The 1997 Nobel Prizes ended yesterday with the US again dominating the year's most prestigious accolades, some of which were tinged with controversy. Seven Americans were among the 13 recipients who will share the six Nobel awards set up in memory of Nobel founder and scientist, Alfred Nobel.
The physics prize went to Dr Steven Chu and Dr William Phillips from the US, and Dr Claude Cohen-Tannoudji of France, for development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light.
Dr Paul Boyer of the University of California and Dr John Walker from Britain's Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, won half of the chemistry prize, and the other half was won by Dane, Dr Jens Skou, from Aarhus University for work on enzymes.
US economists Robert Merton and Myron Scholes won the economics prize for their formula to work out the value of derivatives, described as a key reason behind the success of the world's derivatives markets.
All the awards are worth 7.5 million crowns (£610,000) each. "It seems the education and research systems in the US must be better," Dr Carl Nordling, professor of atomic and molecular physics at Sweden's Uppsala University, said.
While US or US-based researchers tend to dominate science and economics, this year an American also clinched the Peace prize - much to the administration's chagrin.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines and project co-ordinator Ms Jody Williams won the peace prize for their work towards a global ban on anti-personnel landmines, joining past winners such as Mother Teresa and President Nelson Mandela.
The campaign, championed by Princess Diana, culminated in a draft treaty being drawn up at a conference in Oslo last month, signed by 89 nations.
The US, however, alongside Russia, China and a list of other nations, has refused to endorse the document that is expected to be formally signed in Ottawa, Canada, in December.
Many commentators have interpreted the award as trying to push President Clinton into signing the treaty - and he has yet to congratulate Ms Williams on her win.
The committee behind the prize has admitted that it sees the award as a tool to sway world events, not just a reward.