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While the Nobel Prizes are over 115 years old, rewards for scientific achievement have been around much longer. As early as the 17th century, at the very origins of modern experimental science, promoters of science realized the need for some system of recognition and reward that would provide incentive for advances in the field.
Before the prize, it was the gift that dominated in science. Precursors to modern scientists – the early astronomers, philosophers, physicians, alchemists and engineers – offered wonderful discoveries, inventions and works of literature or art as gifts to powerful patrons, often royalty. Many scientists prefaced their publications with extravagant letters of dedication; they might, or they might not, be rewarded with a gift in return. Eventually, different kinds of incentives, including prizes and awards, as well as new, salaried academic positions, became more common and the favor of particular wealthy patrons diminished in importance. But at the height of the Renaissance, early scientists relied on gifts from powerful princes to compensate and advertise their efforts.
With courtiers all vying for a patron's attention, scientific gifts had to be presented with drama and flair. The astronomer Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) presented his newly discovered moons of Jupiter to the Medici dukes of Italy as a 'gift' that was literally out of this world. In return, the Medici family 'ennobled' Galileo with the title and position of court philosopher and mathematician. If a gift succeeded, the gift-giver might, like Galileo in this case, be fortunate enough to receive a gift in return. Gift-givers could not, however, predict what form a patron's gift would take, and they might find themselves burdened with offers they couldn't refuse. Tycho Brahe (1546–1601), the great Danish Renaissance astronomer, received everything from exotic animals to chemical secrets in return for his discoveries.
