Alfred Nobel Biography

Sir Alfred Nobel (October 21, 1833 – December 10, 1896) was a Swedish scientist, engineer, businessman, and philanthropist best known for inventing dynamite. Nobel paradoxically spent the majority of his adult life developing increasingly more powerful explosives while also penning poetry and theatre and pushing for world peace. Nobel left his fortune to establish the Nobel Prizes for peace, chemistry, physics, medicine, and literature after reading a prematurely written obituary criticizing him for profiteering from the sale of guns and munitions. Alfred Nobel died on December 10, 1896, in San Remo, Italy, of a stroke. Despite having a few romantic relationships, he never married. He wrote a tragic drama called Nemesis shortly before his death. The first Nobel Prizes were awarded five years after his death, in 1901. Nobelium is a synthetic element named after him. In his honour, the Alfred Nobel Monument was erected in Saint Petersburg. In this article, let’s learn about Alfred Nobel, and Alfred Nobel inventions.

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Sir Alfred Nobel Birthplace & Early Life

Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born in Stockholm, Sweden, as one of Immanuel Nobel's and Caroline Andrietta Ahlsell's eight children. Nobel's father, an inventor and engineer, went bankrupt the same year he was born due to financial tragedy and a fire that ruined much of his work. Due to these adversities, the family became impoverished, with only Alfred and his three brothers surviving childhood. Despite his illness, the young Nobel exhibited an interest in explosives, having inherited his father's passion for technology and engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Nobel was also a descendent of Olaus Rudbeck, a 17th-century Swedish scientist. Immanuel Nobel came to St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1837, after failing at many business enterprises in Stockholm, and established himself as a successful mechanical engineer producing equipment for the Russian Army. Torpedoes and explosive mines that would detonate when a ship hit them were among his creations. These mines functioned by using small explosions to set off larger ones, an understanding that would later help his son, Alfred, in the invention of dynamite. Alfred and the rest of the Nobel family arrived in St. Petersburg in 1842 to join Immanuel. He had mastered chemistry by the age of 16 and was fluent in English, French, German, and Russian, as well as Swedish.

Alfred Nobel discovered Dynamite

The renowned Russian organic chemist Nikolai Zinin was one of Nobel's professors, and it was he who first told him about nitroglycerine, the explosive component in dynamite. Nobel was interested in poetry and literature, but his father wanted him to be an engineer, so he sent him to Paris to study chemical engineering in 1850. Through his experiments, Alfred discovered that combining nitroglycerine with a fine sand known as kieselguhr transformed the liquid into a paste that can be shaped into rods. After that, the rods may be placed into drilling holes. In 1866, the invention was made. The following year, Alfred obtained a patent or legal right of ownership over this material. And hence, Alfred Nobel is associated with the invention of “dynamite.” He also created a detonator, often known as a blasting cap, that could be activated by lighting a fuse. These inventions were developed at the same time as the diamond drilling crown and pneumatic drill became widely used. These inventions, when combined, helped cut the cost of various construction tasks such as drilling tunnels, blasting rocks, constructing bridges, and so on.

Nitroglycerine & Detonating Caps

Professor Zinin, who had shown it to Nobel and his father at the start of the Crimean War, had told them about nitroglycerine. They began collaborating on nitroglycerine. One idea was to use nitroglycerine to improve the explosives used in Immanuel's mines. Immanuel, on the other hand, was unable to make any significant progress. Nobel, on the other hand, made substantial advances with the chemical. Nobel returned to Stockholm in 1863 and resumed experimenting on nitroglycerine. That same year, he developed a practical explosives detonator made of a wooden plug put into a larger charge of nitroglycerin stored in a metal container.

Nobel's detonator, which was patentable in 1864, established him as an inventor and laid the route for the money he was destined to acquire as the first mogul of the explosives industry. Nobel quickly began mass-producing nitroglycerine in Stockholm, establishing companies all throughout Europe. However, multiple nitroglycerine-related accidents prompted authorities to enact restrictions regulating the manufacture and transportation of explosives. Nobel invented the blasting cap, an enhanced version of his detonator, in 1865. Rather than a wooden plug, his blasting cap was a small metal cap containing a charge of mercury fulminate that could be exploded by shock or moderate heat. The blasting cap revolutionised the explosives industry and would play an important role in the creation of modern explosives. In the construction industry, dynamite and detonating caps were in high demand. As a result, Alfred was able to establish factories in 90 various locations. He lived in Paris but travelled frequently to his factories in over 20 countries.

Dynamite, Gelignite, and Ballistite

He kept looking for new ways to make nitroglycerine safer. Nobel continued to explore ways to make nitroglycerine less dangerous. During his trials, he discovered that combining nitroglycerine and kieselguhr produced a paste that enabled the chemical to be moulded and detonated on command. In 1867, as Alfred Nobel invented dynamite, he got a British patent for his “dynamite.” For the first time, he publicly demonstrated his new explosive at a quarry in Redhill, Surrey, England. Nobel later combined nitroglycerin with other elements to create even more commercially successful explosives. In 1876, he received a patent for "gelignite," a transparent, jelly-like explosive that was both more stable and stronger than dynamite. Unlike traditional dynamite sticks, gelignite, or “blasting gelatin,” as Nobel referred to it, can be shaped to fit into pre-bored holes commonly used in rock blasting. Gelignite, which was quickly adopted as the main explosive for mining, earned Nobel even more financial success. He patented "ballistite" a year later, the predecessor of modern smokeless gunpowder. Nobel's main business was explosives, but he also worked on other products including synthetic leather and artificial silk.

Personal Life

Despite success in both his inventions and commercial ventures, Nobel remained a reclusive guy who suffered from severe depression. In keeping with his lifelong love of literature, he composed poems, novels, and plays, just a few of which were ever published. Nobel, who was raised as an agnostic, later converted to atheism.

While Nobel was considered a progressive by his contemporaries, he was more accurately defined as a classical liberal, if not a Libertarian. He was an outspoken opponent of women's suffrage and frequently stated his disdain for democracy and its inherent politics as a means of picking government leaders. Nobel, a pacifist at heart, repeatedly expressed the hope that the mere threat of the catastrophic powers of his explosive discoveries would put a stop to war for good. However, he remained sceptical about humanity's and governments' willingness and ability to sustain permanent peace.

Nobel never married, probably because he was afraid that personal connections would conflict with his first love, invention. At the age of 43, he advertised himself in a newspaper as a “wealthy, highly educated elderly gentleman seeking a lady of mature age, versed in languages, as secretary and supervisor of household.” Bertha Kinsky, an Austrian woman, responded to the post, but she returned to Austria two weeks later to marry Count Arthur von Suttner. Nobel and Bertha von Suttner continued to correspond despite their brief relationship. Bertha later became involved in the peace movement and penned the famous 1889 book "Lay Down Your Arms." Nobel is thought to have sought to defend his inventions to Bertha by claiming that he might make something so awful and terrible that it would put an end to all conflicts forever.

Death & Legacy 

Nobel relocated from Paris to San Remo, Italy, after being charged with high treason against France for selling ballistite to Italy in 1891. He had angina pectoris by 1895 and died of a stroke on December 10, 1896, at his estate in San Remo, Italy. Nobel's contentious will was challenged in court by his distant relatives. It would take his two designated executors four years to persuade everyone that Alfred's final intentions should be carried out. The first Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, and literature were awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1901, and the Peace Prize was granted in what is now Oslo, Norway.

Alfred Nobel was extremely troubled by the idea that his explosive inventions could kill multiple people. He desired to discover a path that would lead to global peace. He didn't want to be recognised as the inventor of explosives. As a result, Alfred Nobel set aside his wealth and estate to establish the Nobel Prizes. These awards were to be granted to men and women for remarkable achievements in science and literature, as well as for their contributions to world peace. Therefore, every year, Nobel Prizes are given to those who have excelled in the sciences, particularly in the fields of international peace and happiness.

Conclusion

On December 10, 1896, Alfred Bernhard Nobel, who was born on October 21, left this earth for his heavenly home. Nobel is a well-known Swedish businessman, chemist, engineer, inventor, and philanthropist. In his name, he holds 355 various patents. One of his most well-known patents is for the invention and manufacture of dynamite. If you're familiar with the periodic table, you'll see that the synthetic element nobelium was named after Alfred Nobel. Despite living such a well-known life, leaving his mark in the world of science as a chemist, engineer, and inventor, there are a few facts about the man that are less well-known. In this above article we briefly discussed Alfred Bernhard Nobel, Alfred Nobel Inventions and his complete biography.