Shifting Trends in Modern Physics, Nobel Recognition, and the Histories That We Write

Abstract

Since the late-nineteenth century, scientists have been labeled with disciplinary fields and scientific achievements have been identified largely with heroic individuals. Reward systems such as the highly visible Nobel Prizes have reinforced such a view of science. This paper examines long-term trends in Nobel Physics awards since 1901 and asks whether the awards have registered the increasing specialization, collaboration, and transdisciplinary research that mark the course of modern physics. A second major question is the extent to which, in turn, histories of physics since the 1960s have reflected trends in physics or in Nobel recognition. Historians of physics appear to have favored accounts of particle physics and relativity theory over other areas of physics, with biography remaining a strong tradition in the history of physics, even while institutional and social history has become significant. Concluding remarks address hierarchies of prestige in science, the accessible and emotional appeal of heroic and revolutionary accounts of science, and the perennial appeal of fundamental questions, like reductionism and emergence.