A little wonder, every day

Fact 1640 — Five people have received Nobel Prizes twice

AI-generated cover: laboratory notebook and equipment with five generic award medallions. Generated 19 October 2026. Prompt: “Photorealistic vertical 4:5 editorial cover about the five people who have each received Nobel Prizes twice. A distinguished early-20th-century woman scientist's lab notebook, a glass chemistry flask, a small physics circuit, and five simple unmarked gold award medallions arranged across a wooden desk, soft library and laboratory background, refined warm light. Do not depict identifiable real people, no readable text, no logos, no recognizable Nobel medal design.”

Linus Pauling, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Peace. [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Linus_Pauling_1962.jpg), original source NobelPrize.org; Nobel Foundation rights holder, photographer unidentified. Commons documents public-domain status in Sweden and the United States under stated conditions; jurisdiction caveats apply. Credit: Nobel Foundation via Wikimedia Commons. Copied unchanged from fact 1638.

AI-generated illustrative historical reconstruction of Marie Curie working in an early-1900s laboratory. Generated 19 October 2026. Prompt: “Photorealistic editorial reconstruction, vertical 4:5: Marie Curie working carefully at a modest early-1900s Paris laboratory bench with glassware and handwritten notebooks, period-accurate clothing, warm natural light. Historical illustrative reconstruction, not documentary, respectful and scientifically plausible. No readable text, no logos, no award medal.”

Frederick Sanger, twice-awarded Chemistry laureate. [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frederick_Sanger2.jpg); [U.S. National Library of Medicine collection](https://www.nlm.nih.gov/visibleproofs/galleries/technologies/dna_image_8.html). Creator unidentified; Commons records U.S. federal-government-work basis/Public Domain Mark 1.0 with caveat detailed in fact 1638. Credit: U.S. National Library of Medicine, Visible Proofs, via Wikimedia Commons. Copied unchanged.

AI-generated illustrative historical reconstruction of a physicist examining transistor circuitry in the mid-20th century, inspired by Bardeen's field. Generated 19 October 2026. Prompt: “Photorealistic editorial image, vertical 4:5: a mid-20th-century American physicist in a university laboratory examining a small transistor circuit and early electronic components, thoughtful working pose, period-appropriate office and lab, natural documentary-style light. Generic historical reconstruction inspired by the era of John Bardeen, not a documentary photograph. No readable text, no logos, no medals.”

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AI-generated cover: laboratory notebook and equipment with five generic award medallions. Generated 19 October 2026. Prompt: “Photorealistic vertical 4:5 editorial cover about the five people who have each received Nobel Prizes twice. A distinguished early-20th-century woman scientist's lab notebook, a glass chemistry flask, a small physics circuit, and five simple unmarked gold award medallions arranged across a wooden desk, soft library and laboratory background, refined warm light. Do not depict identifiable real people, no readable text, no logos, no recognizable Nobel medal design.”

Listen to fact0:00 / —

NobelPrize.org currently lists five people who have received Nobel Prizes twice: Marie Skłodowska-Curie in Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911; Linus Pauling in Chemistry in 1954 and Peace in 1962; John Bardeen in Physics in 1956 and 1972; Frederick Sanger in Chemistry in 1958 and 1980; and K. Barry Sharpless in Chemistry in 2001 and 2022. Each received two separate awards in different years. Some of those awards had co-laureates; Pauling alone received both of his prizes without sharing either.