Science: Nobelmen

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Dr. Vincent du Vigneaud of Cornell University Medical College had a rather harrowing experience with his Nobel Prize. A fortnight ago, the Associated Press reported from Sweden that he had won the medicine prize (TIME, Oct. 31). The report was promptly corrected, but not before Dr. du Vigneaud had heard it and rejoiced prematurely. When the news came last week that he had won the chemistry prize instead, the executive editor of the Associated Press, Alan J. Gould himself, called Dr. du Vigneaud to assure him that this was the real McCoy. Then Dr. du Vigneaud's colleagues dressed themselves in clean white lab coats and threw a party in the laboratory conference room, which is decorated with a stuffed grey rooster that was used in a critical test of one of his theories.

Synthetic Hormone. After working for many years on the mixture of powerful hormones secreted by the pituitary gland at the base of the brain, Biochemist du Vigneaud succeeded in isolating oxytocin, which stimulates the uterus contractions of childbirth and starts the flow of milk. Then he took oxytocin apart and determined its chemical structure. Final step was to make it synthetically. This was an extremely difficult job, because oxytocin is a polypeptide, a protein-like compound made of eight amino acids, and probably the most complex substance ever synthesized. But Dr. du Vigneaud's synthetic hormone passed all tests, performing in living bodies exactly like the natural article.

Theoretical Upset. This year's physics prize also went to the U.S. It was shared by Drs. Willis E. Lamb Jr. and Polykarp Kusch, who worked independently on related problems at Columbia University. Between them they forced an important modification of atomic theory.

According to ideas prevailing when Dr. Lamb started work shortly after World War II, the hydrogen atom could exist in two "states," both with the same energy. Dr. Lamb was skilled in the use of microwaves, which have the property of adding small amounts of energy to atoms they hit. He shot microwaves through one "state" of hydrogen and turned it into the other "state." Since energy was absorbed in this transition, he had proved that the two states of hydrogen did not contain the same amount of energy. The difference was small but extremely important from the point of view of theory.

Working with a roughly similar method, Dr. Kusch proved that the "magnetic moment" (magnetic strength) of electrons spinning around atomic nuclei is .125% greater than had been believed. This small change, taken with the correction made by Dr. Lamb, meant that the theoretical physicists would have to modify their basic ideas of atomic behavior.

For a while there was something like confusion on the upper levels of physics. But physicists enjoy this sort of confusion: it gives them a stimulating workout. Soon they found ways to reconcile—and reinforce—their theories with the Lamb and Kusch experiments. Both discoveries went into the general pool of scientific knowledge and had no immediate effect in practical applied physics. Said smiling Dr. Kusch last week: "You can peddle the patent rights for 13¢."