Nobel Alfred is an outstanding Swedish scientist, inventor of dynamite, academician, experimental chemist, Ph. D., academician, founder of the Nobel Prize, which made him world famous.
Childhood
Alfred Nobel, whose biography is of sincere interest to the modern generation, was born in Stockholm on October 21, 1833. He came from the peasants of the Swedish southern district of Nobelef, which became a derivative of a surname known throughout the world. In the family, besides him, there were three more sons.
Father Immanuel Nobel was an entrepreneur who, having gone bankrupt, dared to try his luck in Russia. He moved in 1837 to St. Petersburg, where he opened workshops. After 5 years, when things went smoothly, he moved his family to his place.
The first experiments of the Swedish chemist
Once in Russia, 9-year-old Nobel Alfred quickly mastered the Russian language, in addition to which he was fluent in English, Italian, German and French. The boy received his education at home. In 1849, his father sent him on a two-year journey through America and Europe. Alfred visited Italy, Denmark, Germany, France, America, but the young man spent most of his time in Paris. There he took a practical course in physics and chemistry in the laboratory of the famous scientist Jules Pelouze, who explored oil and discovered nitriles.
Meanwhile, the affairs of Immanuel Nobel, a talented self-taught inventor, improved: he became rich and famous in the Russian service, especially during the Crimean War. His factory produced mines used in the defense of the Finnish fortress of Sveaborg, Kronstadt and the harbor of Revel in Estonia. The merits of Nobel Sr. were encouraged by the imperial medal, which, as a rule, was not awarded to foreigners.
After the end of the war, orders stopped, the enterprise was idle, many workers were left out of work. This forced Immanuel Nobel to return to Stockholm.
The first experiments of Alfred Nobel
Alfred, who closely communicated with the famous Russian chemist Nikolai Zinin, meanwhile came to grips with the study of the properties of nitroglycerin. In 1863 the young man returned to Sweden, where he continued his experiments. On September 3, 1864, a terrible tragedy occurred: during the experiments, during the explosion of 100 kilograms of nitroglycerin, several people died, among whom was 20-year-old Emil, Alfred's younger brother. After the incident, Alfred's father was paralyzed, and for the last 8 years he remained bedridden. During this period, Immanuel continued to work actively: he wrote 3 books, for which he himself made illustrations. In 1870, he was excited about the use of waste from the woodworking industry, andNobel Sr. invented plywood by inventing a method of gluing with a pair of wooden plates.
Invention of dynamite
On October 14, 1864, a Swedish scientist took out a patent allowing him to manufacture an explosive containing nitroglycerin. Alfred Nobel invented dynamite in 1867; its production later brought the scientist the main we alth. The press of that time wrote that the Swedish chemist made his discovery by accident: as if a bottle of nitroglycerin had broken during transportation. The liquid spilled, soaked the soil, resulting in the formation of dynamite. Alfred Nobel did not recognize the above version and insisted that he was deliberately looking for a substance that, when mixed with nitroglycerin, would reduce the explosiveness. The desired neutralizer was diatomaceous earth - a rock also called tripel.
The Swedish chemist set up a laboratory for the production of dynamite in the middle of a lake on a barge, away from populated areas.
Two months after the start of the floating laboratory, Alfred's aunt set him up with a merchant from Stockholm, Johan Wilhelm Smith, the owner of a millionth fortune. Nobel managed to convince Smith with several other investors to unite and form an enterprise for the industrial production of nitroglycerin, which began in 1865. Realizing that the Swedish patent would not protect his rights abroad, Nobel patented his own rights to manufacture nitroglycerin and sell it worldwide.
Alfred's discoveriesNobel Prize
In 1876, the world learned about a new invention of a scientist - "explosive mixture" - a compound of nitroglycerin with collodion, which had a stronger explosive. The following years are rich in discoveries of the combination of nitroglycerin with other substances: ballistite - the first smokeless powder, then cordite.
Nobel's interests were not limited to working with explosives: the scientist was fond of optics, electrochemistry, medicine, biology, designed safe steam boilers and automatic brakes, tried to make artificial rubber, studied nitrocellulose and artificial silk. There are about 350 patents claimed by Alfred Nobel: dynamite, detonator, smokeless powder, water meter, refrigerator, barometer, military rocket design, gas burner,
Characteristics of a scientist
Nobel Alfred was one of the most educated people of his time. The scientist read a large number of books on technology, medicine, philosophy, history, fiction, giving preference to his contemporaries: Hugo, Turgenev, Balzac and Maupassant, he even tried to write. The bulk of the works of Alfred Nobel (novels, plays, poems) was never published. Only the play about Beatrice Cenci - "Nemisis" has survived, which was completed already at death. This tragedy in 4 acts was met with hostility by the clergy. Therefore, the entire published edition, published in 1896, was destroyed after the death of Alfred Nobel, with the exception of three copies. The world had the opportunity to get acquainted with this wonderful work in 2005; itwas played in memory of the great scientist on the Stockholm stage.
Contemporaries describe Alfred Nobel as a gloomy man who preferred calm loneliness and constant immersion in work to city bustle and cheerful companies. The scientist led a he althy lifestyle, had a negative attitude towards smoking, alcohol and gambling.
Being fairly we althy, Nobel really gravitated towards the Spartan lifestyle. Working on explosive mixtures and substances, he was an opponent of violence and murder, doing colossal work in the name of peace on the planet.
Inventions for Peace
In the beginning, explosives created by a Swedish chemist were used for peaceful purposes: for laying roads and railways, mining, building canals and tunnels (using blasting). For military purposes, Nobel explosives began to be used only during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871.
The scientist himself dreamed of inventing a substance or a machine that had a destructive power that made any war impossible. Nobel paid for the holding of congresses dedicated to the issues of peace on the planet, and he himself took part in them. The scientist was a member of the Paris Society of Civil Engineers, the Swedish Academy of Sciences, and the Royal Society of London. He had many awards, which he treated very indifferently.
Alfred Nobel: personal life
Great inventor - attractive man - never married and had nochildren. Closed, lonely, distrustful of people, he decided to find himself an assistant secretary and placed an appropriate ad in the newspaper. The 33-year-old Countess Bertha Sofia Felicita responded - an educated, well-mannered, multilingual girl who was a dowry. She wrote to Nobel, received an answer from him; A correspondence ensued, which aroused mutual sympathy on both sides. Soon there was a meeting between Albert and Bertha; young people walked a lot, talked, and conversations with Nobel gave Berta great pleasure.
Soon, Albert left on business, and Berta could not wait for him and returned home, where Count Arthur von Suttner was waiting for her - the sympathy and love of her life, with whom she created a family. Despite the fact that Bertha's departure was a huge blow for Alfred, their warm friendly correspondence continued until the end of the Nobel days.
Alfred Nobel and Sophie Hess
And yet there was love in Alfred Nobel's life. At the age of 43, the scientist fell in love with 20-year-old Sophie Hess, a flower shop saleswoman, moved her from Vienna to Paris, rented an apartment near the house and allowed her to spend as much as she wanted. Sophie was only interested in money. Beautiful and graceful "Madame Nobel" (as she called herself), unfortunately, was a lazy person without any education. She refused to study with the teachers hired by Nobel.
The connection between the scientist and Sophie Hess lasted 15 years, until 1891 - the moment when Sophie gave birth to a child from a Hungarian officer. Alfred Nobel parted amicablywith a young girlfriend and even assigned her a very decent allowance. Sophie married the father of her daughter, but all the time she annoyed Alfred with requests for an increase in content, after his death she began to insist on this, threatening to publish his intimate letters if she refused. The executors, who did not want the name of their trustee to be fluffed up in the newspapers, made concessions: they bought Nobel's letters and telegrams from Sophie and increased her rent.
From childhood, Nobel Alfred was characterized by poor he alth and was constantly ill; in recent years, he was tormented by heart pains. Doctors prescribed nitroglycerin to the scientist - this circumstance (a kind of irony of fate) amused Alfred, who devoted his life to working with this substance. Alfred Nobel died December 10, 1896 at his villa in Sanremo from a cerebral hemorrhage. The grave of the great scientist is located at the Stockholm cemetery.
Alfred Nobel and his prize
Inventing dynamite, Nobel saw its use in aiding human progress, not murderous wars. But the persecution that began about such a dangerous discovery prompted Nobel to think that another, more significant trace should be left behind. So, the Swedish inventor decided to establish a nominal prize after his death, having written a will in 1895, according to which the main part of the acquired fortune - 31 million crowns - goes to a specially created fund. Returns from investments should be distributed every year in the form of bonuses to people who have brought the greatest benefit to humanity during the previous year. Interestare divided into 5 parts and are intended for a scientist who made an important discovery in the field of chemistry, physics, literature, medicine and physiology, as well as made a significant contribution to maintaining peace on the planet.
A special wish of Alfred Nobel was not to take into account the nationality of the candidates.
The first Alfred Nobel Prize was awarded in 1901 to the physicist Roentgen Konrad for the discovery of the rays bearing his name. The Nobel Prizes, which are the most authoritative and honorable international awards, have had a huge impact on the development of world science and literature.
Alfred Nobel, whose testament impressed many scientists with his generosity, entered the scientific history as the discoverer of "nobelium" - a chemical element named after him. The name of the outstanding scientist is carried by the Stockholm Institute of Physics and Technology and Dnepropetrovsk University.
