What Nobel invented. Alfred Nobel - the greatest inventor and peace activist
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 found profitable business in Sweden. In 1842, the family moved to St. Petersburg, where the father headed the production of explosives. In Russia, Alfred's wealthy parents hire 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 trip 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. At the end of the war, the company began to produce parts for ships 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, which made it possible to use gunpowder to explode nitroglycerin. This invention created his reputation and increased his prosperity. He became the richest chemist in history. But a successful invention turns into tragedy. His Stockholm laboratory is blown up. From powerful explosion his brother Emil and his close friend, the chemist Hetzman, die.
Nobel never entertained the idea that dynamite would be used not only in construction and mining work, but also for the destruction of people. The news of the latter caused the inventor a heart attack. Subsequently, he repeatedly made unsuccessful attempts to ban the use of this explosive for military purposes.
In the 1880s, Nobel invented smokeless gunpowder. All European countries began to purchase this explosive.
Nobel continues to invent. Total number his patents reach 355. Nobel also experimented with artificial substitutes for silk, leather and rubber.
In 1891, having fallen out with France, Nobel established his residence in San Remo. There he built a small chemical laboratory, in 1894 he acquired an ironworks in Verland. 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 supplied with enough 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 San Remo, Italy, of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 63 years old.
As an inventor, he found global use for nitroglycerin, developed dynamite and ballistite, and also became the owner of about 350 patents.
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The name of Alfred Nobel is now known primarily due to the prize he created. During his lifetime, his reputation was completely different: Nobel was called the “king of dynamite” and a “mass murderer,” although he was a pacifist and supported the use of dynamite for peaceful purposes. The outstanding inventor and entrepreneur did everything to ensure that the world remembers him in a positive light.
Alfred Nobel
The Early Years of Alfred Nobel
This gunpowder, by coincidence, was produced at a factory near Nobel's estate. There is information that Nobel tried to lure workers from this enterprise. The designs of Alfred and his rivals differed from each other, but not for the government.
Although World War I was more than 20 years away, the Entente and the Triple Alliance already existed, and the world was divided. Nobel did not take into account the political situation in trade. Having received a refusal from the French government, he turned to Italy, then a member of the Triple Alliance, and concluded a contract with the authorities.
The natural reaction of the French was supplemented by the denunciation of the manager of the Sevran plant. Part of the culprit in the scandal that arose was Paul Barb, who, according to rumors, negotiated with the Italian government, and later helped launch a plant for the production of ballistite in the country. Barb was a member of the French Chamber of Deputies, and at one of the meetings he was accused of treason.
In parallel with this, the authorities took up Nobel. The tax police found that he was guilty of embezzlement of 4.6 million francs. It is believed that the reason for the accusation was given by the entrepreneur’s dishonest business partners in France, who carried out dubious transactions and simply stole money.
In addition to the tax authorities, the police and intelligence became interested in Nobel. Searches began in his house and laboratory. Nothing special could be found, but the situation was heating up. In 1890, Barb died, and Nobel was left alone with his problems. There is a version that Barba was initially accused of embezzling 4.6 million francs, but Nobel became involved in the case after the death of his partner.
Without receiving objective evidence of Nobel's guilt, the French authorities began to create administrative obstacles to his work. He was prohibited from conducting business activities in the country, and the plant in Honfleur was closed. In the early 1890s, Nobel was forced to leave his beloved Paris.
After leaving, Nobel visited France several more times, but no longer remained to live there. His new refuge was Italy, where he purchased a villa in San Remo. Nobel created another laboratory here and visited the Italian plant that produced ballistite several times.
Nobel's Villa in Sanremo
The Italian period of Nobel's life is associated with a huge number of inventions. At this time he became interested balloons and their use in cartography. At the same time, in Nobel’s letters one can find information that balloons are not the future of aviation. Alfred noted: what birds can do, humans can do.
In Italy, Nobel worked in all sorts of fields, starting with household appliances and ending with weapons. Among other things, he developed silencers for cannons and rifles. In addition, Alfred consulted for the brothers' oil company in Baku and advised them to use engines internal combustion on ships.
The inventor's neighbors in San Remo quickly got tired of his explosive experiments and testing of shells and began to hint to him about it. Nobel purchased a mansion and the AB Bofors metallurgical plant in Sweden and moved there in 1894. There is information that Nobel lived in Sweden in the summer and in Italy in the winter.
The equipment at the purchased plant was outdated; a maximum of 160 mm guns, as well as armor, were produced here. Nobel developed rapid activity, taking up the expansion and modernization of the enterprise. King Oscar II, noticing the success, came to the plant and praised Nobel's achievements. There is information that the king and the entrepreneur did not miss the opportunity to communicate with each other.
In 1897, the Nobel plant presented a 250-mm cannon at an exhibition in Stockholm. Bofors will then become the supplier Swedish army, and later will enter the steel one.
In 1889, English scientists Abel and Dewar created smokeless cordite gunpowder and granted the right to its production. Representatives of Nobel's company, which worked in this region, considered that this was a fake ballistite, and without the knowledge of the entrepreneur, they sued their competitors.
Nobel did not want to sue; moreover, back in 1888 he began correspondence with Abel and Dewar and even provided them with some documentation on ballistite. Scientists borrowed a lot from Nobel's development, but he still lost the trial that lasted three years and was forced to pay a fine. The judge expressed sympathy for Nobel and compared him to a giant with two dwarfs on his shoulders.
Soon, at the instigation of Nobel, the British company began expanding and began producing cordite, so he still managed to turn the development of competitors to his advantage.
The personality of Alfred Nobel. Nobel Prize
Despite the development of dynamite, smokeless powder and the production of weapons, Alfred Nobel was an ardent pacifist for most of his life. There is an assumption that Nobel, creating new types of explosives, secretly hoped to prevent war with their help: supposedly fighting would have become so terrible that both the Entente and the Triple Alliance began to avoid escalating conflicts in every possible way.
Nobel's pacifist aspirations were greatly influenced by Bertha von Suttner, whom Alfred met before her marriage. In 1876, Nobel was looking for a secretary and wrote an advertisement in the newspaper, but it was indecent for women to respond to such advertisements.
Bertha von Suttner
Bertha, who came from an impoverished noble family, at that time worked as a governess to the daughters of Baron Suttner. An affair began between her and Arthur Suttner, one of the baron's sons, and the situation threatened to erupt into a loud scandal.
Arthur was going to marry the governess, but his family did not allow him. Bertha decided to leave Austria, and therefore answered Nobel’s ad. After a short correspondence, the entrepreneur invited her to France, paying for the ticket.
Just in case, Nobel immediately clarified that Bertha would have to stay in a hotel until her rooms in the entrepreneur’s mansion were ready. There is an opinion that he just wanted to take a closer look at the candidate, and before entering the mansion it would have been easier for him to refuse her.
Nobel met Bertha at the station, and his plans changed. According to available information, he began to consider her as his potential wife. But it didn’t come to that: Bertha honestly told him her story and never heeded Alfred’s advice to forget about the past and switch to a new life.
Soon Nobel left for Stockholm on business, and when he returned, Bertha was no longer in Paris. She left a letter explaining that she was returning to Austria. Bertha received money for a return ticket and to reimburse the amount Nobel spent on her move by selling part of the family jewelry.
WriteAlfred Bernhard Nobel (1833-1896)
The word dynamite in Greek means "strength". This explosive, which consists of nitroglycerin, potassium or sodium nitrate and wood flour, depending on the volume, can destroy a car, a house, or destroy a rock. Dynamite was invented by Swedish chemical engineer Alfred Nobel, who patented it in 1867 and proposed using it for tunneling. This invention made Nobel famous throughout the world and brought him enormous income. In 1895 he made a will, according to which most its capital was allocated to prizes for outstanding achievements in chemistry, physics, medicine, literature and peace.
In 1842, his youngest son, 9-year-old Alfred, came from Stockholm to the Swedish owner of a company producing steam engines in Russia, Emmanuel Nobel, in St. Petersburg. He was assigned to private school. Alfred was a good student, interested in chemistry and physics, and all free time spent at his father's company. When he turned 17, he was sent to study in Germany. The father wanted his youngest son to become acquainted with the basics of chemistry and physics at German universities. After Germany, Alfred trained in Paris, then went to the USA, where he worked at the factory of the famous inventor of Swedish origin, John Erickson, and became acquainted with the production of steam engines and steamships.
Nobel returned to St. Petersburg in 1853 and began working in his father’s company, which at that time specialized in the production of ammunition - Russia was fighting a difficult Crimean War (1853-1856). After the war, the demand for military products subsided, there were few orders for parts for steamships, which they produced before the war, and Alfred and his parents returned to their homeland in Stockholm. He spent all his free time in a small laboratory that his father made for him. There he experimented with chemicals. He was interested in explosions. He tried to tame nitroglycerin and made a special detonator for it.
As a result of numerous experiments, the detonator was obtained - a small metal capsule filled with mercury. From the combination of nitroglycerin and various organic substances, Nobel obtained an explosive substance, which he called dynamite. The discovery was made. Nobel patented it in 1867 and immediately proposed it to the Swedish government. railways use explosives to build tunnels. Considering natural conditions country, its mountainous terrain, this was very relevant.
Dynamite immediately demonstrated its excellent penetration properties. Directed explosions made it possible to lay in the Alps near Mont Blanc (the highest mountain in Western Europe, 4808 m) road tunnel 11.6 kilometers long, clear the Danube bed, build the Corinth Canal in Greece, remove underwater rocks in the navigable East River Strait in New York.
With the help of dynamite, drilling work was carried out in the Baku oil fields, where Nobel’s two older brothers worked, who were called “Russian Rockefellers” for the money they earned from this.
Dynamite production plants were built in Europe and overseas. Nobel himself owned 20 similar manufactories. But dynamite began to be actively used not only for engineering structures, but also in military affairs. Nobel made a significant fortune from all this.
In 1873, Nobel went to Paris, where he had a small chemical laboratory, and from there he ran his companies. In the late 1880s, he patented a new, more powerful explosive - smokeless gunpowder, which was called "ballistite". He sold his patent to the Italian government, and immediately had a conflict with the French government. He was accused of fraud, and the laboratory was searched. Angered by these actions, Alfred left France in 1891 and moved to San Remo on the Italian Riviera.
Nobel never married, lived as a hermit, remained unpretentious in everyday life, spoke fluent French, German, Russian and English languages, strove for a quiet life, world fame weighed heavily on him. Among the orange trees of his villa, he created a new chemical laboratory. Soon he began to suffer from pain in his heart, he felt general fatigue, and he developed angina. Nobel died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
In 1888, reporters from a French newspaper mistakenly published a report about Nobel's death. He was called a “millionaire on blood”, “merchant of death”, “dynamite king”. This made a strong impression on the businessman; he did not want to remain in the memory of mankind as a “villain on a global scale.” On November 27, 1895, at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, Nobel signed a will, according to which most of his fortune was to be used to establish international prizes for achievements in the main branches of science, literature, and for activities to strengthen peace.
Alfred Nobel, Swedish experimental chemist and businessman, inventor of dynamite and other explosives, who wanted to found charitable foundation to be awarded a prize in his name, which brought him posthumous fame, he was distinguished by incredible contradictions and paradoxical behavior. Contemporaries believed that he did not correspond to the image of a successful capitalist of the turbulent era industrial development 2nd half of the 19th century V. Nobel gravitated towards solitude and peace, and could not tolerate the hustle and bustle of the city, although he lived most of his life in urban conditions, and he also traveled quite often. Unlike many of the business world tycoons of his time, Nobel could be called more of a “Spartan”, because he never smoked, did not drink alcohol, and avoided cards and other gambling.
Despite his Swedish origin, he was more of a cosmopolitan of the European persuasion, speaking fluently in French, German, Russian and English, as if they were his native languages. Nobel's commercial and industrial activities could not prevent him from creating the largest library, where one could familiarize oneself with the works of such authors as Herbert Spencer, an English philosopher, a supporter of the introduction of Darwin's theory of evolution into the laws of human existence, Voltaire, Shakespeare and other outstanding authors. Among the writers of the 19th century. Nobel most distinguished French writers; he admired the novelist and poet Victor Hugo, the master of the short story Guy de Maupassant, the outstanding novelist Honore de Balzac, from whose keen eye human comedy could not escape, and the poet Alphonse Lamartine.
Alfred's mother - Andrietta
He also loved the work of the refined Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev and the Norwegian playwright and poet Henrik Ibsen. The naturalistic motives of the French novelist Emile Zola, however, did not inflame his imagination. Besides. he was impressed by the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley, whose works even awakened in him the intention to devote himself to literary creativity. By this time, he had written a significant number of plays, novels and poems, of which, however, only one work was published. But then he lost interest in literature and directed all his thoughts towards a career as a chemist.
It was also easy for Nobel to puzzle his younger companions with actions that earned him a reputation as an ardent supporter of liberal social views. There was even an opinion that he was a socialist. which in reality was completely wrong, since he was a conservative in economics and politics, strongly opposed the granting of women's suffrage, and expressed serious doubts about the benefits of democracy. Nevertheless, few believed so much in the political wisdom of the masses, few despised despotism so much. As the employer of hundreds of workers, he showed a literally fatherly concern for their health and well-being, yet was unwilling to establish personal contact with anyone. With his characteristic insight, he came to the conclusion that a labor force with higher moral qualities was more productive than the brutally exploited masses, which may have earned Nobel his reputation as a socialist.
Nobel was completely unpretentious in life and even somewhat ascetic. He trusted few people and never kept diaries. Even for dining table and among his friends he was only an attentive listener, equally polite and delicate with everyone. The dinners he hosted at his home, in one of the fashionable districts of Paris, were festive and elegant at the same time: he was a hospitable host and an interesting conversationalist, able to provoke any guest into an exciting conversation. When circumstances required, it cost him nothing to use his wit, honed to the point of causticity, as evidenced, for example, by one of his fleeting remark: “All the French are in the happy confidence that mental abilities are an exclusively French property.”
Alfred's father - Emmanuel
He was a slender man of average height, dark hair, with dark blue eyes and a beard. According to the fashion of that time, he wore pince-nez on a black cord.
Lacking good health, Nobel was sometimes capricious, secluded and in a depressed mood. He could work very hard, but then have difficulty achieving healing peace. He traveled frequently to try to take advantage of the healing powers of various mineral spring spas, a popular and accepted part of a health regimen at the time. One of his favorite places was the spring in Ischl, Austria, where he even kept a small yacht. He also really enjoyed visiting Baden bei Wien, near Vienna, where he met Sophie Hess. In 1876, she was a charming petite 20-year-old girl - at that time he was 43 years old. It was not surprising that Nobel fell in love with “Sofishchen,” a flower shop saleswoman, took her with him to Paris and put an apartment at her disposal. The young woman called herself Madame Nobel, but years later she somehow dropped that if they were connected by anything, it was financial assistance from him. Their relationship finally ended around 1891, several years before Nobel's death.
Despite his poor health, Nobel was able to throw himself into hard work. He had a great research mind and enjoyed working in his chemistry laboratory. Nobel managed his industrial empire scattered all over the world with the help of a whole “team” of directors of numerous independent companies, in which Nobel had a 20-30 percent share of capital. Despite his rather modest financial interest, Nobel personally reviewed numerous details of major decisions made by companies using his name in their name. According to one of his biographers, “in addition to scientific and commercial activities, Nobel spent a lot of time conducting extensive correspondence, and he copied every detail from business correspondence only himself, starting with issuing invoices and ending with accounting calculations.”
At the beginning of 1876, wanting to hire a housekeeper and part-time personal secretary, he advertised in one of the Austrian newspapers: “A wealthy and highly educated elderly gentleman living in Paris expresses a desire to hire a person of mature age with linguistic training to work as secretary and housekeeper." One of those who responded to the ad was 33-year-old Bertha Kinski, who was working as a governess in Vienna at the time. Having made up her mind, she headed to Paris for an interview and impressed Nobel with her appearance and speed of translation. But just a week later, homesickness called her back to Vienna, where she married Baron Arthur von Suttner, the son of her former mistress. However, she was destined to meet Nobel again, and for the last 10 years of his life they corresponded, discussing projects for strengthening peace on Earth. Bertha von Suttner became a leading figure in the struggle for peace on the European continent, which was greatly facilitated by Nobel's financial support for the movement. She was awarded Nobel Prize peace 1905
For the last five years of his life, Nobel worked with his personal assistant, Ragnar Solman, a young Swedish chemist distinguished by extreme tact and patience. Solman simultaneously served as secretary and laboratory assistant. The young man managed to please Nobel and win his trust so much that he called him nothing less than “the main executor of his desires.” “It was not always easy to serve as his assistant,” Solman recalled, “he was demanding in his requests, frank and always seemed impatient. Anyone dealing with him had to shake himself up properly to keep up with the leaps of his thoughts and be prepared for the most his amazing whims, when he suddenly appeared and disappeared just as quickly."
During his lifetime, Nobel often showed extraordinary generosity towards Solman and his other employees. When his assistant was getting ready to get married, Nobel immediately doubled his salary, and earlier, when his French cook was getting married, he gave her a gift of 40 thousand francs, a huge amount at that time. However, Nobel's philanthropy often extended beyond his personal and professional contacts. Thus, not being considered a zealous parishioner, he often donated money to the activities of the Paris branch of the Swedish Church in France, where he served as pastor in the early 90s. of the last century was Nathan Söderblum, who later became Archbishop of the Lutheran Church in Sweden and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1930.
Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born on October 21, 1833 in Stockholm and became the fourth child in the family. He was born very weak, and his entire childhood was marked by numerous illnesses. In his youth, Alfred developed a close and warm relationship with his mother, which remained so in later years: he often visited his mother and maintained a lively correspondence with her.
After unsuccessful attempts to organize his own business producing elastic fabric, Emmanuel came to hard times, and in 1837, leaving his family in Sweden, he went first to Finland, and from there to St. Petersburg, where he was quite actively involved in the production of mines charged with powder explosives, lathes and machine accessories. In October 1842, when Alfred was 9 years old, the whole family came to his father in Russia, where increased prosperity made it possible to hire a private tutor for the boy. He showed himself to be a hardworking student, capable and showing a thirst for knowledge, especially interested in chemistry.
In 1850, when Alfred reached the age of 17, he went on an extended trip to Europe, during which he visited Germany, France, and then the United States of America. In Paris he continued to study chemistry, and in the United States he met John Ericsson, the Swedish inventor of the steam engine, who later developed a design for an armored warship (the so-called "monitor").
Returning to St. Petersburg three years later, Alfred Nobel began working for his father's company, Founderie et atelier mecanique Nobel et Fiy (Founders and Machine Shops of Nobel and Suns), a booming company that specialized in the production of ammunition during the Crimean War. war (1853...1856). At the end of the war, the company was repurposed to produce machines and parts for steamships built to sail in the Caspian Sea and Volga River basin. However, orders for peacetime products were not enough to cover the gap in War Department orders, and by 1858 the company began to experience a financial crisis. Alfred and his parents returned to Stockholm, while Robert and Ludwig remained in Russia with the goal of liquidating the business and saving at least part of the invested funds. Returning to Sweden, Alfred devoted all his time to mechanical and chemical experiments, receiving three patents for inventions. This work supported his subsequent interest in experiments carried out in a small laboratory that his father equipped on his estate in the suburbs of the capital.
At this time, the only explosive for mines (regardless of their purpose - for military or peaceful purposes) was black powder. However, it was already known then that nitroglycerin in solid form is an extremely powerful explosive, the use of which is associated with exceptional risk due to its volatility. No one at that time had been able to determine how to control its detonation. After several short experiments with nitroglycerin, Emmanuel Nobel sent Alfred to Paris to find a source of funding for research (1861); his mission was successful, because he managed to get a loan in the amount of 100 thousand francs. Despite his father's persuasion, Alfred refused to participate in this project. But in 1863, he managed to invent a practical detonator, which involved the use of gunpowder to explode nitroglycerin. This invention became one of the cornerstones of his reputation and prosperity.
Emil Osterman.
Portrait of Alfred Nobel
One of Nobel's biographers, Eric Bergengren, describes this device as follows:
"IN original form... [the detonator] was designed in such a way that the initiation of an explosion of liquid nitroglycerin, which was contained in metal tank itself or was poured into the core channel, was carried out by the explosion of a smaller charge inserted under the main charge, the smaller charge consisting of gunpowder enclosed in a wooden case with a stopper in which the igniter was placed."
To enhance the effect, the inventor repeatedly changed individual parts design, and as a final improvement in 1865, he replaced the wooden pencil case with a metal capsule filled with detonating mercury. With the invention of this so-called exploding primer, the principle of initial ignition was incorporated into the explosion technology. This phenomenon became fundamental for all subsequent work in this area. This principle turned into reality efficient use nitroglycerin, and subsequently - other vaporizing explosives as independent explosive materials. In addition, this principle made it possible to begin studying the properties of explosive materials.
While perfecting the invention, Emmanuel Nobel's laboratory suffered an explosion that claimed eight lives, including Emmanuel's 21-year-old son, Emil. A short time later, my father suffered from paralysis, and he spent the remaining eight years of his life until his death in 1872 in bed, motionless.
Despite the resulting public hostility towards the production and use of nitroglycerin, Nobel in October 1864 convinced the board of the Swedish State Railways to accept the explosive he had developed for tunneling. To produce this substance, he obtained financial support from Swedish businessmen: the company Nitroglycerin, Ltd. was established. and the plant was built. During the first years of the company's existence, Nobel was managing director, technologist, head of the advertising bureau, head of the office and treasurer. He also held frequent roadshows for his products. Among the buyers was the Central Pacific Railroad (in the American West), which used nitroglycerin produced by Nobel's company to lay railroad tracks through the Sierra Nevada mountains. After receiving a patent for his invention in other countries, Nobel founded the first of his foreign companies, Alfred Nobel & Co. (Hamburg, 1865).
Photography in Sanremo
Although Nobel was able to resolve all major production safety issues, his customers were sometimes careless in handling explosives. This led to accidental explosions and deaths, and some bans on the import of dangerous products. Despite this, Nobel continued to expand his business. In 1866, he received a patent in the United States and spent three months there, obtaining funds for the Hamburg enterprise and demonstrating his “exploding oil.” Nobel decided to found American company, which, after some organizational measures, became known as Atlantic Giant Roader Co. (after Nobel’s death, it was acquired by E.I. Dupont de Nemours & Co.). The inventor felt a cold reception from an American businessman who passionately wanted to share with him the profits from the activities of companies producing liquid explosives. He later wrote: “Upon reflection, life in America seemed to me somewhat unpleasant. An exaggerated desire to squeeze out profit is pedantry, which can overshadow the joy of communicating with people and destroy the feeling of respect for them due to the idea of \u200b\u200bthe true motives of their activities.” .
Although nitroglycerin explosive correct use was effective material for blasting, it was so often responsible for accidents (including the one that leveled the Hamburg plant) that Nobel was constantly looking for ways to stabilize nitroglycerin. He unexpectedly came across the idea of mixing liquid nitroglycerin with a chemically inert porous substance. His first practical steps in this direction were the use of kieselguhr (diatomaceous earth), an absorbent material. Mixed with nitroglycerin, similar materials could be shaped into sticks and inserted into drilled holes. The new explosive material, patented in 1867, was called “dynamite, or Nobel’s safe explosive powder.”
The new explosive made it possible to carry out such exciting projects as the construction of the Alpine Tunnel on the Gotthard Railway, the removal of underwater rocks at Hell Gate located in the East River (New York), the clearing of the Danube bed in the Iron Gate area or the construction of the Corinth Canal in Greece. Dynamite also became a means of drilling in the Baku oil fields, and the latter enterprise is famous for the fact that the two Nobel brothers, known for their activity and efficiency, became so rich that they were called only “Russian Rockefellers.” Alfred was the largest individual investor in the companies organized by his brothers.
Nobel's death mask
(Karlskoga, Sweden)
Although Alfred had patent rights to dynamite and other materials (obtained as a result of his improvements), registered in major countries in the 70s. XIX century, he was constantly haunted by competitors who stole his technological secrets. During these years, he refused to hire a full-time secretary or legal adviser, and therefore had to spend a lot of time on litigation on issues of violation of his patent rights.
In the 70s and 80s. XIX century Nobel expanded the network of its enterprises in the main European countries due to the victory over competitors and through the formation of cartels with competitors in the interests of controlling prices and sales markets. Thus, he established a global chain of enterprises within national corporations for the purpose of producing and trading explosives, adding a new explosive to the improved dynamite. The military use of these substances began with the Franco-Prussian War of 1870...1871, but throughout Nobel’s life, the study of explosive materials for military purposes was an unprofitable enterprise. He received tangible benefits from his risky projects precisely through the use of dynamite in the construction of tunnels, canals, railways and highways.
Describing the consequences of the invention of dynamite for Nobel himself, Bergengren writes: “Not a day passed that he did not have to come face to face with life. important issues: financing and formation of companies; attracting bona fide partners and assistants to management positions, and suitable craftsmen and skilled workers - for direct production, which is extremely sensitive to technology and is fraught with a lot of dangers; construction of new buildings in remote construction sites in compliance with intricate safety rules and regulations in accordance with the peculiarities of the legislation of each individual country. The inventor participated with all the ardor of his soul in the planning and implementation of new projects, but rarely turned to his staff for help in working out the details of the activities of various companies."
Bust at the entrance to the villa where Alfred Nobel lived in San Remo
The biographer characterizes the ten-year cycle of Nobel's life that followed the invention of dynamite as "restless and nerve-wracking." After his move from Hamburg to Paris in 1873, he could sometimes retire to his personal laboratory, which occupied part of his house. To assist in this work he recruited Georges D. Fehrenbach, a young French chemist who worked with him for 18 years.
Given a choice, Nobel would most likely have preferred his laboratory activities to commercial activities, but his companies required priority attention as new factories had to be built to meet the increasing demand for explosives production. In 1896, the year of Nobel's death, there were 93 enterprises producing about 66,500 tons of explosives, including all its varieties, such as warheads and smokeless powder, which Nobel patented between 1887 and 1891. The new explosive could be a substitute for black powder and was relatively inexpensive to produce.
When organizing a market for smokeless gunpowder (ballistite), Nobel sold his patent to Italian government agencies, which led to a conflict with the French government. He was accused of stealing an explosive, depriving the French government of its monopoly; his laboratory was searched and closed; his business was also prohibited from producing ballistite. Under these conditions, in 1891, Nobel decided to leave France, establishing his new residence in San Remo, located on the Italian Riviera. Even without taking into account the ballistite scandal, Nobel's Parisian years could hardly be called cloudless: his mother died in 1889, a year after the death of his older brother Ludwig. Moreover, commercial activity The Parisian stage of Nobel's life was overshadowed by the participation of his Parisian association in dubious speculation related to the unsuccessful attempt to build the Panama Canal.
At his villa in San Remo, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and surrounded by orange trees, Nobel built a small chemical laboratory, where he worked as soon as time permitted. Among other things, he experimented in the field of obtaining synthetic rubber and artificial silk. Nobel loved San Remo for its amazing climate, but also kept warm memories of the land of his ancestors. In 1894, he acquired an ironworks in Värmland, where he simultaneously built an estate and acquired a new laboratory. Last two summer seasons he spent his life in Värmland. In the summer of 1896, his brother Robert died. At the same time, Nobel began to suffer from heart pain.
At a consultation with specialists in Paris, he was warned about the development of angina pectoris associated with insufficient oxygen supply to the heart muscle. He was advised to go on vacation. Nobel moved again to San Remo. He tried to complete unfinished business and left a handwritten note of his dying wish. After midnight on December 10, 1896, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage. Apart from the Italian servants who did not understand him, no one close to him was with Nobel at the time of his death, and he last words remained unknown.
The origins of Nobel's will with the wording of the provisions on awarding awards for achievements in various fields of human activity leave many ambiguities. The document in its final form represents one of the editions of his previous wills. His posthumous gift for awarding prizes in the field of literature and the field of science and technology logically follows from the interests of Nobel himself, who came into contact with the indicated aspects of human activity: physics, physiology, chemistry, literature. There is also reason to assume that the establishment of prizes for peacekeeping activities is connected with the desire of the inventor to recognize people who, like him, steadfastly resisted violence. In 1886, for example, he told an English acquaintance that he had “a more and more serious intention of seeing the peaceful shoots of the red rose in this splitting world.”
As an imaginative inventor and businessman who exploited his ideas for industrial and commercial purposes, Alfred Nobel was a typical representative of his time. The paradox is that he was a hermit seeking solitude, and world fame prevented him from achieving the peace in life that he so passionately sought.
Reconstruction of Alfred Nobel's laboratory. The scientist sits in the right corner.
The Swedish scientist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel became famous throughout the world primarily thanks to the prize that he bequeathed to be established with his money for outstanding achievements in certain fields. Meanwhile, there are things for which he can be reproached or even serious charges can be brought against him. What are we talking about?
Nobel invented weapons of mass destruction
As the son of engineer and inventor Emmanuel Nobel, Alfred was interested in technology from childhood, in particular the production of explosives. This was also facilitated by the fact that his father achieved success in the production of explosives. While traveling in France in his youth, Alfred Nobel met Ascanio Sobrero, who discovered nitroglycerin in 1847. Although Sobrero himself was against the use of nitroglycerin in the production of explosives, since he considered this substance difficult to control, Nobel adopted the idea.
On September 3, 1864, a laboratory where nitroglycerin was produced exploded at the Nobel factory in Heleneborg near Stockholm. The accident claimed the life of Alfred's younger brother, Emil. The brothers' father, Emmanuel, was paralyzed after this incident, and spent the last eight years of his life bedridden.
Despite this, Alfred continued to develop explosives. In 1867, he received a patent for dynamite, which included nitroglycerin. In 1875 he invented the so-called explosive jelly, which was superior in power to dynamite, and in 1887 he invented ballistite, which became the predecessor of cordite. After this, Nobel began to be called the “millionaire on blood,” “the merchant of explosive death,” and the “dynamite king.” He himself was a pacifist by conviction and believed that the growth of armaments would force people to restrain their warlike instincts.
He came up with the prototype of the electric chair
One of Nobel's inventions was the “silent suicide machine.” They say that Alfred himself, in his declining years, began to think about suicide, because he realized that he was essentially lonely and unhappy: he had neither a family nor children, and his health left much to be desired. True, the plan never came to fruition. But thanks to this machine, the idea for the invention arose electric chair, with the help of which criminals were executed in the United States for many years.
He was not flexible in business
Although Nobel was a very responsible person and treated his employees well, his colleagues and companions did not like him. Thus, he was unable to found enterprises in the USA because of his uncompromising attitude: it seemed to him that American businessmen were only interested in money, and in the ideas of benefiting humanity, which he himself preached.
He wasn't a nice person
To some extent, Nobel professed misanthropic views. Relatives and colleagues said he was impossible to deal with and his unsociability was shocking. He called his contemporaries “a pack of two-legged monkeys,” did not believe in progress and was wary of innovations (despite the fact that he himself made so many inventions!)
In addition, he considered the democratic model of government to be ineffective. He was even considered a socialist, although he was not one.
Nobel actively opposed the granting of voting rights to women. Once, during a dinner party, one democrat began to convince him: “After all, Alfred, there is very little difference between a man and a woman.” He raised his glass and proclaimed: “Gentlemen, long live the little difference!”
Nobel's will became the subject of great controversy
“Alfred Nobel can still be forgiven for the invention of dynamite. But only the unconditional enemy of humanity could come up with a “Nobel Prize,” Nobel laureate Bernard Shaw once joked.
The famous will was signed by Nobel on November 27, 1895 at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris. According to the document, most of the testator's fortune - about 31 million Swedish crowns - was used to establish a fund from which prizes were to be paid for achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace activities, which had great value for all humanity, regardless of what nationality the applicants were. At the same time, the millionaire’s relatives received nothing. They tried to challenge the will, but were unsuccessful.
Peace fighters were also dissatisfied with the will. They stated that “it is unethical to reward the strengthening of brotherhood between nations with money earned from explosives.” Swedish nationalists believed that since Nobel was a Swede, the prize should only go to Swedish scientists. Religious fanatics screamed that nothing good could be expected from a person who “sold his soul to the devil.” And representatives scientific world expressed doubts that the prize winners would be selected fairly.
The Nobel Prize in Mathematics was never awarded
Nobel's will mentions physics, chemistry, medicine and even peacekeeping activities, but what about the “queen of sciences” - mathematics? Why did Alfred never remember her?
Different versions have been put forward on this matter. Thus, they claimed that one of Nobel’s lovers preferred the famous mathematician Mittag-Lefler to him, and he thus decided to take revenge on his “competitor.” According to another, the reason was the unhappy love of 17-year-old Alfred for the Danish Anna Desry, who was carried away by the handsome Franz Lemarge, who embarrassed the young man by once at a reception inviting him to solve a certain mathematical problem by writing it on a napkin. Although Nobel's knowledge of mathematics was excellent, he became so excited that he could not even read the terms of the problem and left the reception. This influenced the entire future life and career of the young man.
According to the third version, Nobel considered mathematics only auxiliary tool for research, not full-fledged science. One way or another, mathematicians, no matter what brilliant discoveries they make, cannot be awarded the Nobel Prize.
