Steve Weinberg, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1979

Steven Weinberg holds the Josey Regental Chair in Science at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is a member of the Physics and Astronomy Departments. His research on elementary particles and cosmology has been honored with numerous prizes and awards. In 1979, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his development of a field theory that unifies the weak and electromagnetic nuclear forces within the atom.

In 1991, Weinberg was presented the National Medal of Science. In 2004, he received the Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Sciences of the American Philosophical Society, with a citation saying he is "considered by many to be the preeminent theoretical physicist alive in the world today".

Among his many writings on theoretical physics are several books for scientists and lay readers alike, including The First Three Minutes, an eye-opening look at the origins of social commentary, and for his views on the essential role of science in society. Many of his writings on these and other subjects have appeared in The New York Review of Books.

"Science can tell you how to achieve certain things if you want to achieve them," Dr. Weinberg told Turk Pipkin during their conversations for Nobelity, "but it can’t tell you what you ought to achieve. There is an unbridgeable gulf between questions of what is and questions of what ought to happen."

Weinberg also works closely with the Union of Concerned Scientists, an independent non-profit alliance of more than 100,000 concerned citizens and scientists which augments scientific analysis with innovative thinking and committed citizen advocacy to build a cleaner, healthier environment and a safer world.

Richard E. Smalley, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1996

Dr. Richard E. Smalley was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of the Buckministerfullerene or Buckyball, a unique molecular structure of 60 carbon atoms. Some of the strongest materials ever discovered, carbon nanostructures are currently being used in numerous practical applications.

Smalley's interest in science began in his early teens, and he has been an eloquent spokesman for the need to educate a new generation of scientists to find solutions to the world's problems. "Be a Scientist — Save the World" was the title of his lecture on the great energy challenges we face in the coming decades. Finding a new source of clean and reliable energy," he argued, "would enable us to solve numerous other world problems, including the need for clean water and plentiful food."

"There are good things about challenges," Smalley told Turk Pipkin while filming at Smalley's office at Rice University. "Challenge brings forth the best instincts of our youth and ourselves, and urges us on to develop technologies that would otherwise not get developed, so I see this as a good opportunity for the nation to seize on, and frankly for the world."

After a long battle with leukemia, Smalley died at age 62 on October 28, 2005.

Dr. Harold E. Varmus, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1989

Former Director of the National Institute of Health under President Bill Clinton, Dr. Harold E. Varmus is currently the President of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. A noted cancer biologist, Varmus is also a cyclist and a passionate advocate for increased health care spending and medical research around the world.

"As a fraction of our gross national product, the U.S. is at the bottom of the 22 wealthiest nations on a list of donors," he pointed out to Turk Pipkin during filming for Nobelity. "Furthermore, only one-eighth of our foreign aid goes to health, and it doesn’t all go to the poorest countries."

In 1989, Varmus was awarded the Nobel Prize with J. Michael Bishop in recognition of their breakthrough research in identifying oncogenes, the discovery of which has dramatically improved our ability to understand and control cancer.

Varmus is also the co-founder of the Public Library of Science, a non-profit organization of scientists and physicians committed to opening the doors to the world's library of scientific knowledge by giving any scientist, physician, patient or student – anywhere in the world – unlimited access to the latest scientific research.

Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize, 1997

Along with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), which she helped to found, Jody Williams was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1997 for her work in the creation of an international treaty banning anti-personnel landmines. At the time of the ICBL's founding, tens of millions of mines were deployed around the world in 80 countries, and each year mines were claiming as many as fifty thousand new victims — most of them civilians, many of them children — who were crippled, maimed and blinded by mines.

The treaty has since been signed by 152 countries (but not the U.S.), and more than 1,100 square kilometers of land have been cleared, destroying 4 million anti-personnel mines, nearly 1 million anti-vehicle mines, and many more millions of pieces of unexploded ordnance. Adding to these accomplishments, 62 million stockpiled anti-personnel mines have been destroyed.

In addition to being the chief strategist and spokesperson for the Campaign, Williams is an eloquent speaker on human rights, on the role of civil society in international diplomacy, and on individual initiative in bringing about social change.

"Every act you take on this planet contributes in one way or another to an outcome," says Jody. "When we launched the mine ban, we didn’t know what we would accomplish. But we did know it was the right thing to do."

Ahmed Zewail, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1999

The Linus Pauling Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, Ahmed Zewail was educated in his native Egypt before moving to America to attend Alexandria University and the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his PhD.

Zewail was awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his seminal work in the field of femtochemistry, which made it possible to observe molecular changes measured in femtoseconds, a measurement equal to a millionth of a billionth of a second. This work has greatly expanded our understanding of molecular structure and the dynamics of matter, and has led to entire new fields of practical applications in technology and life sciences.

Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize, 2004

The first environmentalist to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Prof. Wangari Muta Maathai is the founder of Kenya's Green Belt Movement (GBM), a grassroots non-governmental organization (NGO) which has created opportunity and change in the life of rural African women and dramatically improved the Kenyan environment through the planting of 30 million trees.

Sir Joseph Rotblat, Nobel Peace Prize, 1995

Born in Poland where he received his PhD, nuclear physicist and peace activist Sir Joseph Rotblat spent the past sixty years fighting against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Along with Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell, Rotblat was one of eleven scientists who in 1955 signed the Russell-Einstein Manifesto, a letter to the world calling for a total ban on nuclear weapons.

Amartya Sen, Nobel Prize in Economics, 1998

Indian economist Amartya Sen is one of the world's leading authorities on human development, human rights and the causes of famine. Currently the Lamont University Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University, Sen is the author of numerous books, including the landmark work, Development as Freedom, in which he demonstrates that famine is not caused by a lack of food, but by an inability to purchase or acquire food due to poverty or a lack of a variety of freedoms.

Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize, 1984

Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role as "a unifying leader figure in the campaign to resolve the problem of apartheid in South Africa".

After the fall of apartheid, Tutu headed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was widely credited with helping South Africa avoid revenge oriented bloodshed following the fall of apartheid.