Questionning Tanaka’s Nobel Prize
Comments: 3
Tanaka Koichi has become, predictably enough, quite a celebrity here after being awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The Australian Broadcasting Commission reports on a “bitter dispute” (why are disputes always “bitter”?) over Tanaka’s worthiness for the prize:
Dispute erupts over Nobel Chemistry Prize to Japanese
ABC.net.auA bitter dispute has erupted among scientists over the attribution of this year’s Nobel Chemistry Prize to a Japanese chemical engineer, with a number of his peers declaring him unworthy of the prestigious award.
[…]
But a number of scientists quoted in Sweden’s largest daily Dagens Nyheter say they believe the prize should have gone to German scientists chemists Michael Karas and Franz Hillenkamp.
They argued that Tanaka’s discovery in the late 1980s was a one-off contribution to the research field, while the German pair, who published results similar to Tanaka’s just two months after him, have made numerous contributions over the years.
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Posted to General Rants • 2002.12.09 (Mon) • 12:44
Comments
Posted by Jeff 2002.12.09, 22:48
I have never heard of a “sweet and loving” dispute (lovers don’t have disputes, they have spats or quarrels).
By definition, a dispute is more business/academically/politically oriented. And when money and power are involved, it’s not even in the lexicon.
Posted by jh 2002.12.09, 23:05
I guess I’d just like a break from the cliché “bitter dispute.” Something like “rancorous dispute” or “hot and steaming dispute” or “all-out, no-holds-barred scientist bitchfest” would be good to read once in a while.
And, yes, good point: money and power have rendered many a dictionary obsolete.
Posted by Alnisa 2002.12.10, 11:44
The Australian Broadcasting Commission reports on a “prissy-hissy, no-holds-barred scientific bitchfest” over whether Tanaka deserved the Nobel Prize. One un-named scientist, exclaimed, “Hell, I’ve been slaving away, breathing in chemical fumes, and listening to egotistical idiots claim there superior stupidity; you’d think they give me the darn thing. Maybe then I’d get published.”
Hey I’d read that article. :)
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