Upon following the work of the Nobel Committees in Oslo

Thinking about the Norwegian Nobel Committee (Headquarters, Oslo)
by Bruce E. Camber

Among our most respected scholars and scientists are those who have received the Nobel Prize. We have written to many of them over the years. First and foremost was Frank Wilczek whose articles about Max Planck were entirely helpful. There have been many whom I have gotten to know personally. Yet, these people are always deeply involved with their own research. To ask them to review first principles is actually not very polite. It’s like asking them to be absurd to themselves, “Why didn’t you see this simple construction?” Wisdom comes slowly. Yet, today, it seems that those people who evaluate ideas and the status of nascent ideas may be the among best people to ask for a judgment on our evaluation of Nobel laureates! That seems so self-evident today. These are people who are more likely to have a broader and deeper perspective on scholars and their scholarship.

So, we are now consulting with such people around the world and we are hoping that the people of the Nobel committees might have some suggestions and insights for us.

We have included among the Nobel people:

1. Anne Enger, County Governor of Østfold, 2004–2015, Minister of Culture 1997–2000, Acting Prime Minister of Norway (three weeks in 1998,  Kjell Magne Bondevik’s sick leave).

2. Asle Toje, Oslo, Norway A writer and current chairman of the Peace Prize committee. On 18 May 2024, I wrote to him to ask the questions directly. He is a scholar in his own right and has been on the faculty of several schools and a guest lecturer at many more.

3. Jørgen Watne Frydnes is the 2024 chair of all the committees for Nobel prizes. He is also the chair of PEN Norway, a global group defending the freedom of expression. My first note to Jørgen introduced this page and our desire for feedback about the 202 base-2 notations.

4. Kristin Clemet, former Conservative Party cabinet member who previously represented Oslo in Norwegian Parliament. Appointed for the period 2021–2026.

We are searching for the fifth member now.

Members of physics committee

  • John Wettlaufer, Yale University is also a scholar in his own right within condensed matter physics and applied math. That he is on the committee for the Nobel Prize in physics, so we are greatly interested in seeking his advice. It’ll be just fine with me if he teaches us something about the infinitesimal universe that we need to know to interpret the Planck scale correctly. The information would be priceless. we’ve written our first note him.
  • David Haviland. Professor of Nanostructure Physics
  • Mats Larsson. Professor of Molecular Physics
  • Eva Olsson. Professor of Experimental Physics
  • Thors Hans Hansson (Chair) Professor of Theoretical Physics
  • Anders Irbäck
  • Gunnar Ingelman (Secretary)
  • Ulf Danielsson