Ig Nobel Prize
From Freepedia
The Ig Nobel Prizes are a parody of the Nobel Prizes and are given each year in early fall — around the time the recipients of the genuine Nobel Prizes are announced — for ten achievements that "first make people laugh, and then make them think." Sponsored by the scientific humor journal Annals of Improbable Research (AIR), they are presented by genuine Nobel Laureates at a ceremony in Harvard University's Sanders Theatre.
The awards are sometimes veiled criticism — as in the two awards given for homeopathy research, or prizes in "science education" to Kansas and Colorado state boards of education for their stance regarding the teaching of evolution — but more often they draw attention to scientific articles that have some funny or unexpected aspect. Examples range from the discovery that the presence of humans tends to sexually arouse ostriches, to the statement that black holes fulfill all the technical requirements to be the location of Hell, to research on the "five-second rule," a tongue-in-cheek belief that food dropped on the floor won't become contaminated if it is picked up within five seconds.
The first Ig Nobels were awarded in 1991, when they were described as discoveries "that cannot, or should not, be reproduced." The name is a pun on the word "ignoble" and the name Nobel Prize. The official pronunciation used during the ceremony is "ig no-BELL", not "ig-noble", but this distinction eludes many people.
The ceremony is followed a few days later by the Ig Informal Lectures at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in which laureates have the opportunity to explain their achievements and their relevance to the general public.
The annual ceremony is co-sponsored by the Harvard Computer Society, the Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction Association, and the Harvard-Radcliffe Society of Physics Students.
With the exception of three prizes in the first year (see Administratium, Josiah Carberry, and Paul DeFanti), most Ig Nobel Prizes have been for genuine achievements.
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Tours and outreach
Unlike the Darwin Awards, whose aim is strictly to entertain, the aim of the Ig Nobel is also to arouse public interest in science. AIR Editor Marc Abrahams describes the awards as being designed "to make you laugh, and then to make you think."
The ceremony is recorded and broadcast on National Public Radio and is shown live over the Internet. Two books have been published as of 2004 with writeups on some of the winners: ISBN 0-75285-150-0 (hardback) and ISBN 0-75284-261-7 (paperback).
The Ig Nobel Tour performed shows in Britain during National Science Week; it has also traveled to other countries, including Australia.
Criticism
In 1995, Sir Robert May, the chief scientific advisor to the British government, requested that the organizers no longer award Ig Nobel prizes to British scientists, claiming that the awards risked bringing "genuine" experiments into ridicule.
Prize categories
Prizes have been awarded annually since 1991 for achievements in many categories. They include the Nobel Prize areas of physics, chemistry, physiology/medicine, literature, and peace but also other categories such as public health, engineering, biology, and interdisciplinary research.
Trivia
Throwing paper airplanes onto the stage has been a long-standing tradition at the Ig Nobels. In past years, physics professor Roy Glauber has been the official "Keeper of the Mop," sweeping the stage clean of the airplanes. In 2005, he became a genuine Nobel prize laureate.
