The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that three people have won the 2018 prize in physics. Donna Strickland, Arthur Ashkin, and Gérard Mourou have been awarded the honor due to their “groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics.”
BREAKING NEWS⁰The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the #NobelPrize in Physics 2018 “for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics” with one half to Arthur Ashkin and the other half jointly to Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland. pic.twitter.com/PK08SnUslK
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 2, 2018
Strickland, from Canada, also has the distinction of being the first female Physics Nobel Prize winner in 55 years. Strickland is only the third female to be awarded the prestigious prize. She was preceeded by Maria Goeppoert-Mayer, who was awarded the prize in 1963, and Marie Curie, who was awarded the prize in 1903, reports the BBC.
“We need to celebrate women physicists because they’re out there… I’m honoured to be one of those women," says Donna Strickland.
She becomes the third woman to receive the #NobelPrize in Physics, joining Maria Goeppert-Mayer (1963) and Marie Curie (1903). Congratulations! pic.twitter.com/m2XLJHTW0V
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 2, 2018
But there’s another notable record among this year’s winners, too. Ashkin, from the U.S., is the oldest person to ever win the Nobel Prize. He is 96.