Alfred Nobel and the history of the Nobel Prize. Nobel Alfred: biography, interesting facts. Personal life of Alfred Nobel

Almost all people in the world know about Alfred Nobel today. His famous Nobel Prize is sought by researchers and scientists. That's how this one came in amazing person into world history.

Although many also know that he also invented great Alfred Nobel in life dynamite. Biography of Nobel - interesting story life of the inventor and personality.

Relatives and friends of the great inventor

October 21, 2833 was born in the Swedish city of Stockholm, the future famous chemist and inventor, engineer and founder of a huge world-class award Alfred Bernhard Nobel. Biography of this interesting person surprises many biographers to this day.

Alfred was born to the family of Emmanuel and Andrietta Nobel, who had eight offspring in total. But only four survived: Alfred, Robert, Emil and Ludwig.

Although later, at the age of twenty, during experiments with dynamite discovered by Alfred Nobel, another son of the Nobel couple, Emil, dies. This grief breaks the father of the family with paralysis, leaves a deep bitter mark in the soul of Alfred himself. But he still does not leave his ideas and makes discoveries one after another.

Key dates in the life of the founder of the famous Nobel Prize

A brief biography of Alfred Nobel can be represented by the following main events:

  • 1842 - the Nobel family moved to St. Petersburg. Alfred Nobel developed the idea of ​​producing torpedoes.
  • 1849 - Alfred Nobel begins to study in Europe and America. For two years the young man travels the world, visits Denmark, Italy, Germany, France, then America.
  • 1851 - return to Russia. Alfred Nobel becomes a manufacturer, fulfilling the orders of the Russian army.
  • 1853 - The Crimean War helps the Nobel family business to make good profits and enter the heyday.
  • 1859 - Ludwig Emmanuel Nobel becomes a manufacturer. Due to the bankruptcy of the family business, Alfred returns to Sweden with his father and begins to work closely on explosives. At the same time, he receives a loan of 100 thousand francs and begins research work in the field of chemistry, experimenting and inventing new elements, compounds and mixtures.
  • 1868 - Alfred Nobel discovers dynamite, consisting of a mixture of nitroglycerin with other substances that have the ability to absorb it.
  • 1876 ​​- the discovery of "explosive jelly" - the combination of nitroglycerin with collodion. This "jelly" had a stronger explosiveness than the previously discovered dynamite. The following years are full of discoveries of other combinations of nitroglycerin with substances. The first smokeless powder, called ballistite, was a huge leap ahead of dynamite. Ballistite is followed by the discovery of cordite.
  • 1889 - participation in the World Peace Congress.
  • 1894, 1895 - Litigation over Nobel's statement that cordite was already included in his earlier patent of discoveries.
  • 1896, December 10, a villa in San Remo in Italy - Alfred Nobel died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of sixty-three. Nobel's tomb is located at the Stockholm cemetery Norra begravningsplatsen.

This is the fate of Alfred Nobel, presented in a brief biography the greatest man with a worldwide reputation.

An interesting but little known fact

Few people know, but Alfred Nobel not only invented dynamite and established a nominal prize, he revealed his dramatic talent. True, the biography of Nobel the playwright cannot boast of an extensive list of works he created. The bulk of his works - novels, poems, plays - were never published. Only one work is known - a play about Beatrice Cenci called "Nemesis", completed by him already at death.

This tragedy in four acts was met with hostility by churchmen, so the entire circulation of the publication, published in 1896, was destroyed after Nobel's death, with the exception of three copies.

But, fortunately, in Sweden in 2003, a bilingual edition of the play was published, written both in Swedish and in Esperanto. And in 2005, the world had the good fortune to get acquainted with this work, played on the Stockholm stage in memory of the great scientist on the day of his death.

This fact indicates how versatile this amazing person, Alfred Nobel, was talented. And it will seem quite surprising to many that the famous inventor and chemist was seriously thinking about giving up his research and experiments and setting foot on the path of writing.

I wonder if the population of the earth would have won then or turned out to be a loser? After all, perhaps dynamite would not have been invented then, or would have been invented much later. And instead of it, we would get a lot of talented works of the highest level ...

The character of a man with a worldwide reputation

Alfred Nobel surprised his contemporaries with his controversial character. Not everyone understood his paradoxical behavior. Being quite wealthy, Alfred gravitated downright to the Spartan way of life, he longed for solitude. Indeed, in the era of developing capitalism, many successful businessmen were not such.

However, fate seemed to deliberately put him in conditions that disgusted him. Life forced Nobel, who could not stand the bustle of the city, to spend most of his time in cities. Being a homebody and preferring thoughts in quiet solitude, Alfred Nobel spent a lot of time traveling around the world.

Working on explosives and mixtures, Alfred Nobel was an opponent of murder and violence, did a great job in the name of peace on earth. But the fact remains: dynamite was discovered by him.

Alfred Nobel surprised his contemporaries by the fact that he led healthy lifestyle life, as they would say today. He had a negative attitude towards alcohol, smoking, gambling.

At that time, bigwigs, by and large, were doing two things: making money without thinking about their "smell", and spending millions, trying to "take everything out of life that you can." Alfred Nobel, preferring solitude, loved to read. In his chic library were the works of the great scientists of that time. With pleasure Nobel Alfred read his contemporaries: Maupassant, Balzac, Turgenev, Hugo.

Fashionable at that time, the naturalism inherent in the writer's pen of Emile Zola was not to Nobel's taste. But he could re-read the works of philosophers of all times several times, reflecting on this or that position and making his own unique notes and developments on this or that issue. After all, Alfred Nobel himself was not only a chemist, but also a doctor of philosophy.

In memory of discoveries

Alfred Nobel, inventing dynamite and other explosive mixtures, was an ardent pacifist. He saw a different application of his discoveries, which would help develop the progress of mankind, and not kill each other. But the beginning of persecution in the media about the fact that Alfred Nobel was able to invent dynamite prompted him to think that another bright mark should be left in this world.

So the inventor came to the decision to establish a nominal prize after his death, writing a will on November 27, 1895, according to which most of his accumulated fortune - 31 million crowns - goes to the Nobel Prize fund. This fact of Nobel's life made his biography a historical milestone on a global scale.

In addition to the well-known Nobel Prize, Alfred Nobel entered world history as the discoverer of the chemical element, which was named Nobelium in his honor.

The name of the great scientist-chemist is Dnepropetrovsk University and the Stockholm Institute of Physics and Chemistry.

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Alfred Nobel went down in history as a controversial and significant figure. During his lifetime, the attitude of society towards him was rather negative, but his last deeds left a trace of a completely different quality in history.

Childhood and youth of an outstanding inventor

Alfred Bernard Nobel was born on October 21, 1833 in largest city Sweden Stockholm. His family at the time of the birth of the boy was going through difficult times. Emmanuel Nobel and Andriette Nobel had eight children. Only four of them survived difficult financial difficulties and the plight of the family. They were the brothers Alfred, Ludwig, Robert and Emil.

In the family tree of the Nobels, one could find a relationship with the famous Swedish engineer Olof Rudbeck. Yes, and the father of the family, Emmanuel, was known as a good engineer and inventor.

In 1837 Alfred Nobel's family moved to St. Petersburg. There, financial luck turned to face them, and parents had the opportunity to hire private teachers for their children. From early childhood, Alfred showed great promise. He was interested in science and languages. Per short term managed to master French, English, German and Russian.

After Alfred's seven-year stay in Russia, his father's companions recommended that he be sent to study in Europe, and then to the States. In 1850 the young Nobel traveled to Denmark. Then he studied in Germany, France, England and Italy.

In the capital of France, Alfred met the creator of nitroglycerin Sobrero. The inventor was dissatisfied with the unstable properties of the substance he invented, so he asked Nobel not to use it in his developments. But the young man decided otherwise.

When Alfred turned 18, he left for America. There, the young man diligently studied chemistry, leaving no hope of replacing the standard gunpowder in the production of weapons with nitroglycerin.

In the States, Nobel collaborated with Erickson himself, the developer of an armadillo for the American army. In 1857 Alfred filed his first patent for registration. The topic of patenting was a gas meter invented by an engineer.

Mature years of Alfred Nobel

After finishing his studies abroad, Alfred Nobel decided to return to his family in Russia. There he successfully brought the functionality and turnover of family factories to a new level. Arms production became even more profitable when the Crimean War began.

After the hostilities ended, the Nobel family company went bankrupt, as the main plant could not be converted to peaceful needs.

In the same year, Nobel's father decided to return to Sweden. He left his company in Russia under the supervision of his son Ludwig. The young man managed to improve the situation in the company. Alfred returned to his homeland with his parents, and there he began further experiments with explosives.

In 1863, Nobel's experiments were crowned with success. He presented the detonator to the public. Alfred's success was accompanied by tragedy in the family. His younger brother Emil died with other workers in the barn explosion.

The tragedy did not stop Alfred, he continued his scientific research. The inventor began to pay much more attention to the safety of his inventions. So in 1867 he managed to stabilize nitroglycerin, turning it into dynamite, for which Nobel received a patent in England and America.

Alfred Nobel actively disseminated information about the new "explosive" miracle, lectured on dynamite, participated in summits and conferences. Thanks to his activities, dynamite began to be used in mining, as well as in the construction industry.

1875 saw a period of improvement in the dynamite formula. A mixture called "explosive jelly" was born. Then Nobel invented and ballistite.

The success of his factories in financial terms has always been opposed to the rejection of his activities by society. Nobel was called a "blood millionaire" and other unflattering epithets were attributed to him.

Once, when Alfred's brother Ludwig died, the journalists mixed up the information and released an obituary where Alfred's name appeared. This opus made a huge and overwhelming impression on the inventor. Nobel seemed to wake up and began to make attempts to correct the situation. After a public outcry, he entered the Swedish Royal Council of the Academy of Sciences, and then established the legendary Nobel Prize for scientists from all over the world, later he added the category "for contribution to maintaining peace on Earth" to the nominations.

Nobel: personal life

The engineer and chemist did not enjoy great popularity among women. He was withdrawn, uncommunicative, passionate about his scientific research. History knows about three women who played an important role in the fate of Alfred Nobel.

The first of them is a youthful love named Alexandra. This relationship did not continue because the girl preferred another.

The second woman is Bertha Kinsky. She worked as a secretary for Nobel and also married another. But she corresponded with Nobel until his death. They say it was she who pushed the engineer to establish the award.

Nobel's romantic relationship with Sophie Hess lasted 18 years. Although little is known about these relationships, as well as about others. Another interesting fact from the biography of the inventor can be considered his literary impulses. As an educated man, although he did not have an official diploma, Alfred knew many languages ​​​​and was interested in art. He even tried his hand at writing. His play "Nemesis" was scandalous because of the religious theme that it covered. After his death, the circulation of the work was destroyed. However, three copies are still preserved.

After being accused of treason for trade deals with Italy, Alfred Nobel moved to Paris. There he died in his home from a cerebral hemorrhage. The date of his death is December 10, 1896. He was buried at home in Stockholm. Almost all of his fortune went to pay the Nobel Prize to the best innovators.

Alfred Bernhard Nobel - chemist and engineer from Sweden, invented dynamite, explosive jelly, cordite.

The future scientist, a Swede by nationality, was born on October 21, 1833. Alfred's father was the autodidact inventor Immanuel Nobel, a peasant from the Nobelef district. The nugget scientist became famous for making military mines that were used by Russian artillery during the Crimean War. For this invention, the Swede was presented with an imperial award.

Mother Andrietta Nobel was a housewife, raised four sons: Alfred, Robert, Ludwig and Emil. The family first lived in Sweden, then moved to Finland, after which they emigrated to Russia, to St. Petersburg. Immanuel was engaged not only in weapons business, huge contribution Nobel's father contributed to the development of home heating systems using water vapor. The engineer invented machines for assembling wheels for carts.

Nobel's children were educated at home. They had governesses who taught the brothers natural sciences, literature and European languages. By the end of their studies, the boys spoke Swedish, Russian, French, English and German. At the age of 17, Alfred was sent on a trip to Europe and the USA. In the capital of France, the young man managed to work with the scientist Theophile Jules Peluza, who in 1936 determined what glycerin consists of. Peluza, together with Ascanio Sobrero in 1840-1843, worked on the creation of nitroglycerin.


Under the guidance of the Russian scientist Nikolai Nikolaevich Zinin, Alfred became interested in studying glycerol trinitrate. Scientific work ultimately led the young scientist to an invention that made the chemist famous. The main work in the biography of Nobel is the creation of dynamite, which was recorded on May 7, 1867.

Science and inventions

From France, Nobel is sent to the United States to work together in the laboratory of the American inventor of Swedish origin, John Erickson, who developed the warship "Monitor", which participated in civil war northerners and southerners. The scientist was also studying the properties of solar energy. A young student under the guidance of a master conducts independent chemical and physical experiments.


Returning to Stockholm, Nobel does not stop there. The chemist is working to find an active substance that reduces the explosiveness of glycerol trinitrate. As a result of one experiment, which was carried out at the Nobel factories in Stockholm, on September 3, 1864, an explosion occurred. The accident claimed the lives of several people, including Emil's younger brother. At the time of the disaster young man barely 20 years old. The father did not survive the loss, fell ill after a stroke and did not get up until his death.

A month after the tragedy, Alfred managed to obtain a patent for nitroglycerin. After that, the engineer patented the creation of dynamite, a detonator of gelatinous dynamite and other explosives. The scientist also succeeded in the development of household devices: a refrigeration apparatus, a steam boiler, a gas burner, a barometer, a water meter. The chemist made 355 inventions in the field of biology, chemistry, optics, medicine, metallurgy.

Nobel first developed chemical composition artificial silk and nitrocellulose. The scientist popularized each invention with the help of lectures with demonstrations of the capabilities of the device or substance. Such presentations by the chemical engineer were famous among the inexperienced public, colleagues and friends of Nobel.


Dynamite invented by Alfred Nobel

Nobel was fond of writing literary works, art books. The chemist's outlet was poetry and prose, the composition of which the scientist passed on in his spare time. One of the controversial works of Alfred Nobel was the play "Nimesis", which for many years was banned from publication and staging by church ministers, and only in 2003, on the scientist's memorial day, it was staged by the Stockholm Drama Theater.


Alfred Nobel's play "Nemesis"

Alfred was interested in science, philosophy, history and literature. Nobel's friends were famous artists, writers, scientists, statesmen of that time. Nobel was often invited to receptions and royal dinners. The inventor was an honorary member of many European academies of sciences: Swedish, English, Paris, Uppsala University. His track record includes French, Swedish, Brazilian, Venezuelan orders and awards.

The Nobel family experienced financial difficulties associated with constant spending on experiments. But in the end, the brothers acquired a stake in the Baku oil field and became rich.


At the International Peace Congress, which took place in Paris in 1889, Nobel delivered his own lectures. This caused sarcasm among some participants of the event. In the head of many leading figures of the world it did not fit how a person who invented a weapon of murder and war could appear at a peace meeting. In the press, Alfred was called the "King of Murder", "Blood Millionaire", "Explosive Death Speculator". Such an attitude towards the scientist upset him and almost broke him.

Personal life

Alfred Nobel lived as a bachelor, he did not have a wife. The first girl the future scientist fell in love with was a young pharmacist. Shortly after meeting Nobel, the young lady died of tuberculosis. Alfred did not cry for his beloved for long, the dramatic actress attracted the attention of the engineer, and Nobel even asked his mother for blessings on marriage. But the far-sighted Andriette did not approve of her son's choice. After breaking up with the theater star, Alfred went to work and stopped looking for a life partner.


But in 1874, there were changes in the personal life of the scientist. In search of a secretary, Alfred met Countess Bertha Kinsky, who soon became the scientist's lover. After several years of passionate friendship, the girl left her admirer and left for the capital of Austria to another groom.

In recent years, Alfred was attacked by an uneducated peasant woman who dreamed of becoming the wife of a famous engineer. But Alfred Nobel categorically rejected the claims of the girl.

In 1893, Alfred Nobel drew up the first will, which indicated that a significant part of the scientist's capital should be transferred after the death of the chemist to the Royal Academy of Sciences. It was supposed to open a fund for the transferred amount, which would annually transfer an award for discoveries. At the same time, Nobel bequeathed 5% of the inheritance to Stockholm University, Stockholm Hospital and Karolinska Medical University.


Testament of Alfred Nobel

But two years later, the will was changed. The document already canceled payments to relatives and organizations, and recommended the creation of a fund in which the scientist's capital would be stored in the form of shares and bonds. Income from securities was obliged to divide annually equally into five premiums. Each award (now the Nobel Prize) will recognize discoveries in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and the peace movement.

Death

On December 10, 1896, the engineer died of a stroke at his own villa in San Remo. The ashes of the scientist were transported to their homeland and buried in the cemetery of Norra.


Grave of Alfred Nobel

Three years passed after the opening of the will and before the execution of the will of Alfred Nobel. After the formalities were settled by the Swedish parliament in 1901, the first cash awards were paid to distinguished scientists.

  • According to rumors, Alfred came up with the main invention by accident: during the transportation of nitroglycerin, one bottle broke, the substance fell on the soil and an explosion occurred. But the scientist himself did not confirm this version. Nobel claimed that he achieved the necessary result through painstaking experiments.
  • Alfred Nobel was buried by the public while still alive in 1888. The erroneous message about the death of the elder brother of the scientist was perceived by the journalists as news of the death of Alfred Nobel and hurried to cover such a joyful event for them. In those days, Alfred learned how negatively society perceives the scientist's discoveries. Being a pacifist, Nobel came up with a way to whitewash his own name forever, bequeathing capital to future generations of scientists and peacemakers.

  • Scientists wondered why the Nobel did not award a prize for achievements in mathematics. Many agreed that Alfred had a personal dislike for the mathematician Mittag-Leffler. But in fact, Alfred Nobel considered this science to be an auxiliary tool for conducting research in the field of chemistry and physics.
  • A century later, in the United States, the Ig Nobel Prize was organized by the editor of a satirical publication, Mark Abrahams, which began to be awarded to inventors for the most unusual and unnecessary achievements.

1. BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF ALFRED NOBEL

Alfred Nobel was born on October 21, 1833 in Stockholm. His father, Immanuel Nobel (1801-1872), a middling entrepreneur, having gone bankrupt, decided to try his luck in Russia and in 1837 moved to St. Petersburg. Here he opened mechanical workshops, and five years later, when things got better, he moved his family to St. Petersburg. For nine-year-old Alfred, Russian very soon became his second native language. In addition, he was fluent in English, French, German and Italian.

During the Crimean War of 1853-1856, Nobel's workshops produced underwater mines and other weapons for the Russian navy. Immanuel Nobel was awarded the gold medal "For Diligence and Development of Russian Industry", but after the end of the war there were no naval orders, and in 1859 he returned to Stockholm.

Alfred Nobel did not receive a systematic education. At first he studied at home, then traveled around America and Europe for educational purposes, and after that he studied chemistry in Paris for two years in the laboratory of the famous French scientist T. Peluza. After his father left for Stockholm, Alfred Nobel began researching the properties of nitroglycerin. Perhaps this was facilitated by the frequent communication of Nobel with the outstanding Russian chemist Zinin. But on September 3, 1864, Stockholm was rocked by a powerful explosion. One hundred kilograms of nitroglycerin, waiting to be sent to the new factory of the Nobel brothers, turned the building into ruins and buried all the workers under the rubble. Swedish newspapers wrote in horror: "There were no corpses, only a pile of meat and bones." Alfred escaped with minor wounds on his face, but the worst news awaited him ahead: during the disaster, along with the workers, his younger brother Emil, who came to visit his relatives on vacation, died. When the father was informed about what had happened, he remained silent for several minutes, then jerked his head, as if about to say something, and awkwardly collapsed into an armchair: the old man was paralyzed.

On October 14, 1864, Alfred Nobel took out a patent for the right to produce an explosive containing nitroglycerin. This was followed by patents for the detonator ("Nobel fuse"), dynamite, gelled dynamite, smokeless powder, etc. etc. In total, he owns 350 patents, and not all of them are related to explosives. Among them are patents for a water meter, a barometer, a refrigeration apparatus, a gas burner, an improved method for producing sulfuric acid, a military missile design, and much more. Nobel's interests were extremely diverse. He studied electrochemistry and optics, biology and medicine, designed automatic brakes and safe steam boilers, tried to make artificial rubber and leather, investigated nitrocellulose and rayon, worked on obtaining light alloys. Undoubtedly, he was one of the most educated people of his time. He read many books on technology and medicine, history and philosophy, fiction(and even tried to write himself), was familiar with kings and ministers, scientists and entrepreneurs, artists and writers, for example, Victor Hugo. Nobel was a member of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society of London, the Paris Society of Civil Engineers. Uppsala University awarded him an honorary Ph.D. Among the inventor's awards are the Swedish Order of the Polar Star, the French Order of the Legion of Honor, the Brazilian Order of the Rose and the Venezuelan Order of Bolivar. But all honors left him indifferent. He was a gloomy man who loved loneliness, avoiding cheerful companies and completely immersed in work.

In June 1865 Alfred moved to Hamburg. Albert arranged an advertising display of explosives, calmly kept bottles of nitroglycerin in boiling water, smashed them on a stone platform, set fire to a torch - the explosive behaved calmly. Everyone was confident in the possibility of complete control of this substance, but two months later, in November 1865, there were explosions at two mines in Sweden, then the Nobel plant in Krümmel flew into the air, a few days later, the explosion of the nitroglycerin plant shocked the United States, and soon ships carrying nitroglycerin began to sink. The panic began. Many countries have adopted laws prohibiting the production and transportation of nitroglycerin and substances containing it in their territories. The family was utterly ruined. The shipping companies and the families of the victims filed gigantic lawsuits. But Nobel did not break down. Patented May 7, 1867 trademark"Dynamite", Nobel began to collect huge profits. Newspapers of those years wrote that the engineer made his discovery by accident. During transportation, a bottle of nitroglycerin broke, the spilled liquid soaked the ground, and the result was dynamite. Nobel has always denied this. He claimed that he was deliberately looking for a substance that, when mixed with nitroglycerin, would reduce its explosiveness. Kieselguhr became such a neutralizer. This rock is also called tripol (from Tripoli in Libya, where it was mined). It may seem strange that a man who devoted his whole life to the creation of powerful means of destruction, bequeathed part of the money he earned to peace prizes. What's this? Redemption? But for military purposes, "Nobel's explosives" began to be used only during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871, and at first the explosives he created were used for peaceful purposes: for the construction of tunnels and canals with the help of blasting, laying railways and roads, mining mineral. He himself said: "I would like to invent a substance or a machine with such destructive power that any war in general would become impossible." Nobel gave money for holding congresses on peace issues, and took part in them.

When Nobel undertook the creation of a "superweapon", he formulated his "anti-war" position at that moment as follows: "My dynamite factories will sooner put an end to the war than your congresses. On the day when two armies can mutually annihilate within a few seconds, all civilized the nations, terrified, will disband their armies." The habit of thinking globally remained with him until the end of his days.

One thought haunted Alfred: who would get his gigantic fortune? The brothers did not live in poverty - the volume of production of Baku oil, owned by the Nobel family, at that time exceeded the volume of oil produced in the United States, and accounted for more than half of the entire world production. Alfred did not like distant relatives and, not without reason, considered them idlers waiting for his death. Having broken his smart head for more than one day and more than one night, Nobel decided to create a special fund. Here played a role, I think, and one misunderstanding. One day, namely on April 13, 1888, Alfred found an obituary in the morning newspaper, which said that he ... had died. About the deceased it was said approximately in the same spirit that he is a "dynamite king" and a "dealer in death", and about income: "a fortune acquired by blood." (Perhaps, for the first time Alfred Nobel was puzzled by the question: what do people all over the world think about him.) He did not immediately understand that the clumsy author had confused him with his brother Ludwig ... And one night Nobel made an addition to his will. The king of dynamite, the richest of the people, wanted to have his veins cut after death, just in case. More than anything, he was afraid of being buried alive...

The realization that the wealth acquired mainly on dynamite, thanks to the fund created according to his will, would serve progress and the cause of peace, encouraged Nobel.

Nobel discovered that nitroglycerin in an inert substance such as diatomaceous earth (kieselguhr) became safer and more convenient to use, and he patented this mixture in 1867 under the name "dynamite". He then combined nitroglycerin with another high explosive, gunpowder, to produce a clear, jelly-like substance that was more explosive than dynamite. Explosive jelly, as it was called, was patented in 1876. This was followed by experiments on making similar combinations with potassium nitrate, wood pulp, etc. A few years later, Nobel invented ballistite, one of the first nitroglycerin smokeless powders, consisting in one of the latest versions equal parts gunpowder and nitroglycerin. This powder would become the forerunner of cordite, and Nobel's claim that his patent also included cordite would be the subject of bitter litigation between him and the British government in 1894 and 1895.

Cordite also consists of nitroglycerin and gunpowder, and the researchers wanted to use the most nitrated form of gunpowder, insoluble in mixtures of ether and alcohol, while Nobel proposed the use of less nitrated forms that are soluble in these mixtures. The issue was complicated by the fact that in practice it is almost impossible to prepare one of the forms in pure form, without the admixture of the second. Ultimately, the court ruled against Nobel. From the production of dynamite and other explosives, Nobel accumulated a significant fortune.

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Alfred Nobel short biography outlined in this article.

Alfred Nobel short biography

Alfred Bernhard Nobel- Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor of dynamite

Nobel's father was an experienced engineer and an outstanding inventor, and tried to establish a profitable business in Sweden. In 1842, the family moved to St. Petersburg, where his father headed the production of explosives. In Russia, wealthy parents hire Alfreda private teachers. He easily masters chemistry and speaks fluently, in addition to his native Swedish, English, French, German and Russian.

In 1850, when Alfred reached the age of 17, he went on a journey during which he visited Europe and then the United States. In Paris he studied chemistry, and in the USA he met John Ericsson, the Swedish inventor of the steam engine. After 3 years, returning to St. Petersburg, Alfred Nobel began working in his father's company, which specialized in the production of ammunition during the Crimean War. After the end of the war, the company began to produce parts for steamships being built on the Caspian Sea and the Volga River. Returning to Sweden with his family, Alfred devoted all his time to mechanical and chemical experiments.

In 1863, Alfred managed to invent a detonator that made it possible to use gunpowder to explode nitroglycerin. This invention created his reputation and raised his well-being. He became the richest chemist in history. But a successful invention turns into a tragedy. His Stockholm lab is blown up. From a powerful explosion, his brother Emil and a close friend, the chemist Hetzman, die.

Nobel never allowed the idea that dynamite would be used not only in construction and mining, but also for the destruction of people. The news of the latter caused the inventor to have a heart attack. In the future, he repeatedly made unsuccessful attempts to prohibit the use of this explosive for military purposes.

In the 1980s, Nobel invented smokeless powder. All European countries began to buy this explosive.

Nobel continues to invent. The total number of his patents reaches 355. Nobel also experimented with artificial substitutes for silk, leather and rubber.

In 1891, after a quarrel with France, Nobel established his residence in San Remo. There he built a small chemical laboratory, in 1894 he purchased an ironworks in Verlande. At the same time, Alfred began to feel pain in his heart. He consulted doctors in Paris and was warned about the development of angina pectoris (the heart muscle is not adequately supplied with oxygen). Nobel tried to finish and left a handwritten note of his dying wish.

On December 10, 1896, Alfred Nobel died at his villa in Sanremo, Italy, from a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 63 years old.