Medicine laureate Andrew Fire has donated a library card to the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm, Sweden. The card dates back to the 1970s and holds significant personal meaning for him as a symbol of science and knowledge.
The library card is from the Sunnyvale Public Library, where Andrew Fire grew up in the 1970s.
“I consider this to be one of the most powerful tools in science and toward an enlightened society,” said Andrew Fire. “I hope the choice might illuminate the value of open institutions of scholarship in a country—and in the world—that seems, of late, to be at risk of losing its way.”
The library card was handed over to Hanna Stjärne, Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation, in Tokyo earlier this year. While it will eventually be displayed at the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm, Fire has also expressed the hope that this card (and perhaps similar cards) might also spend time on display in the local libraries. Fire suggested that such displays would fulfil both an opportunity and a responsibility to provide the community with a focal point for discussing what can be done to create a world of information-enabled enlightenment, rather than disinformation-driven misery.
“I hope this might play a small part in reminding our local community of their opportunity to contribute to a society where knowledge leads to justice, justice leads to knowledge, and both contribute to humanity,” says Andrew Fire.
“This is an artefact that gives the Nobel Prize Museum the opportunity to share the story Andrew Fire recounted,” says Hanna Stjärne. “He highlights the value of knowledge and how important institutions like libraries can be for the development of our societies. I am truly happy to be able to accept the gift on behalf of the museum.”
Andrew Fire grew up in and still lives in Silicon Valley. In 2006, Andrew Fire received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared with Craig Mello.
These things changed the world
When Nobel Prize laureates visit the Nobel Prize Museum in the Old Town of Stockholm, they are asked to bring an object that has had special meaning to them. It could be something that tells us who they are or is connected to the achievements for which they were awarded. Other items have made their way to the museum through different paths. Right now, the exhibition These things changed the world is on display at the Nobel Prize Museum, featuring over 250 objects donated by laureates over the years.