"That would bring an enormous sense of fulfillment, quite apart from the Nobel Prize"
The part you are objecting to was definitely not part of the quote, it was added/paraphrased by the author, for the audience's sake.
From the wording, it seems clear that the author said something like "You could win a Nobel prize for something like that", and the professor retorted with "enormous fulfillment"
The Glim-dropper scam involves the mark trying make money by inserting oneself as an intermediary who provides no benefit, concealing his true intentions. Outside of HN, that is considered dishonesty.