The Corner

Re: Nobel Prize Runners-up

When I heard about Sheehan’s silliness, I was reminded of the Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven, resting place of Noah Webster among others.  John Gamble Kirkwood (d. 1959) was a chemist on the Yale faculty.  His tomb stone is 6 feet high and more than two feet wide, and includes a 20 line listing of awards and achievements.  Next to him is buried Lars Onsanger (d. 1976), another Yale chemist.  His tombstone is about as large, but just has inscribed, “Nobel Laureate*”.  Down below is another asterisk, followed by only “etc.”  I am glad the Grameen Bank won; they have done real work rather than just posturing.  And, unlike Jimmy Carter, Muhammad Yunus has empowered democrats rather than dictators.

Michael Rubin is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, senior lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Civil-Military Relations, and a senior editor of the Middle East Quarterly.
Exit mobile version