Among the idiosyncrasies of the prize as described in Nobel's will, mathematics and astronomy are not included among the scientific fields honored.

"The prizes tended to stay away from theoretical inventiveness and rewarded experimental inventiveness," said Professor of the History of Science Everret I. Mendelsohn in an interview yesterday.

One reason for the Nobel prize's fame as compared with other scientific prizes is its age, Mendelsohn said. The Nobel prizes have been awarded annually since 1901.

The Nobel prizes in the sciences have traditionally been awarded for research which has been accepted by the scientific community over a number of years. Chu's work on the use of lasers to cool atoms was conducted in 1985.

Because of the generally long lag between scientific achievements and their recognition by the Nobel committees, Chu said that "as [atom cooling] became a common lab tool, there was a chorus of people who were telling me that I should be getting the Nobel prize."

But Chu added that such predictions are not always accurate because many people are overlooked in the awards.

Chu said that he did not alter his research goals in order to get a Nobel prize.

"Some people suggested that I stay fully in atomic physics and not go off into another field, but I did what I thought was scientifically most interesting for me," he said.

Chu predicted that while his research in the coming months "is going to slow down," its direction will not change.

Herschbach and Glashow described similar experiences, saying that after receiving the prize, it became easier to obtain funding for research, but that their research plans did not change.

Herschbach described the varied reactions of his friends and associates when he received the prize.

"I got a nice note and a bottle of champagne from President [Derek C.] Bok. [He said] it was going to raise my salary a little bit," he said. "The general reaction probably is one of surprise. People said, 'Gee whiz, they gave it to that guy?'"

A Long History

Since 1901, science has changed markedly and today the prize is seen by some as a dated artifact of a bygone era of science.

"The Nobel prize was conceived of initially as a way of rewarding scientific inventiveness and through those rewards stimulating inventiveness," Mendelsohn said. "[Today,] it may have taken on something more of the role of providing status."