science

The Nobel Duel

The Nobel Duel is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Nobel Duel rather than just read about it. In short: The Nobel Duel: Two Scientists' 21-Year Race to Win the World's Most Coveted Research Prize is a 1981 book by science journalist Nicholas Wade. It describes the rivalry between scientists Andrew Schally and Roger Guillemin, whose discoveries in hormone research led to them sharing the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Key takeaways

The Nobel Duel belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Nobel Duel to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Nobel Duel from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Nobel Duel: Two Scientists' 21-Year Race to Win the World's Most Coveted Research Prize is a 1981 book by science journalist Nicholas Wade. It describes the rivalry between scientists Andrew Schally and Roger Guillemin, whose discoveries in hormone research led to them sharing the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Biochemist John T. Edsall, writing in Isis, wrote "Wade appears to have striven conscientiously to give a fair picture. The book is of interest both as a study of the tumultuous course of some major scientific advances and as a contribution to the sociology of modern science." A reviewer in The New England Journal of Medicine wrote Wade had gone too far in imputing unattractive motives to the two figures. Maya Pines in The Washington Post's "Book World" said it "may be the most unflattering description of scientists ever written". Several reviewers invoked comparisons to The Double Helix by James D. Watson, which chronicled the human side of scientific research, with a review in The Journal of the American Medical Association calling it the better of the two, although on a subject of lesser importance. A review in The American Biology Teacher wrote: "No book since... The Double Helix has captured the intensity, spirit, and drama of scientific research." Pines called it "worlds away" from The Double Helix in presenting the research as a "grim, relentless struggle for fame and glory".

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Nobel Duel

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Nobel Duel claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Nobel Duel before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Nobel Duel ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Nobel Duel

In research: The Nobel Duel appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Nobel Duel in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Nobel Duel is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1981 non-fiction books, Books about scientists, Books about the politics of science, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Nobel Duel outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Nobel Duel in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Nobel Duel means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Nobel Duel out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Nobel Duel in simple terms?

Why does The Nobel Duel matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Nobel Duel?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Nobel Duel.