Alexander Fleming and Penicillin

Essay by daniel_510University, Bachelor'sA-, April 2009

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What is the Nobel Prize? The Nobel Prize is an international award given every year since 1901 to recognize people for their achievements and years of hard work and determination. The prize was created by Alfred Nobel and today it is awarded by the Nobel Foundation. There were originally five categories of this award but today there are six, which are the Nobel Prize in Physics, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the Nobel Prize in Medicine, the Nobel Prize in Literature, the Nobel Peace Prize and the Prize in Economics, which was the last one added. Since 1901 more than 700 people and organizations have received a Nobel Prize. However, in 1945 the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to a man known by many for his discovery of Penicillin. His name was Sir Alexander Fleming.

His Early YearsSir Alexander Fleming was born on August 6th, 1881 in Lochfield near Darvel in Ayrshire, Scotland.

Fleming had six siblings and lived with his parents. As a young boy Alec, how his family called him, was very bright. He began attending school at the age of of five. When he was twelve he entered the Kilmanrock Academy, a middle school, but since it was so far away he had to live with his aunt during the week and go back home on Fridays. Two years later, his older brother Hugh, who had taken the role of the man of the house when their father died, sent him to live in London with his two other brothers and sister Mary. There he enrolled in the prominent Regent Street Polytechnic Institute.

During his two years there he impressed everyone with his "very casual studying habits. While his classmates would pore over their textbooks for hours Alec late at night or just...