Editor's Summary
20 December 2007
Rajendra Pachauri
Nature's first Newsmaker of the Year award goes to Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, chairman of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) since 2002. In recognition of the remarkably thorough 'fourth report' that the IPCC published in stages through the year, the panel shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. In a News Feature on page 1150, Gabrielle Walker profiles the cricket-loving Pachauri. (Cover photo: Pachauri at home, by Raghu Rai/Magnum Photos.) Elsewhere in this issue the past year is subjected to further analysis. On page 1130 in Research Highlights, Nature editors pick some of the outstanding papers of the year that we didn't publish. And in the extended Contents pages, they do the same for papers that we did publish in Nature. In the News pages (page 1144) the year is recalled in pictures. And online, the end-of-year special goes live on 21 December, collating all our end-of-year content, on http://www.nature.com/news/specials/2007/index.html.
News Feature: Newsmaker of the year: Rajendra Pachauri
In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change delivered its most thorough and authoritative assessment yet � and shared a Nobel prize for its efforts. Gabrielle Walker profiles its indefatigable leader.
doi:10.1038/4501150a
Research Highlights: Research highlights 2007
As an end of the year round-up, we asked Nature's editors to nominate favourite papers published elsewhere this year. For a pick of favourites from Nature itself, see page viii.
doi:10.1038/4501130a
News: 2007 Gallery: Images of the Year
Many formulations of the scientific method begin with observations. And the images here are indeed exciting observations ? new pictures from Earth and space that will serve as the starting points for great science. But often the most arresting scientific images are captured at the end of the process, in the form of a solution. Such pictures represent the culmination of months of tireless work in the laboratory and have a still, completed quality. The structure of a protein or material, the high-resolution image revealing microscopic handiwork, the elegant visualization of data. Whether from the start or the end of an investigation ? or from somewhere in between ? these images are some of the most striking from 2007.
doi:10.1038/4501144a
