The Nobel Prize in Physics 2014 was awarded jointly to Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura "for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources".
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"The said interest shall be divided into five equal parts, which shall be apportioned as follows: /- - -/ one part to the person who shall have made the most important discovery or invention within the field of physics ..."(Excerpt from the will of Alfred Nobel)
Physics was the prize area which Alfred Nobel mentioned first in his will. At the end of the nineteenth century, many people considered physics as the foremost of the sciences, and perhaps Nobel saw it this way as well. His own research was also closely tied to physics.
The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden.
The Nobel Prizes were created just in time to enable the awards to cover many of the outstanding contributions that opened new areas of physics in this period.
More about the Physics Prizes during the past centuryNobel Prizes in Physics have been awarded between 1901-2014.
Physics Prizes have been given to one Laureate only.
women have been awarded the Physics Prize so far.
person, John Bardeen, has been awarded the Physics Prize twice.
years was the age of the youngest Physics Laureate ever, Lawrence Bragg, when he was awarded the 1915 Physics Prize together with his father.
is the average age of the Physics Laureates the year they were awarded the prize.
1989 Physics Laureate Norman F. Ramsey talks about the unexpected call from Stockholm.
Watch the video clipTransistors are devices that control the movement of electrons, and consequently, electricity. They are the major component in all digital circuits, including computer microprocessors which contain millions of microscopic transistors.
The Transistor in a Century of ElectronicsWilliam Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain were awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of the transistor in 1947. John Bardeen is the only person awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics twice.
More about the Laureates