List of nonreligious Nobel laureates

List of atheist Nobel laureates is a list of individuals who won a Nobel Prize and hold a view that, affirms the nonexistence of gods, rejects theism, or otherwise is considered atheism. An atheist is one who disbelieves^[1] in the existence of a deity or deities. This list does not prefer any particular definition of atheist, but gives precedence to a person's self-identification. In this list, the criteria used to identify someone as an atheist are strict. This list include only those Nobel laureates who have called themselves atheists, identified as atheists by informed and impartial sources and those who have expressed disbelief in the existence of God.

Richard Feynman, one of the greatest physicists of 20th century and Nobel laureate in Physics in 1965, was an atheist. In his book What Do You Care What Other People Think?, Feynman described himself as "an avowed atheist" by his early youth. Even though he has Jewish ancestry, he refused to be included in a list of "Jewish Nobel laureates" and "Jewish scientists" stating "I do not wish to cooperate with you, in your new adventure in prejudice”.

List of atheist Nobel laureates

Nobel Prize in Physics

• Paul Dirac (1902–1984): British theoretical physicist and a founder of the field of quantum mechanics. He held the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Among other discoveries, he formulated the so-called Dirac equation, which describes the behavior of fermions and which led to the prediction of the existence of antimatter. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933.^[2]
• Richard Feynman (1918–1988): American theoretical physicist, best known for his work in renormalizing Quantum electrodynamics and his path integral formulation of Quantum Mechanics . He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 for renormalizing Quantum electrodynamics. Feynman was of Jewish birth, but described himself as "an avowed atheist" by his early youth^[3]. Even though he has Jewish ancestry, he refused to be included in a list of "Jewish Nobel laureates" and "Jewish scientists" stating "I do not wish to cooperate with you, in your new adventure in prejudice"^[4].
• Steven Weinberg (1933—): American theoretical physicist. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979 for creating a unified field theory of electromagnetic force and nuclear weak force know as the electro-weak gauge theory.^[5][6]
• Vitaly Ginzburg (1916—): Russian theoretical physicist and astrophysicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2003 for his pioneering contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids. He also won the Wolf Prize in Physics in 1994/95. His other achievements are the theory of electromagnetic wave propagation in plasmas such as the ionosphere, and a theory of the origin of cosmic radiation. In the 1950s he played a key role in the development of the Soviet hydrogen bomb.^[7]

Nobel Prize in Chemistry

• Frédéric Joliot-Curie (1900–1958): French physicist and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry in 1935. Jointly with his wife, Frédéric was awarded the prize for their discovery of artificial radioactivity.^[8]
• Irène Joliot-Curie (1897–1956): French scientist, the daughter of Marie and Pierre Curie and the wife of Frédéric Joliot-Curie, and Nobel laureate in Chemistry in 1935. Jointly with her husband, Irène was awarded the prize for their discovery of artificial radioactivity.^[9]
• Peter D. Mitchell (1920–1992): British biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1978 for his contribution to the understanding of biological energy transfer through the formulation of the Chemiosmosis.^[10]
• Michael Smith (1932–2000): British-born Canadian biochemist and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry in 1993.^[11]
• Harold Kroto (1939—): English chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996 for the discovery of Fullerene.^[12]
• Paul D. Boyer (1918—): American biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1997 for his elucidation of the enzymatic mechanism underlying the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP).^[13]

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

• Hermann Joseph Muller (1890–1967): American geneticist and educator, best known for his work on the physiological and genetic effects of radiation (X-ray mutagenesis). He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1946.^[14]
• Francis Crick (1916–2004): English molecular biologist, physicist, and neuroscientist, who is most noted for being one of the co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953. Francis Crick was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1962 for discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material. The discovery of the structure of DNA is widely considered as one of the greatest scientific achievements of all time.^[15][16]
• James D. Watson (1928—): American molecular biologist, best known as one of the discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule. James Watson was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1962 for discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material. The discovery of the structure of DNA is widely considered as one of the greatest scientific achievements of all time.^[17]
• Jacques Monod (1910–1976): French biologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1965 for discoveries concerning genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis.^[18]
• Richard J. Roberts (1943—): British biochemist and molecular biologist. He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1993 for the discovery of introns in eukaryotic DNA and the mechanism of gene-splicing.^[19]
• Paul Nurse (1949—): British biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2001 for discoveries regarding cell cycle regulation by cyclin and cyclin dependent kinases.^[20]

Nobel Prize in Literature

• George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950): Irish playwright, only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize and an Oscar. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925 for his work which is marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty. He won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1939 for Pygmalion.^[21][22]
• Bertrand Russell, (1872–1970): British philosopher and mathematician. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950 in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought. Though he considered himself an agnostic in a purely philosophical context, he said that the label atheist conveyed a more accurate understanding of his views in a popular context.^[23]
• Pär Lagerkvist (1891–1974): Swedish author who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1951. Lagerkvist wrote poems, plays, novels, stories, and essays of considerable expressive power and influence from his early 20s to his late 70s. As a moralist, he used religious motifs and figures from the Christian tradition without following the doctrines of the Church.^[24]
• Albert Camus (1913–1960): French philosopher and novelist, a luminary of existentialism. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957.^[25][26]
• Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980): French existentialist philosopher, dramatist and novelist who declared that he had been an atheist from age twelve. Although he regarded God as a self-contradictory concept, he still thought of it as an ideal toward which people strive.^[27] He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964, but he rejected the prize. According to Sartre, his most-repeated summary of his existentialist philosophy, "Existence precedes essence," implies that humans must abandon traditional notions of having been designed by a divine creator.^[28]
• Nadine Gordimer (1923—): South African writer and political activist. Her writing has long dealt with moral and racial issues, particularly apartheid in South Africa. She won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1991.^[29][30]
• Dario Fo (1922—): Italian satirist, playwright, theater director, actor, and composer. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1997.^[31]
• José Saramago (1922—): Portuguese writer, playwright and journalist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1998.^[32]
• Gao Xingjian (1940—): Chinese émigré novelist, dramatist, critic, translator, stage director and painter. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2000.^[33]
• Harold Pinter (1930—): British playwright, screenwriter, poet, actor, director, author, and political activist, best known for his plays The Birthday Party (1957), The Caretaker (1959), The Homecoming (1964), and Betrayal (1978). He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2005.^[34]

Nobel Peace Prize

• Mikhail Gorbachev (1931—): Former Soviet president and the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.^[35][36][37]

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

• Amartya Sen (1933—): Indian economist who won The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 1998 for his contributions to welfare economics. In 1999, he received the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, given for the highest degree of national service. ^[38][39][40]

Individuals who have won two Nobel Prizes

• Marie Curie (1867–1934): Polish-French physicist and chemist. She was a pioneer in the field of radioactivity and she became the first person to win two Nobel Prizes. She won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. She became the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize. Eight years later, she won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911. She remains the only person to have been awarded two Nobel prizes in two different sciences.^[41]
• Linus Pauling (1901–1994): American quantum chemist and biochemist. He was also acknowledged as a crystallographer, molecular biologist, and medical researcher. Pauling is also considered by many to be the greatest chemist of the twentieth century. He pioneered the application of quantum mechanics to chemistry, and in 1954 was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work describing the nature of chemical bonds. Pauling also received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962 for his campaign against above-ground nuclear testing and became the first person to win two unshared Nobel Prizes. Pauling remains the only person to have been awarded two unshared Nobel Prizes. He also made important contributions to crystal and protein structure determination, and was one of the founders of molecular biology. He came near to discovering the "double helix," the ultrastructure of DNA, which Watson and Crick discovered in 1953. Pauling is noted as a versatile scholar for his expertise in inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, metallurgy, immunology, anesthesiology, psychology, debate, radioactive decay, and the aftermath of nuclear warfare, in addition to quantum mechanics and molecular biology.^[42]

Footnotes, citations and references

1. Various dictionaries give a range of definitions for disbelief, from "lack of belief" to "doubt" and "withholding of belief" to "rejection of belief", "refusal to believe", and "denial". Template:Ref harvard
2. Werner Heisenberg recollects a friendly conversation among young participants at the 1927 Solvay Conference about Einstein and Planck's views on religion. Wolfgang Pauli, Heisenberg and Dirac took part in it. Among other things, Dirac said: "I cannot understand why we idle discussing religion. If we are honest - and as scientists honesty is our precise duty - we cannot help but admit that any religion is a pack of false statements, deprived of any real foundation. The very idea of God is a product of human imagination. [...] I do not recognize any religious myth, at least because they contradict one another. [...]" Pauli jokingly said: "Well, I'd say that also our friend Dirac has got a religion and the first commandment of this religion is: God does not exist and Paul Dirac is his prophet." Physics and Beyond: Encounters and Conversations. New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 0061316229.
3. Freethought of the Day, Freedom From Religion Foundation, May 11 2006 [1]
4. Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track, Richard Feynman, Basic Books (2005) pages 234-236 ISBN 0-465-02371-1
5. In a review of Susskind's book The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design, string theorist Michael Duff identifies Steven Weinberg as an "arch-atheist".[2]
6. In the book The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins identifies Steven Weinberg as an atheist.[3]
7. "I am an atheist, that is, I think nothing exists except and beyond nature." Ginzburg's autobiography at Nobelprize.org
8. [4]
9. Irène Joliot-Curie - Summary. BookRags.com. Accessed February 3, 2007.
10. Nobel Biography[5].
11. Smith, Michael. Michael Smith: Autobiography. Nobel Prize.org. Retrieved on February 3, 2007.
12. Harold Kroto claims to have four "religions": humanism, atheism, amnesty-internationalism and humourism.[6]
13. Boyer, Paul. "A Path to Atheism". Freedom From Religion Foundation. Retrieved on February 3, 2007
14. "Muller, who through Unitarianism had become an enthusiastic pantheist, was converted both to atheism and to socialism." Hermann Joseph Muller. 1890-1967, G. Pontecorvo, Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, Vol. 14, Nov., 1968 (Nov., 1968), pp. 348-389 (Quote from p. 353) (Accessed 14 June 2007)
15. Francis Crick, What Mad Pursuit: a Personal View of Scientific Discovery, Basic Books reprint edition, 1990, ISBN 0-465-09138-5, p. 145.
16. How I Got Inclined Towards Atheism. “I am an agnostic with a strong inclination towards atheism." [7]
17. James D. Watson was identified as an atheist in a Newsweek commentary by his acquaintance, Rabbi Marc Gellman.Trying to Understand Angry Atheists: Why do nonbelievers seem to be threatened by the idea of God?, by Rabbi Marc Gellman, Newsweek, 28 April 2006 (Accessed 11 November 2006)
18. "In his final chapter de Duve turns to the meaning of life, and considers the ideas of two contrasting Frenchmen: a priest, Teilhard de Chardin, and an existentialist and atheist, Jacques Monod." Peaks, Dust, & Dappled Spots, by Richard Lubbock, Books in Canada: The Canadian Review of Books. (Accessed 2 July 2007)
19. In April 2006, Dr Richard Roberts gave a public lecture entitled A Bright Journey from Science to Atheism.[8][9][10]
20. "I gradually slipped away from religion over several years and became an atheist or to be more philosophically correct, a sceptical agnostic." Nurse's autobiography at Nobelprize.org
21. The Religious Affiliation of Irish Playwright George Bernard Shaw
22. George Bernard Shaw quotations
23. Russell said: "As a philosopher, if I were speaking to a purely philosophic audience I should say that I ought to describe myself as an Agnostic, because I do not think that there is a conclusive argument by which one prove that there is not a God. On the other hand, if I am to convey the right impression to the ordinary man in the street I think I ought to say that I am an Atheist... None of us would seriously consider the possibility that all the gods of Homer really exist, and yet if you were to set to work to give a logical demonstration that Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, and the rest of them did not exist you would find it an awful job. You could not get such proof. Therefore, in regard to the Olympic gods, speaking to a purely philosophical audience, I would say that I am an Agnostic. But speaking popularly, I think that all of us would say in regard to those gods that we were Atheists. In regard to the Christian God, I should, I think, take exactly the same line."Am I an Agnostic or an Atheist?, from Last Philosophical Testament 1943–1968, (1997) Routledge ISBN 0-415-09409-7.
24. Pär Lagerkvist wrote of himself that he was "a believer without a belief, a religious atheist."[11]
25. David Simpson writes that Camus affirmed "a defiantly atheistic creed."Albert Camus (1913-1960), The Internet Encyclopedia or Philosophy, 2006, (Accessed 14 June 2007).."
26. Haught, James A. (1996). 2,000 Years of Disbelief: Famous People with the Courage to Doubt. Prometheus Books. pp. pp. 261-262. ISBN 1-57392-067-3. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
27. Kimball, Roger (2000). "The World According to Sartre". The New Criterion. Retrieved 2006-11-12. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
28. Kemerling, Garth (October 27, 2001). "Sartre: Existential Life". Philosophy Pages. Britannica Internet Guide Selection. Retrieved 2006-11-12.
29. "Gordimer looks towards end", BBC News, 2003-06-06. Retrieved on 2007-07-07.
30. Gordimer: "I am an atheist. I wouldn't even call myself an agnostic."[12]
31. [13]
32. CNN reports that: "Among these works are mythical stories through which Saramago, a communist and atheist, weaves his own brand of social and political commentary." In praise of Portuguese (Accessed 30 May 2007)
33. Nobel Lecture by Gao Xingjian
34. "Pinter 'on road to recovery'". BBC News. 2002-08-26. Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
35. "I am an atheist. But I... respect the feelings and the religious beliefs of each citizen." Gorbachev interview with Peter Jennings, ABC News, Sept. 6, 1991, reported in The New York Times, Sept. 7, 1991.
36. Atheism: An Affirmative View (1980) by Emmett F. Fields
37. hyperhistory.net
38. Reported lecture [14]
39. World Bank [15]
40. Press meeting [16]
41. "Marie Curie's family religion was Roman Catholic, but she became an anticlerical atheist on the death of her mother and older sister." Jone Johnson Lewis (2006). "Biography of Marie Curie". About, Inc. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
42. Linus Pauling, in private, was an atheist.[17]

See also

• Atheism
• List of atheists
• List of atheist Articles
• Nobel Prize

External links

• Template:Dmoz— includes links to organizations and websites.