Nobel Prize-winning physicist Charles Townes was single-minded about a lot of things, colleagues say. And also a very nice guy. Julian Wasser/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty hide caption
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Nobel Prize
The 1962 Nobel Prize Medal in Medicine or Physiology that James Watson sold at auction last week will be returned to him, at the buyer's request. Christie's hide caption
The 1962 Nobel Prize Medal in Medicine or Physiology that James Watson won has been sold at auction. Christie's hide caption
French economist Jean Tirole won the Nobel prize for economics Monday for research on market power and regulation in industries dominated by a few powerful companies. The undated photo was provided by the Toulouse School of Economics. AP hide caption
A woman in Senegal charges her cellphone using a port in her solar-powered LED lantern. Bruno Déméocq/Courtesy of Lighting Africa hide caption
The new microscopy technique (lower right) brings into focus details of cell structures never seen before with light. Courtesy of A. Honigmann, C. Eggeling and S.W. Hell, MPI Göttinge hide caption
Molecular biologist Randy Sheckman, who shared the 2013 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, acknowledges applause after receiving his prize during the ceremony in Stockholm last December. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images hide caption
Nadine Gordimer visited Alexandra, the black township near Johannesburg, in 1986 to pay homage to victims of political unrest. Reuters /Landov hide caption
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announces the winners of the 2013 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in Stockholm Monday. The prize went to U.S. professors Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen and Robert Shiller. Claudio Bresciani/AP hide caption
U.N. chemical weapons experts carry samples collected on Aug. 28 from a site of an alleged chemical weapons attack near the Syrian capital Damascus. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which is dismantling Syria's chemical weapons stockpile, was awarded the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. Reuters /Landov hide caption
From left: Randy Schekman, Thomas Suedhof and James Rothman shared the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Reuters /Landov hide caption
A photo of J.D. Salinger taken in September 1961. AP hide caption
A Swiss cardiologist plots a cheeky graph that shows a country's chocolate consumption may predict its chances of winning a Nobel. John Loo/Flickr.com hide caption