| In Paris, on the 27th of November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his final testament. In accordance with his wishes, the Nobel Prizes were founded – and which again, on the 10th of December, were distributed in grand, official ceremonies taking place in both Stockholm and in Oslo.
It is thanks to such Nobel laureates that the human imagination continues to be enlightened, that there exist individuals who desire to disseminate international goodwill and encourage everyone to tend to new, continually blooming theories, questions and studies.
Throughout the month of October, the names of this year’s Nobel laureates, as well as their fields of work and discoveries, were published. Refresh your memory about the winners by re-discovering these very articles:
The Laureates of the Nobel Peace Prize 2006: Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank
The Laureate of the Nobel Prize for Literature 2006: Orhan Pamuk
The Laureate of the Nobel Prize for Economics 2006: Edmund S. Phelps
The Laureate of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2006: Roger D. Kornberg
The Laureates of the Nobel Prize for Physics 2006: John C. Mather and George F. Smoot
The Laureates of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine 2006: 2006: Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello
The laureates flew in from around the world several days prior to the official presentations of the awards. Whilst the award ceremonies themselves are well known, enjoying less fame are the lectures given by each Nobel Prize winner prior to the official events. Shortly put – in return for the prize, it is expected the laureate will say a few words.
All of these lectures are published under the auspices of the Nobel Foundation, in volumes entitled Nobel Lectures. They have been appearing since 1901.
On Thursday, the 7th of December, the Nobel winner for Literature, Orhan Pamuk, presented a lecture entitled Babamın bavulu – “My Father’s Suitcase.” Speaking on Friday, however, were John C. Mather and George F. Smoot from the field of physics – discussing their cosmic discoveries through the use of CMB and COBE. That same day, Roger D. Kornberg presented his achievements concerning the research of eukariotic cells.
From the field of medicine, Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello, who discovered RNA Inference in the use of technology to separate genes and sections of DNA, spoke about their research. Edmund S. Phelps, winner of the Prize in economics, also presented a speech about the analysis of inter-time dependency in macroeconomic politics. Finally, on Sunday, the 10th of December, the final laureate Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank, and winner of the Nobel Peace prize, delivered his Nobel lecture.
The full texts are available from the website of the Nobel Fountadtion, Nobelprize.org. Click here.
The laureates will now remain in Sweden and Norway for the next few days.
Tomorrow in Part II: Grand Ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo: The Official Presentation of the Awards. | 
