Science: Awards Beyond the Lab

All too often the theoretical research of physicists and chemists is totally incomprehensible to laymen. Yet their theories frequently lead to discoveries that dramatically change the course of everyday life. That relationship between the abstract and the practical was emphasized last week by Sweden's Royal Academy of Sciences. It awarded the 1973 Nobel prizes in physics and chemistry, worth $120,000 apiece, to five scientists whose achievements not only have had a major impact on their fields of study but also are already producing practical fallout beyond the lab.

Half the physics prize is...