Rome 2 October 2014 P. Carlson KTH Stockholm

Investing in knowledge in

Europe

The role of Universities

Basic science

• Gives new knowledge

• Can unexpectedly give

important applications

Alfred Nobel

A farsighted European

• Born 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden

• Cosmopolitan inventor of dynamite

• Lived in Sweden, Russia, Germany,

Scotland, France, and Italy

• Died in San Remo, Italy in 1896

Alfred Nobel:

”Home is where I work

and I work everywhere”

• When Alfred was 9, the family

was reunited in St. Petersburg

• Excellent education in chemistry

and in languages

• Fluent in Swedish, Russian,

German, English and French

First rate education

Ascani Sobrero (1812-1888)

discovered nitroglycerine 1847

From his chemistry teacher Professor Zinin Alfred Nobel first heard about nitroglycerine and its explosive power.

Nitroglycerine

O N

H

C

Alfred Nobel: inventor, industrialist, administrator

1863 - 30 years old

first patent

1873 - 40 years old

greatest discoveries made

worldwide industrial empire

wealthy

350 patents

St Petersburg Stockholm

Karlskoga

Krümmel

Ardeer

Paris

Avigliana

San Remo Paulille

Prague

Bratislava

Nobel Industries and Laboratories in Europe

Research Laboratory, Ardeer 1880

Alfred Nobel in Scotland

Drawing by Svenolov Ehrén

Alfred Nobel moves to Paris in 1873

Avenue Malakoff, Alfred Nobel’s Home 1873 - 1891

“Le Fayet”

Sevran,

Paris

Laboratory Main Building

Alfred Nobel also had a house and a laboratory outside Paris at Sevran

Villa Nobel Sanremo

Built 1874

Home for Alfred Nobel

1890-10 Dec. 1896

Today Museum

December 10, Stockholm: Prize awarding ceremony

A bust of Alfred Nobel, surrounded by

beautiful flowers donated by the city of

Sanremo in Italy.

The Will Paris 1895

The Will • Five prizes - Physics, Chemistry,

Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace

• The Will was contested on formal grounds

• King Oscar as well as politicians objected to different aspects of the will

• Relatives objected to being left out • Several years of negotiations before the

Nobel Foundation was established 1900

First prizes in 1901

Excerpt from the will: …..in awarding the prizes no consideration

whatever shall be given to the nationality of the candidates, but the most worthy shall receive the prize, whether he be a Scandinavian or not.

Physics: The most important discovery

or invention

Chemistry: The most important chemical

discovery or improvement

Basic science at universities:

Nobel Prize discoveries that much later

and unexpectedly gave very important

applications

Two examples

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2003

Paul C Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield

for discoveries concerning "magnetic resonance imaging"

These discoveries made at universities have

led to the development of modern magnetic

resonance imaging, MRI, which represents a

breakthrough in medical diagnostics and

research.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging, MRI

Three steps to reach MRI:

• Fundamental physics

• Biology connection

• Image technology

MRI, Nobel Prize in Medicine 2003

P. Lauterbur and P. Mansfield

• Stern-Gerlach 1943 (Stern) Atoms behave like small magnets

• Rabi 1944 Atomic nuclei have a magnetic moment that can be measured with radiofrequencies

•Bloch, Purcell 1952 Magnetic resonance can be used to identify different atoms

•Kammerlingh Onnes 1913 Superconductivity

An application of basic discoveries in

physics awarded with the Nobel Prize:

Magnetic Resonance imaging

• First MRI equipement available 1980s

• Today over 25000 MRI cameras in use worldwide

• Harmless according to present knowledge

The optical fiber Nobel prize 2009

Charles Kuen Kao "for groundbreaking

achievements concerning the

transmission of light in fibers for optical

communication"

Kao, Nobel lecture 2009 Discovery paper: 1966!

Runestone

1200’s

Fibers

2000’s

Communication

Runestone

Development over 800 years

Basic research sometimes give important applications

The time scale over which basic research bears fruit

is unpredicable and often long. The funding of short-

term targeted research at the expense of basic

research could well restrict the development of

unforeseen and promising applications.

See Charles Day, Physics Today Dec. 2013

Universities play an important role in

developing new and favorable lines of

research. Spending 10 or more years on a

project that expands our knowledge of the

natural world without necessarily yielding a

new product is far riskier for an industrial lab

than it is for a university lab.

Albert Einstein

Nobel Prize in physics 1921

“for his services to

Theoretical Physics, and

especially for his discovery of

the law of the photoelectric

effect”.

Excerpt from the will: …..in awarding the prizes no consideration

whatever shall be given to the nationality of the candidates, but the most worthy shall receive the prize, whether he be a Scandinavian or not.

Physics: The most important discovery

or invention

Two voices on

Understanding the laws of Nature

Carl Anderson discovered the positron Nobel Prize 1936

“Curiosity is part of human

nature, and there will always be

science for the sake of science,

for the sake of pure

understanding”

Higgs-particle discovery announced 12 July 2012 at CERN

New York Times, 13 July 2012

So what? Even if the particle is the Higgs boson, it is not going to be used to cure diseases or improve technology. This discovery simply fills a gap in our understanding of the laws of nature that govern all matter, and throws light on what was going on in the early universe. It’s wonderful that many people do care about this sort of science, and regard it as a credit to our civilization.

Steven Weinberg, Nobel Prize 1979 On the Higgs discovery

In many countries scientific work needs more

public visibility and science more authority.

Scientific results are not opinions.

Has science lost its authority when it

comes to political decisions?

In many countries scientific work needs more

public visibility and science more authority.

Scientific results are not opinions.

Has science lost its authority when it

comes to political decisions?

A stronger bridge

between basic

scientific research and

politics/industry.

Message:

Basic scientific research gives new knowledge, often

completely unexpected.

It gives a kind of scientific capital, that increases our

knowledge of the laws of nature and from which

applications sometimes grow.

The link between basic science on one hand and

applications and industry as well as politcs is

essential for Europe.

Thank you