On the one hand, the committees have to follow, as far as possible, Nobel's intention to award the prize to those who, "during the preceding year," by their scientific achievements, have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind. On the other hand, the committees have to make sure that the achievements have been well tested and gained acceptance in the scientific community. And, since original and wide-ranging achievements seldom win immediate acceptance, but more often are met with resistance, these two criteria-recency and acceptance through corroboration-tend to clash. It may, of course, also take a considerable time before it is possible to determine the merits, in terms of benefit to mankind, of a scientific achievement.
In order to safeguard a high standard of the selection process, the statutes of the Nobel Foundation (dated June 29, 1900) allow for exceptions to the criterion "during the preceding year." The statutes provide "that the ...
