2010 Nobel Prizes

Medicine - Robert Edwards Wins Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for Pioneering In Vitro Fertilization. "Edwards' work with Patrick Steptoe resulted in the first birth of a test-tube baby--Louise Brown in 1978."

Physics - Graphene Researchers Geim and Novoselov Win Nobel Prize in Physics. "One-atom-thick sheets of carbon have been on the scene for just six years but have already drawn a wealth of research interest." In 2000 Geim won an IgNobel for levitating a frog with magnets.

Chemistry - Nobel Prize in Chemistry Honors Technique for Synthesizing Complex Compounds. "Three chemists will share the award for developing chemical reactions that enable the building of complex organic compounds with wide applications in medicine, industry and agriculture."

Literature - Vargas Llosa Is Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature. "The Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, whose deeply political work vividly examines the perils of power and corruption in Latin America, won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday. Announcing the award in Stockholm, the Swedish Academy praised Mr. Vargas Llosa “for his cartography of the structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual’s resistance, revolt and defeat.”"

Peace - Nobel Peace Prize Given to Jailed Chinese Dissident. "Liu Xiaobo, an impassioned literary critic, political essayist and democracy advocate repeatedly jailed by the Chinese government for his writings, has won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of 'his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China'.”

Economics - Economics Nobel Awarded for Efforts to Understand and Fight Unemployment. "Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) associate professor Peter A. Diamond, Northwestern University professor Dale T. Mortensen and Longer School of Economics and Political Science professor Christopher A. Pissarides won the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences on Monday. Their work in the 1970s and 1980s sought to explain "search friction," in particular in the employment market, where unemployed workers and employers expend time, effort and money to find and fill job openings."