People on the record here who work in science and medicine, and what they were asked.
26 people · 63 answers
Mathematician and computer scientist; Turing Award, 1968
I have now come down to a topic which is very distasteful; it is not sufficient to do a job, you have to sell it. 'Selling' to a scientist is an awkward thing to do.
Recorded · Bell Communications Research Colloquium Seminar (transcription hosted by the University of Virginia Department of Computer Science) · 1986
Gynaecological surgeon; Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 2018
When another baby arrived, I realized that the problem could not be solved in the operating room, but that we had to combat the root causes of these atrocities.
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 2018
Stem cell biologist; Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 2012
Running CiRA with some 250 staff, I have come to spend less time discussing their data with my colleagues and students, and have been absorbed by my duties as the "chief executive officer"…
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 2012
Atmospheric chemist; Nobel laureate in Chemistry, 1995
Although my years at Irvine were very productive, I missed not doing experiments myself because of the many responsibilities associated with a faculty position: teaching courses,…
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 2007
Pharmaceutical chemist; Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 2015
Most pharmaceutical workshops were shut down during the great cultural revolution. Without manufacturing support, we had to extract herbs ourselves using household vats etc.
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 2015
Neurobiologist; Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 1986
Ever since adolescence, [my elder sister Anna] has been an enthusiastic admirer of the great Swedish writer, the Nobel Laureate Selma Lagerlöf, and she infected me so much with her…
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 1986
Biochemist; Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 2023
When I was 16 years old, I read the book from Hans Selye. Hans Selye is a Canadian scientist, but he was Hungarian so his book was translated to Hungarian.
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 2023
Economist and philosopher; laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences, 1998
It was not long after Kenneth Arrow's path-breaking study of social choice, Social Choice and Individual Values, was published in New York in 1951, that my brilliant co-student Sukhamoy…
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 1998
Stem cell biologist; Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 2012
A book also pushed me to become a medical doctor.
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 2012
Pharmaceutical chemist; Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 2015
In Ge Hong's A Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies (肘后备急方), I noticed one sentence "A handful of Qinghao immersed in two liters of water, wring out the juice and drink it all" (青蒿一握,…
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 2015
Radio astronomer; discoverer of pulsars
My contemporaries were more upset about the Nobel than I was not to be recognised. One of them labelled it the 'No-Bell' prize! But it was fine by me.
Recorded · University of Cambridge · 2020
Developmental biologist; Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 1995
As I was lazy and rarely did my homework, I finished high school with a rather mediocre exam. I almost did not pass in English language.
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 1995
Psychologist; laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences, 2002
I got quite nice results in my one-question studies, but never wrote up any of the work, because I had set myself impossible standards: in order not to pollute the literature, I wanted to…
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 2002
Political economist; laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences, 2009
Yes.
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 2009
Stem cell biologist; Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 2012
Working at the hospital, I found that my surgical skills were not as good as I expected.
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 2012
Veterinary surgeon and immunologist; Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 1996
I tried for a Ph.D. scholarship to work with Cedric Mims, but was told to apply again later because he already had a "scholar" and would take only one student at a time.
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 1996
Ada Yonath, Ahmed Zewail, Amartya Sen, Andre Geim, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Daniel Kahneman, Denis Mukwege, Elinor Ostrom, Elizabeth Blackburn, Emmanuelle Charpentier, Esther Duflo, Jennifer Doudna, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Katalin Karikó, Mario Molina, Maryam Mirzakhani, Peter Doherty, Richard Feynman, Richard Hamming, Rita Levi-Montalcini, Roger Penrose, Shinya Yamanaka, Svante Pääbo, Terence Tao, Tu Youyou, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan