You've probably heard that yet another CU physics prof has won the Nobel Prize. Or at least a portion of it- he's sharing with a German guy and a guy from Harvard. That's great, right? It's good for him, it's good for CU. Huzzah!
Here's something I didn't know until Moop Fiance mentioned it last night: The CU prof gets 1/4 of the prize money. The German guy gets another 1/4 and the guy from Harvard gets the remaining 1/2. Um, shouldn't they be allowed to divvy up among themselves? Is someone afraid they're going to bicker during the ceremony? I mean, these guys figured out how to . . . do optics stuff that no one else understands. I bet they could figure out how to divide up the prize money.
Further, if the Nobel people are going to split up the money, wouldn't you think it would be 1/3 to each winner? If someone is getting the Nobel at all, they probably did something pretty important. So let's not split hairs. There's no need to say "Your work was really amazing; it totally opened up new possibilities for optics. What he did on that same project though . . . a tad more amazing."
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Point of information: the Harvard dude originated the awarded theory. The CU and German dudes collaborated on subsequent applied research which proved the theory's validity. Now before I get off on sounding all smart and stuff, here's the NPR segment that explained it all to me on the radio last night:
Laser Work Earns Trio Nobel Prize for Physics
I agree though, it seems odd that the people who actually went out and proved the validity of theory would get only 1/4. It is just an idea until it is validiated.
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