We’ve all heard about the Nobel prize and Alfred Nobel, the Swedish scientist who is the founder of this prize. But, how many of us actually know him? I would presume very few of us… I certainly had to look into who he was! It was one of those random questions you get; who actually is Alfred Nobel and what did he invent? Well, my search was quite interesting and I found out a lot about Alfred Nobel and his remarkable inventions and contributions to the world of science. Since I know you all are as interested in him as I am, here is a very short biography on the legacy of Alfred Nobel.
To start off, I’ll get straight to the point and state his most famous inventions, something we all know very well; explosives! This all started when Nobel started working under a scientist, Ascanio Sobrero, who had previously invented Nitroglycerin. This is the now the main ingredient in most forms of dynamite, but back then, Nobel noticed the explosive and unstable nature of the compound and wanted to develop it further as a powerful commercial explosive. I know, it sounds quite sinister to develop something as a commercial explosive. However, Nobel’s idea was based off of his knowledge that gunpowder was not as explosive and powerful as the Nitroglycerin he observed. After many years of trying and experimenting, in 1867, Nobel was able to make a substance using nitroglycerin that was safe and easy to handle; which he patented as Dynamite. Fun Fact: dynamite refers to the Greek word for “power”.
Alfred Nobel didn’t stop there though! He further played around with the use of Nitroglycerin as a powerful explosive. After experimenting with other mixtures involving nitroglycerin, Nobel invented the Gelignite explosive. This was also referred to as blasting gelatine! This gelignite was used by many to make very powerful military explosives. This new world of powerful explosives earned Nobel a lot of financial success.
This success came at a price though, as one would imagine it would come for someone developing powerful harmful substances. It was not true that his inventions were used in harmful events. In fact, most of the applications of the explosives were for civilian practices such as mining and engineering. One such false newspaper made a false obituary about Nobel upon the passing of Alfred Nobel’s brother in which they stated that “the merchant of death is dead”. This shocked Nobel due to which he came up with the idea of the Nobel prize and left the majority of his wealth towards the recognition of people who have conferred benefit to mankind.
This prize served the purpose of Nobel leaving behind a better legacy, and he certainly did! Another important thing that I noticed from the specifics of Nobel’s prize was his decision to specifically mention that the prize can be awarded to anyone, without any race distinctions. This opened the whole world to such a recognition. Indeed, the recognition of people in such a manner is such an astounding legacy. One that is revisited annually and it can be said with certainty that this legacy is one that will remain for centuries to come!