The Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded to a woman for the first time in 55 years, just a day after a scientist at Cern was suspended for claiming the discipline was ‘built by men.’
Prof Donna Strickland was one of three who will share the prize, the first female to achieve the accolade since Maria Goeppert-Mayer in 1963 and only the third woman in history. The first being Marie Curie.
“We need to celebrate women physicists because we’re out there, and hopefully in time it’ll start to move forward at a faster rate,” she said on a phone call to the press conference.
“I’m honoured to be one of those women.”
The announcement that a woman had been awarded the prize for physics comes just a day after Italian scientist Professor Alessandro Strumia was suspended by Cern for saying that “physics was invented and built by men” in a talk.
Commenting on the announcement, Jim Al-Khalili, the president of the British Science Association, said: “It is quite shocking to know that she is only the third woman to win a Physics Nobel, ever.
“It is also quite delicious that this comes just a few days after certain controversial and misogynistic comments made at a conference at CERN about women in physics.”
Prof Strickland was honored alongside Dr Gerard Mourou of France, for their work in creating the shortest and most intense laser pulses ever created by mankind, which are now used in laser eye surgery to restore vision for millions of people.
The prize was also awarded to Arthur Ashkin, 96, for his invention of “optical tweezers” that grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells with their laser beam fingers.
Credit: telegraph.co.uk
Photo credit: CTV News
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