Contribution of a Scientist

Name of Scientist: Alfred Nobel

 

Area(s) of Specialty: Chemistry and engineering

 

Examples of research he has done:

When working in a chemical laboratory in Paris, Alfred Nobel met the Italian (Ascanio Sobrero) who had invented the highly explosive liquid nitroglycerine which was considered too dangerous for practical use. Nobel and his father worked together to make nitroglycerine safe for mass production by adding glycerol and sulfuric acid to the substance. By 1864 the substance was safe for practical use and ready for mass production.

 

Two years later in 1866, Nobel developed dynamite by mixing nitroglycerine with a fine sand called kieselguhr which helped it have a paste like consistency that could be rolled into cylinders and therefore more easily placed in locations. It allowed for the explosive to be contained and there was less risk for leakage and other areas being exploded that shouldn’t. It reduced the cost and sped up the process for making tunnels as they no longer had to drill and could use dynamite instead.       

 

Other information to note:

Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm Sweden and had two older brothers. As a child he was interested in poetry and drama. His father was also an engineer and inventor who later moved to Russia when Nobel was still a boy to make and sell sea mines to the Russian Army at the time.

 

When Nobel was testing various chemicals such as nitroglycerine, an experiment ended up killing his younger brother and others. After the incident occurred, the city of Stockholm banned the experiments in the city limits. He began testing his explosives at the bottom of lakes, which was much safer.

 

After his chemicals were given approval for production, Nobel began opening manufacturing plants all over Europe. He later hired a secretary named Bertha von Sutter and they became good friends. Von Sutter was very involved in the peace movement, and she inspired him to create the Nobel Peace Prize and he used most of his large fortune to fund prizes for those who have work in chemistry, physics, literature whose work has helped humanity.  

 

What does this make you wonder further about?

This makes me wonder about what infrastructure would not have been able to be developed or how much more time certain infrastructure projects would have taken had dynamite not been developed.

 

Sources used:

 

“Alfred Nobel's Life and Work.” NobelPrize.org, www.nobelprize.org/alfred-nobel/alfred-nobels-life-and-work/