„Prisvärdig“ Forschung? Wilhelm Roux und sein Programm der Entwicklungsmechanik

Abstract

“Prizeworthy Research?” Wilhelm Roux and His Program of Developmental Mechanics. The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine is awarded annually to a maximum of three laureates. Not surprisingly, the number of nominees is much larger. Drawing on Nobel Prize nominations in the Nobel archives in Sweden, the core of this paper deals with the nomination letters for the physiologist Wilhelm Roux to discuss competition and some controversies among German physiologists around 1900 in this particular context. The paper (1) elucidates the arguments brought forward to portray Roux as a scientist who had conferred “the greatest benefit to mankind” in the field of physiology or medicine (as stipulated in Alfred Nobel's will); (2) examines some other runners‐up, and (3) reconstructs why Roux as well as some of his peers were not awarded the Nobel Prize. On a more general level, we argue that an analysis of Nobel Prize nominations contributes to a broader history of excellence in science and medicine in the twentieth century.

Discovery or Reputation? Jacques Loeb and the Role of Nomination Networks

“…41 Yearbook 1917 (Nobel Archive). 42 Halling, Hansson, Fangerau 2018. hybridisation. Gaule also mentioned a previous nomination and stated that Loeb deserved the Prize now even more than four years before.…”