| Since the Nobel prizes were first instituted in 1901, they have acquired a dignity of purpose and a purity of intent that makes one forget, as do flawless white lotus blossoms growing out of a muddy lake, the murkiness from which they originate. Everyone knows but chooses not to remember that the source of Alfred Nobel's wealth came from the invention of dynamite. In an act of contrition, he willed his considerable fortune to the establishment of five prizes for outstanding achievement in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Peace. To these five, a sixth category was added in 1969, recognizing the newest of modern sciences - Economics. |
| To cynics, Nobel's belated endowment was inherently suspect; it was almost as if Al Capone had endowed a university chair in Good Corporate Governance. Over the past hundred years or so, the Nobel prizes have become benchmarks of excellence in fields that have been of benefit to mankind. While the yardstick applied to the award of prizes in Chemistry, Physics and Medicine have remained usually beyond debate, the measure used for the selection of prize-winners for Literature and Economics have often generated controversy. [EXTRACT] |
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