New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-12-13
THE NOBEL PRIZES.

Although the award OF the five Nobel prizes
for 1903 does not conform closely to the fore
| cast cabled to this country in October us pro
| priety will be quickly perceived by those pest
| qualified to have an opinion IN the matter
! More than one perplexing situation has been
met with striking sagarty, justice and good
| taste.
Without question the most important work
done in physics IN the last few years has Deen
in the study of radiation. Two years ago
RUntgen received the Nobel prize for his in
vestigations in that field, and last year Lorentz
and Zeeman, two Dutchmen divided the honor
The Judges who made the choice this time nat
! urally thought of NJ and Mime. Curie. They
! were aware too that in all probability neither
poIonium nor radium would have been discov-
cred so soon but for Becquerel's observations
of the strange properties OF uranium eight or
! nine years ago. Not only is radtum obtained
| from the same ore, pitchblende, but the first
! characteristic of it which attracted attention
| was its ability to emit an invisible radiance
| like that OF uranium and the vacuum tube. 1t
| was, therefore, decided TO put Becquerel on a
| par with his cOmpatrtots On previous occa-
sions a prize has been divided between two
| persons and now three share one. While the
pecuniary effect of that arrangement is not so
satisfactory as it might be- the honor is the chief
desideratum, and that is in no way diminished
by division. 1t is noteworthy, too, that though
Becquerel and the Curies chemists their
recent researches are looked upon primarily as
contributions to physics.
Arrhenius the Swede who wins the prize in
chemistry this year, has well earned ii. His
textbook in electro-chemistry is not only one Of
| the most recent but also one OF the most au-
thortative works on that subject Moreover,
he is the author of the theory OF ions, which has
been advanced to explain the dissertation of
substances by electricity This was first pro-
pounded in 1885, but was so revolutionary in
/ its suggestions that time was needed for its
full acceptance. Even yet it does not com
mand unanimous support. STILL in formulating
the doctrine, Arrhenus is believed to have rem
dered valuable service 10 chemistry. Finsen,
of Copenhagen. has been so favOraby known
through his experiments in healing with cleo
trio light that it was generally expected a year
ago that he would be honored he is now. No
one needs to be told who Bj6rnsen is, or why
he receives the literary prize. The public will
certainly approve that award. and many people
will feel peculiar JOY on discovering that he
has not been compelled to share 1t with Ibsen,
as at one time seemed possible. Finally, there
will be no doubt about the fitness of according
to Mr. Cremer. for thirty years the secretary
of the International Arbitration League, the
prize for devotion to the of universal
! peace.
One OF the most interesting phases OF the
I distributions which have been made by Nobels
trustees during the last three years is the
tiOnality of the recipients. Owing to the d.
vision of several prizes, nineteen persons In all
! have been recognized. 1t will be noticed that
the Scandinavian race, Of which Nobel himself
was a representative, ignored until this
year, and now Sweden, Norway and Denmark
are simultaneously complimented Certainly,
there is no chance here for imputation OF
partially Four Germans, five Frenchmen,
| three Dutchmen and two Engishmen-Mr
Cremer is the second-are included In the list
The latter is completed by the addition OF one
| Russian and single Switzer. As yet America
and Italy remain unrecognized, but their turn
may come next year.
In the popular mind there may be more or
less surprise at the failure TO honor Marconi
! with one Of these prizes. To be sure he is vet
gagged in the same line of work as himself
/ Moreover, to judge from previous awards
Nobers trustees rank discovery and research
| above invention. Perhaps they esteem Hertz's
! Investigations more important than the utiIiza-
ton of them. Nevertheless, 1t will seem strange
if sooner or later they do not pay homage 70
wireless telegraphy.
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