This is true. It is because it is from an older era when it was possible and also common for individual scholars to work independently and (as a result?) the to

This is true. It is because it is from an older era when it was possible and also common for individual scholars to work independently and (as a result?) the topics where mostly doable by one person. Most of research today is done by a large pool of groups of 2-3 people (I am mostly familiar with physics), who are constantly interacting with each other, so it is not very easy to attribute breakthroughs to just one single person. And the topics seem to be more complex. The Nobel prize has not adapted to this. Still it is entertaining to read about the awards they come up with.