electron) based on the isotope. This is another reason
why Curie's work was so important- it led to more understanding of the isotope
concept; where two atoms of the same element can have a different number of
neutrons.
Initially, the chair of the Nobel committee Svante
Arrhenius tried to prevent her attendance at the official ceremony stating out
that her moral standing was in question. That same year, it was discovered that
Curie has been having an affair with physicist Paul Langevin, a man five years
younger than her, who was estranged from his wife. Curie was seen as a foreign
Jewish home-wrecker. In a moment of pure badass-ness, she stated that she would
be present at the official ceremony as there ‘is no relation between her
scientific work and the facts of her private life'.
2.Linus Pauling.
Linus Pauling became the second scientist to be awarded two
Nobel Prizes. His first Nobel was in Chemistry and was awarded in 1954 for his
research into the nature of the chemical bond. Pauling had been
investigating why some atoms are held together in molecules. For example,
hydrogen atoms bond to each other to create a diatomic molecule but it wasn't
clear why this was happening. Linus Pauling was the first to suggest that
orbitals, the region of space that electrons inhabit, were combining to create
a chemical bond. The way these orbitals combined determined why some of
these chemical bonds were strong and some were weak. This also allowed him to
explain molecular shapes -the shapes in space that molecules form. Those
currently doing A level chemistry probably won't thank him for that considering
that they have to remember the shapes that molecules are able to form. They
also probably won't thank him for his discovery of electronegativity. But this
made it possible to determine chemical reactivity. His work on bonding also
helped predict the structure of proteins - making his work incredibly
influential in both chemistry and biology.
In 1962, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This
was for his work and campaigns against nuclear testing and nuclear armament.
Pauling was a member of the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists, chaired
by Albert Einstein; its aim to warn the publics of the dangers of nuclear
weapons. The US state department denied him a passport in 1952 due to his
political activism, almost preventing him from speaking at a scientific
conference in London. His full passport was not restored until 1954- just before
the official ceremony in Stockholm, where he received his first Nobel.
Pauling signed the Russel-Einstein Manifesto in July 1955, which highlighted
dangers of nuclear weapons and urged for peaceful resolutions to conflict, and
supported the 1955 Mainau Declaration which appealed against the use of nuclear
weapons. In 1957, Pauling circulated a petition amongst scientists, calling for
a halt on nuclear testing and in 1958, he and his wife Ava presented a petition
to the UN secretary General calling for a halt on nuclear weapon testing. Also
in 1958, Pauling took part in televised debate about nuclear fallout causing
mutations and published 'No more war!', calling for nuclear weapons testing to
be stopped but also an end to war itself to stop. Pauling supported the work of
the Committee for Nuclear Information, which conclusively demonstrated in 1961
that above-ground nuclear testing posed public health risks as radioactive
fallout would be spread though the milk from cows that had ingested
contaminated grass. This resulted in a ban on above-ground nuclear weapon
testing.
Pauling remains the only person to have received two
unshared Nobel Prizes. However, Pauling regretted that his wife was not awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize alongside him, acknowledging her deep involvement in
their peace work.
3.John Bardeen
John Bardeen was the third scientist to join the club, being
awarded two Nobel Prizes in Physics, in 1956 and 1972.
His first prize was shared with William Shockley and Walter
Brattain, and for the invention of the transistor. The transistor is a
device that controls the flow of electrical current. An electrical current is
the flow of electrons moving from the battery to the electrical device and back
again, turning it on. Before transistors was invented, electronics used vacuum
tubes. These tubes allowed electrons to move in one direction; from the battery
to the electronic device and also allowed for amplification - changing the
voltage ever so slightly could increase the current dramatically- meaning it
could travel further and supply more electricity. This meant that they enabled
long-distance communication and early computers. But they had their drawbacks.
They needed an insane amount of power as they needed constant heating and were
absolutely massive. They were also fragile and never lasted long.
Transistors in the other hand could were tiny, only required a small electrical signal to amplify the current, needed less power and lasted far longer. This allowed for the 'information age' to begin. Computers were able to become portable, leading to the development of smartphones and microprocessors. The transistor even made the Internet possible, completely changing civilization.
His second prize in 1972 was shared with Leon Cooper and
John Robert Schrieffer for explaining how superconductivity occurs.
Superconductivity is a phenomena that explains how certain
materials conduct electricity with zero resistance at certain temperatures.
Resistance is a bit of a problem with electricity. The electrical current is a
flow of electrons with the energy needed for electricity. When these electrons
get too hot, they vibrate; this reduces their flow and causes some electrical
energy to be wasted. Every circuit has this problem. But when the
temperature is dropped to a certain temperature, there is suddenly absolutely
no resistance at all. This also means that the current can flow indefinitely-
and no power input is required- they can carry on for years. These three
devised 'BCS theory' -which explained how the electrons actually work together
to cause superconductivity.
This phenomena has been essential to multiple
breakthroughs in Physics and also Medicine. The work of Bardeen, Cooper and
Schrieffer also led to the discovery that superconductivity can generate large
magnetic fields. This ultimately led to the developments of MRI machines,
particle accelerators, quantum computers and Maglev trains- the trains that are
ultra-fast and quiet.
4. Frederick Sanger
In 1980, Frederick Sanger received his second Nobel Prize in
Chemistry, having received his first in 1958.
His first prize was awarded for his determination of the amino acid sequence of insulin. This was the first time that a protein was proven to have a specific chemical structure. Before, it was thought that protein structure might be random This allowed for chemical structure to be connected to biological function. This ultimately led to the development of synthesizing proteins. This would have saved the lives of many diabetic patients as it paved the way for biosynthetic insulin. It also led to understanding of how mutations affect protein structure and function, potentially saving even more lives.
In 1980, he, Walter Gilbert and Paul Berg received the Nobel
Prize in Chemistry for developing the 'Sanger Method'. This method was
incredibly impactful in modern biology as this allowed for scientists to read
the genetic code- the ATCG bases that make up a gene for the first time.
Sanger sequencing works by labelling each base with a
different label and letting the DNA synthesize. When a base is added, it gives
up a precise signal. This makes it possible to detect whether an A, T, C, or G
has been added.
This ultimately made genome sequencing possible and for
genes to be mapped precisely. This led to developments in the Human Genome
Project, where the human genome was mapped for the first time. Sanger
sequencing was the gold standard for years and led to so many developments in
genetic disease, evolutionary biology and also biotechnology. DNA sequencing is
used routinely in medicine, research and forensic research.
Frederick Sanger has truly made a massive impact in medicine
and modern molecular biology, and many lives were saved due to him and his
colleagues work.
5.Karl Barry Sharpless
Karl Barry Sharpless is a very recent addition, having been
awarded his second Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2022. His first one was awarded
in 2001 and shared with William S Knowles and Ryoji Noyori for their work on
asymmetric catalysts.
A catalyst is a chemical that is needed to speed up the rate
of a reaction. What can be a problem with biological molecules is that they are
able to form mirror-images of themselves but only one of these 'reflections'
actually works in the body. When synthesizing these molecules in a lab,
catalysts are used to form these biological molecules -but form a mixture of
both mirror images. It's impossible to predict how many of each will form- it's
totally random. Using these mixtures can cause reduced efficacy as well
as side effects. Using an asymmetric catalyst means that chemists can
control this effect, only producing the molecule they actually want.
His 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was shared with Morton
Meldal and Carolyn Bertozzi for their development of click chemistry and biorthogonal
chemistry. Click chemistry describes reactions that are high yielding and
simple to perform. Biorthogonal chemistry refers to click chemistry that
occurs within living systems - but do not interfere with natural biological
processes. Essentially, Sharpless, Meldal and Bertozzi were able to find ways
in which probes- used in medicine, could be attached easily and simply to
biomolecules in cells for detection and treatment. They also developed drug
conjugation -how a drug can be linked to a biological molecule for stability or
delivery. This is a massive development in precision therapies and personalised
medicine, allowing for more efficient treatment with reduced side
effects.
It is a huge honour to even be given one Nobel Prize, and it
can be regarded as the pinnacle of a career. Many scientists cannot even
hope to win one of these prizes, let alone two. It can be seen in this
article that those who won two Nobel Prizes made discoveries that changed and
continue to change the world. Their discoveries also transformed the world
beyond their chosen science. For example, physicist Marie Curie changed
medicine, whilst physicist John Bardeen changed electronics and communication.
It will also be noted that all their discoveries still play an impact on our
world today - radiation is still essential for medicine more than a hundred
years after its discovery, or in the case of Karl Barry Sharpless, will
continue to shape the world. I think this is part of the honour of a Nobel
Prize. The acknowledgment that your hard work, with its associated
disappointments, failed experiments and flipping hard work will not just affect
your generation; it will continue to resonate and inspire scientists and
researchers years and years after you are gone.
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