A relative unknown, Werner Forssmann won the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for inventing the cardiac catheter. Some of his equally qualified peers have not been as fortunate.

How Not to Win a Nobel Prize

A search through the Nobel archives shows how the history of the famous prize is filled with near misses and flukes

None

Cool Finds

Norwegian Nobel Winners Release Their Inner Avant-Garde Musicians

Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine repurposed a Norse folk tune for a science lecture

Trending Today

James Watson Will Be the First Nobel Laureate to Sell His Medallion

But his racist comments have created a surge of pushback

One of the original Regency TR-1 models resides in the Smithsonian collections.

How the Transistor Radio with Music for Your Pocket Fueled a Teenage Social Revolution

In a burst of post World War II innovation, the Regency TR-1 transistor radio became the new “It” gift for the holiday season

Trending Today

Your Cheat Sheet to the 2014 Nobel Prizes

Just enough to catch up

Cool Finds

The Nobel Prize in Physics for the Discovery of Neutrons Was Auctioned Off This Week

The prize fetched more than Faulkner’s Nobel, but less than Crick’s

Aung San Suu Kyi, photographed in June 2012

Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s Revolutionary Leader

The Nobel Peace Prize winner talks about the secret weapon in her decades of struggle—the power of Buddhism

None

Helen Gurley Brown, the World Trade Center and Nobel Prizes…

A look back at the world in Smithsonian Magazine’s first year

Page 5 of 5