James B. Sumner, John H. Northrop, and Wendell M. Stanley, all of the United States, share the Nobel Prize for chemistry — Sumner for his research in the crystallization of enzymes, Northrop and Stanley for their research in preparing enzymes and virus proteins in pure form.

Percy Williams Bridgman of the United States wins the Nobel Prize for physics for his invention of a device to produce extremely high pressures and resulting discoveries in high-pressure physics.