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THE NOBEL PRIZE for physics was awarded to Takaaki Kajita and Arthur McDonald earlier today for their work on the study of neutrinos.
What’s a neutrino you may ask? A neutrino is a subatomic particle with practically no mass that is apparently extremely difficult to study effectively.
It’s an enormous achievement obviously, but both Kajita and McDonald can consider themselves lucky they weren’t in the running in 1989 when the Nobel Foundation did its level best to give the prize to the wrong man.
In an interview with the Foundation broadcast today just hours ahead of the announcement of the winner for 2015, the actual 1989 winner Norman Ramsey recalled how the prize committee had contacted another Norman Ramsey first by mistake.
“They had guessed maybe I might be in Washington DC. There was a Norman Ramsey there. And the chairman of the committee called him,” the real Ramsey recounted in the interview, which was conducted in 2005.
Around 6 am, the son of that Norman Ramsey picked up the phone and was hesitant to wake his father.
And they said we want to tell him he’s received the Nobel prize in physics. This young man said “that’s very interesting since my father’s an economist”.
In the days before social media it was probably an easier mistake to make than one might think. Still though. They probably could have checked to see if there was more than one Norman Ramsey.
The correct Norman Ramsey died in 2011 at 96. He received the prize for his work on atomic clocks.
His namesake didn’t leave a big enough mark on the field of economics to be honoured with a Nobel prize. Nice try though.
Additional reporting Cianan Brennan
Dr Sheldon Cooper overlooked again despite his jump to dark matter from string theory. Sigh…
that whole show is just one big sigh
so it wasn’t actually given to the wrong person, they just rang the wrong guy!! hmmm
The economist Ramsey received the “no bell” prize!!!!
You described neutrinos as having practically no mass but the Nobel prize awarded today was for research that led to the conclusion that neutrinos do indeed have mass. maybe do a tiny bit of research before writing articles ?
Ah but the article said “practically no mass” ;)
No mass for the Irish neutrinos on a Sunday!!
how is that PHYSIC-ally possible?
you out now
yes sir
It was also given to the wrong person in 2009 and nothing was ever done about it.
Well that was the no bama prize!!
The Irishwoman Jocelyn Bell discovered the Pulsars while she was a student at Cambridge University UK but the Nobel Prize was given to her supervisor. This caused a lot of consternation in the world of Astronomy. The astronomer Fred Hoyle was so annoyed at her exclusion he had a major row with Cambridge and the Nobel Committee .
Jocelyn herself said on BBC Radio 4 a couple of years ago that anti-Irish prejudice at Cambridge at the time was the real reason she was excluded.
Maybe you might get it someday Frank, for your work in the field of mathematics
How come there’s hardly any Mohammeds’ lined up for a prize! 1.6 Billion and all that….
No mass….?!?!?! where have I heard that before…..?!
have your say