Marquel TPVs NYTimes Credit Where Credit is Due Section correspondent, was calling his mother to credit her with his work, when he read 2 Japanese and 1 American Share Nobel in Physics for Work on LED Lights. Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano of Japan and Shuji Nakamura of the University of California, Santa Barbara, were honored for their work with light-emitting diodes. Marquel wondered how a Nobel winning discovery could enter our lives so quickly. The awards for bosons, quasars, black holes, and such, seemed more legitimate. Marquel searched the web to see if he could obtain a boson on the web. But no way. And try finding a black hole. We don’t even know if they are real. But LEDs you can find on Barbie dolls! So what did these inventors do that was so Nobelish, Marquel wondered.He went to the reception in New York and stuck around to talk to the scientists.
The first was one of the two Japanese researchers.
“Tell me what exactly you did with LEDs and the scientific advance it represents” I said.
“Sure,” he said, “what I did was figure out that these LEDs are really fantastic. They are so bright! With that in mind, I thought, where do we need bright lights. I realized dark places were perfect. Airplanes can be dark at night, especially in an emergency, and as I was listening to the announcements to go to the nearest exit, it occurred to me that à night exit could be risky. I was staring at the floor and it came to me like God’s voice. Lights in the floor! Who puts lights on the floor? No one! But an LED trail on an airplane floor could lead you to safety in a night emergency.”
“So you came up with that.” I said. “Do you think that’s Nobel quality compared to bosons, quasars, and Black holes?”
“Oh yes. I am an applied physicist. No math for me. I figure out how to use all this junk physicists come up with.”
“Still congratulations,” I said, ” I’ll think of you next time I’m on an airplane. “
“Remember,” he cautioned, “the nearest exit might be behind you.”
“Thanks,” I said,” I’ve heard that.”
The next was the Japanese American Nobelist. He won the prize for what seems like a little idea, as all elegant inventions seem in hindsight.
“What did you win the Nobel for?” I asked him.
“You know that little light on your mobile phone?” He asked, “it’s always blinking or changing colors in random ways that nobody understands?”
“How can you miss it?” I asked. “It’s so mystifying and…essentially useless.”
“Exactly!” He exclaimed, “it was my idea to use an LED for that. It blinks, changes colors, and doesn’t use any significant battery power.”
“What’s Nobel level about that?” I asked. “I’m sorry, I’m not a scientist. But to me, that’s a commercial move, not a scientific advance.”
“The Committee’s putting a lot of emphasis on real world impact. I impacted the entire world.” He said.
“Sort of like Obama?” I asked.
“Sort of,” he answered, sounding doubtful.
Finally I cornered the second Japanese scientist. We both took a piece of sushi from a passing waiter before proceeding. “What,” I asked, “did you do in LED physics that earned you the Nobel?”
“Quite simply, and it is quite simple, I came up with the idea of putting many, many, even dozens, of LEDs in a tiny flashlight, the kind that blind you when you try them out so that you end up buying all the wrong things not on your shopping list. It was kind of a Eureka experience.” He said, filling his chest.
“So you got the Nobel for taking flashlights with an LED already in them, and just adding more?” I asked. Once again I didn’t see the great scientific advance I’d come to expect from Nobels.
On the other hand, I understood this year’s prizes easily. I never understood anything at all about bosons and other particles, some of which apparently don’t even exist, or hardly.
“Oh no, I didn’t just add more.” He asserted. “I added many many more. A blinding increase. That was my achievement.” He bragged.
“Well congratulations. I’ll remember you forever, each time I blind myself while shopping.” I said.
I still thought it was like Obama. The Nobel is much more accessible these days. You can get it for making a blinking bagatelle, a blinding light, a lighted floor and for making peace while making even more war. With drones. The Nobel prize, I thought, has become the Zagatt of prizes, its importance measured by how many know of you and not necessarily what you’ve done.
***
BY MARQUEL: The LED in Nobel
Funny. I did not know that the LED won the day. Thanks
Ouch! So well put: making piece through more war. What a disaster for peace
Best ending ever:
“I still thought it was like Obama. The Nobel is much more accessible these days. You can get it for making a blinking bagatelle, a blinding light, a lighted floor and for making peace while making even more war. With drones. The Nobel prize, I thought, has become the Zagatt of prizes, its importance measured by how many know of you and not necessarily what you’ve done.”
I loved how you made fun of the scientists!
The Nobel was for the blue color: Inventor of the red LED was overlooked for his seminal 1960s work
No, it was not the color, it was his name, the Committee did not like: Nick Holonyak. Nothing difficult to pronounce if you were a Norwegian.
Has anybody “red” (sic) this? http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/nobel-prize-2014-inventor-of-the-red-led-hits-out-at-committee-for-overlooking-his-seminal-1960s-work-9782948.html
ditto