Table of Contents

Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. Precursors to the Nobel prizes in the sciences; 2. Developments in Swedish and international science having a bearing on the Nobel institution; 3. Implementing the will of Alfred Nobel, 1896–1900; 4. An overview of the nominating system and its influence on the prize decisions; 5. Networks at work in the prize selections: Arrhenius and Mittag-Leffler; 6. Committee decision making; 7. The prizes, the public, and the scientific community; Epilogue and conclusions; Appendixes; A note on sources and notes; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Reviews

'An important contribution, The Beginnings will stir up discussion of the meaningfulness of the process and of the prizes themselves as used to measure national prowess in research.' ISIS

'… one of the first sustained scholarly efforts to put the Nobel Prizes into better perspective.' American Scientist

'Elisabeth Crawford writes … with skill and much scholarship. She spent five years researching and writing this book. Her analysis is minute, and the wealth of detail she has managed to unearth concerning the state of science, and its institutions, in Scandinavia at the turn of the century is quite remarkable.' New Scientist