I think most have seen a NP as the pinnacle of a fruitful lifetime of work. Because of the long delay between discovery and award that is typical a great deal o

I think most have seen a NP as the pinnacle of a fruitful lifetime of work. Because of the long delay between discovery and award that is typical a great deal of the impact of that scientist has already taken place before the award. What I notice is that NP winners are often asked to serve (paid) in advisor roles as an embodiment of genius. This often leads them to make public, opinions about things that are well outside their domain of expertise. So some of the post NP impact can be negative.