This year’s Nobel Prizes are getting a lot of attention. Who hasn’t yet heard the controversy surrounding President Obama’s award of the Peace Prize? You would have to be on a desert island to miss the continuing coverage.

On the science front, the awards are much more straightforward. The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three men whose work in the 1960s made a huge impact on the geospatial industry today. Dr. Charles Kao won for his pioneering role in fiber optic telecommunications. Without his efforts there would have been no internet boom, no online mapping craze, no words being written and read on this blog.

The other two winners, Mr. Willard Boyle and Mr. George Smith, were honored for their creation of the charged-couple device (CCD) in 1969. This technology became the basis for today’s digital cameras, as well as those very high-tech imaging sensors used on satellites and aircraft to map and monitor the Earth’s surface.

Three cheers for these fine contributions and for the committee’s recognition of their importance. The awards are questionable neither in worthiness nor in timing.

Perhaps radar achievements will be recognized next!