Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( , ; 21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, businessman, and philanthropist. He held 355 different patents, dynamite being the most famous. The synthetic element nobelium was named after him. He owned Bofors, which he redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel producer to a major manufacturer of cannon and other armaments. Having read a premature obituary which condemned him for profiting from the sales of arms, he bequeathed his fortune to institute the Nobel Prize. His name also survives in companies such as Dynamit Nobel and AkzoNobel, which are descendants of mergers with companies that Nobel established.
Introduction
Alfred Nobel
Alfred Nobel | Introduction
He held 355 different patents, dynamite being the most famous. Gas meter Dynamite Dynamite
name the fields in which nobel prize is given
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Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace.
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why is this prize given?
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To those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind
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which organization gives away the prizes?
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The Nobel Foundation.
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when was this formed?
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29 June 1900.
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are nominations after death allowed?
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No.
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how are people nominated for this?
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Nomination forms are sent by the Nobel Committee.
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by whom was the concept of these prizes first created?
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Alfred Nobel.
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who was he?
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He was a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, businessman, and philanthropist.
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where was he born?
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Stockholm.
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what did he invent?
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Alfred Nobel () was born on 21 October 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden, into a family of engineers. He was a chemist, engineer, and inventor. In 1894, Nobel purchased the Bofors iron and steel mill, which he made into a major armaments manufacturer. Nobel also invented ballistite. This invention was a precursor to many smokeless military explosives, especially the British smokeless powder cordite. As a consequence of his patent claims, Nobel was eventually involved in a patent infringement lawsuit over cordite. Nobel amassed a fortune during his lifetime, with most of his wealth coming from his 355 inventions, of which dynamite is the most famous.
Nobel Prize | History
Å.G. Ekstrand meant that the idea probably came from the chemist Lars Fredrik Nilson.
Nobelinstitut | Introduction
Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( , ; 21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, businessman, and philanthropist. He held 355 different patents, dynamite being the most famous. The synthetic element nobelium was named after him. He owned Bofors, which he redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel producer to a major manufacturer of cannon and other armaments. Having read a premature obituary which condemned him for profiting from the sales of arms, he bequeathed his fortune to institute the Nobel Prize. His name also survives in companies such as Dynamit Nobel and AkzoNobel, which are descendants of mergers with companies that Nobel established.
Alfred Nobel | Introduction
Alfred Nobel was born on 21 October 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden, into a family of engineers. He was a chemist, engineer and inventor who amassed a fortune during his lifetime, most of it from his 355 inventions, of which dynamite is the most famous. He was interested in experimental physiology and set up his own labs in France and Italy to conduct experiments in blood transfusions. Keeping abreast of scientific findings, he was generous in his donations to Ivan Pavlov's laboratory in Russia and was optimistic about the progress resulting from scientific discoveries made in laboratories. In 1888, Nobel was surprised to read his own obituary, titled "The merchant of death is dead", in a French newspaper.
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine | Background
Born in Stockholm, Alfred Nobel was the third son of Immanuel Nobel (1801–1872), an inventor and engineer, and Karolina Andriette (Ahlsell) Nobel (1805–1889). The couple married in 1827 and had eight children. The family was impoverished, and only Alfred and his three brothers survived past childhood. Through his father, Alfred Nobel was a descendant of the Swedish scientist Olaus Rudbeck (1630–1702), and in his turn the boy was interested in engineering, particularly explosives, learning the basic principles from his father at a young age. Alfred Nobel's interest in technology was inherited from his father, an alumnus of Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
Alfred Nobel | Life and career
Nobel filed his first patent, an English patent for a gas meter, in 1857, while his first Swedish patent, which he received in 1863, was on "ways to prepare gunpowder".
Alfred Nobel | Life and career
Nobel found that when nitroglycerin was incorporated in an absorbent inert substance like "kieselguhr" (diatomaceous earth) it became safer and more convenient to handle, and this mixture he patented in 1867 as "dynamite". Nobel demonstrated his explosive for the first time that year, at a quarry in Redhill, Surrey, England. In order to help reestablish his name and improve the image of his business from the earlier controversies associated with the dangerous explosives, Nobel had also considered naming the highly powerful substance "Nobel's Safety Powder", but settled with Dynamite instead, referring to the Greek word for "power" (). Nobel later combined nitroglycerin with various nitrocellulose compounds, similar to collodion, but settled on a more efficient recipe combining another nitrate explosive, and obtained a transparent, jelly-like substance, which was a more powerful explosive than dynamite.
Alfred Nobel | Inventions
, born on 21 October 1833 in Stockholm Sweden, was a chemist, engineer, innovator, armaments manufacturer and the inventor of dynamite. He owned Bofors, a major armaments manufacturer, which he had redirected from its original business as an iron and steel mill. Nobel held 355 different patents, dynamite being the most famous. Nobel amassed a sizeable personal fortune during his lifetime, thanks mostly to this invention. In 1896 Nobel died of a stroke in his villa in San Remo, Italy where he had lived out the last years of his life. Nobel's will expressed a request, to the surprise of many, that his money be used for prizes in physics, chemistry, peace, physiology or medicine and literature.
Nobel Foundation | History
After the death of his younger brother Emil in an 1864 nitroglycerin explosion at the family's armaments factory in Heleneborg, Stockholm, Nobel founded Nitroglycerin AB in Vinterviken, Stockholm. A year later, having found some German business partners, he launched the Alfred Nobel & Company in Germany, building an isolated factory in the Krümmel hills of Geesthacht near Hamburg. This business exported a liquid combination of nitroglycerin and gunpowder known as "Blasting Oil", but it was extremely unstable and difficult to transport, as shown in numerous catastrophes. The buildings of the Krümmel factory itself were destroyed in 1866 and again in 1870.
Dynamit Nobel | Creation
At the time, Nobel was a student in Uppsala, but also helped in the factory. After the explosion, production of nitroglycerin was banned in the factory, but continued next to Heleneborg on an anchored barge in a bay of Lake Mälaren. His brother Alfred was not in the factory at the time of Emil’s death but later managed to stabilize dynamite with a diatomaceous earth called kieselguhr.
Emil Oskar Nobel | Biography
Alfred Jørgen Bryn (29 May 1862 – 3 August 1937) was a Norwegian patent engineer.
Alfred Jørgen Bryn | Introduction
As a young man, Nobel studied with chemist Nikolai Zinin; then, in 1850, went to Paris to further the work. There he met Ascanio Sobrero, who had invented nitroglycerin three years before. Sobrero strongly opposed the use of nitroglycerin, as it was unpredictable, exploding when subjected to heat or pressure. But Nobel became interested in finding a way to control and use nitroglycerin as a commercially usable explosive, as it had much more power than gunpowder. At age 18, he went to the United States for one year to study, working for a short period under Swedish-American inventor John Ericsson, who designed the American Civil War ironclad USS "Monitor".
Alfred Nobel | Life and career
Ragnar Sohlman (February 26, 1870 in Stockholm – July 9, 1948 at the Karolinska hospital, Solna) was a Swedish chemical engineer, manager, civil servant, and creator of the Nobel Foundation.
Ragnar Sohlman | Introduction
Dynamite was invented by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel in the 1860s and was the first safely manageable explosive stronger than black powder. Alfred Nobel's father, Immanuel Nobel, was an industrialist, engineer, and inventor. He built bridges and buildings in Stockholm and founded Sweden's first rubber factory. His construction work inspired him to research new methods of blasting rock that were more effective than black powder. After some bad business deals in Sweden, in 1838 Immanuel moved his family to Saint Petersburg, where Alfred and his brothers were educated privately under Swedish and Russian tutors. At age 17, Alfred was sent abroad for two years; in the United States he met Swedish engineer John Ericsson and in France studied under famed chemist Théophile-Jules Pelouze and his pupil Ascanio Sobrero who had first synthesized nitroglycerin in 1847.
Dynamite | History
Emil Nobel was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He was the youngest son of Immanuel Nobel (1801–1872) and Karolina Andrietta Ahlsell (1803–1889). He was the brother of Robert Nobel, Ludvig Nobel and Alfred Nobel. In 1842, Immanuel Nobel opened a workshop with foundry in St. Petersburg returning to Sweden in 1859 with his youngest sons Emil and Alfred. Emil was the only one of the Nobel family to go to college, attending University of Uppsala. Emil died together with several other factory worker, the victim of an explosion while experimenting with nitroglycerine at Nobels sprängolja, his father's factory at Heleneborg in Stockholm.
Emil Oskar Nobel | Biography
In the summer of 1863, Nobel performed his first successful detonation of pure nitroglycerin, using a blasting cap made of a copper percussion cap and mercury fulminate. In 1864, Alfred Nobel filed patents for both the blasting cap and his method of synthesizing nitroglycerin, using sulfuric acid, nitric acid and glycerin. On 3 September 1864, while experimenting with nitroglycerin, Emil and several others were killed in an explosion at the factory at Immanuel Nobel's estate at Heleneborg. After this, Alfred founded the company Nitroglycerin Aktiebolaget AB in Vinterviken to continue work in a more isolated area and the following year moved to Germany, where he founded another company, Dynamit Nobel.
Dynamite | History
Immanuel Nobel the Younger ( , ; 24 March 1801 – 3 September 1872) was a Swedish engineer, architect, inventor and industrialist. He was the inventor of the rotary lathe used in plywood manufacturing. He was a member of the Nobel family and the father of Robert Nobel, Ludvig Nobel and Alfred Nobel. In 1827 he married the children's mother, Andriette Ahlsell. He also often experimented with nitroglycerin with his sons, which led to his son Emil Oskar Nobel's death because of an explosion at his father's factory Heleneborg in Stockholm in 1864. Nobel moved to Russia from Sweden in 1838, to sell his inventions in Saint Petersburg, where he lived for two decades with his family.
Immanuel Nobel | Introduction
Following various business failures, Nobel's father moved to Saint Petersburg in 1837 and grew successful there as a manufacturer of machine tools and explosives. He invented the veneer lathe (which allowed the production of modern plywood) and started work on the torpedo. In 1842, the family joined him in the city. Now prosperous, his parents were able to send Nobel to private tutors and the boy excelled in his studies, particularly in chemistry and languages, achieving fluency in English, French, German and Russian. For 18 months, from 1841 to 1842, Nobel went to the only school he ever attended as a child, in Stockholm.
Alfred Nobel | Life and career
Gelignite, or blasting gelatine, as it was named, was patented in 1876; and was followed by a host of similar combinations, modified by the addition of potassium nitrate and various other substances. Gelignite was more stable, transportable and conveniently formed to fit into bored holes, like those used in drilling and mining, than the previously used compounds. It was adopted as the standard technology for mining in the "Age of Engineering", bringing Nobel a great amount of financial success, though at a significant cost to his health. An offshoot of this research resulted in Nobel's invention of ballistite, the precursor of many modern smokeless powder explosives and still used as a rocket propellant.
Alfred Nobel | Inventions
Alfred Nobel stipulated in his last will and testament that his money be used to create a series of prizes for those who confer the "greatest benefit on mankind" in physics, chemistry, peace, physiology or medicine, and literature. Though Nobel wrote several wills during his lifetime, the last was written a little over a year before he died, and signed at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris on 27 November 1895. Nobel bequeathed 94% of his total assets, 31 million Swedish "kronor" (US$198 million, €176 million in 2016), to establish and endow the five Nobel Prizes. Due to the level of skepticism surrounding the will, it was not until 26 April 1897 that it was approved by the Storting (Norwegian Parliament).
Nobel Prize in Chemistry | Background
Dynamit Nobel AG originates from the company Alfred Nobel & Co., founded on 21 June 1865 in Hamburg by the Swedish chemist and industrialist Alfred Nobel. At the beginning, the company was manufacturing nitroglycerin explosives in the dynamite factory of Krümmel located in Geesthacht, near Hamburg. This factory was the first one to be located outside of Sweden. Nobel wanted to produce nitroglycerine on several sites in Europe because the transportation of explosives was very dangerous due to its well-known sensitivity to shocks. Because of the danger associated with handling nitroglycerine, Nobel started to develop a more secure explosive commonly known as dynamite.
Dynamit Nobel | From 1865 to 1918
Nobel bought the whole area of Vinterviken in 1865. Due to safety issues he moved his research lab and his factory ("Nitroglycerin Aktiebolaget") from a populated area in Stockholm to Vinterviken which was surrounded by cliffs and therefore suitable for his dangerous experiments. Gradually, Nobel developed the area by constructing a local rail-road, a harbour, testing grounds/tunnels ("Nobel's Spränggroparna") for exploring dynamite and also, housing for factory workers. Dynamite used to be manufactured in this area until 1921 but Nobel's factory remained working until the 1980s.
Vinterviken | Alfred Nobel’s factory
The Nobel Prize (, ; ; ) is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's 1895 will, are awarded "to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind”. Nobel Prizes are awarded in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace (Nobel called this prize "fellowship among nations"). Nobel prizes are widely regarded as the most prestigious awards available in their respective fields. Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist most famously known for the invention of dynamite. He died in 1896. In his will, he bequeathed all of his "remaining realisable assets" to be used to establish five prizes which became known as "Nobel Prizes".
Nobel Prize | Introduction
The prize has no connection to the Nobel Prize established by Alfred Nobel, with which it is often confused owing to the similarity of their names.
Alfred Noble Prize | Introduction
Competitors tried to mix nitroglycerin with other inert absorbents in many different combinations to get around Nobel's tightly controlled patents.
Dynamit Nobel | Creation
The Svedberg (1884-1971),(Theodor), professor in physical chemistry at Uppsala University from 1912 to 1949, was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1926 for his research on dispersed systems (colloidal solutions). He invented the Ultracentrifuge, which was used in the discovery that proteins consist of macromolecules. Towards the end of the 1930s The Svedberg and his colleagues built their first accelerator, a Neutron generator. In 1945, a donation from the Gustaf Werner Corporation gave the opportunity to build a much larger accelerator, a synchrocyclotron. The Gustaf Werner Institute with the synchrocyclotron as the main research instrument was founded in 1949 and continued to act as a base for research in high-energy physics and radiation biology until 1986 when The Svedberg Laboratory was established.
The Svedberg Laboratory | History
Alfred Nobel stipulated in his last will and testament that his money be used to create a series of prizes for those who confer the "greatest benefit on mankind" in physics, chemistry, peace, physiology or medicine, and literature. Though Nobel wrote several wills during his lifetime, the last was written a little over a year before he died, and signed at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris on 27 November 1895. Nobel bequeathed 94% of his total assets, 31 million Swedish "kronor" (US$198 million, €176 million in 2016), to establish and endow the five Nobel Prizes. Due to the level of scepticism surrounding the will, it was not until 26 April 1897 that the Storting (Norwegian Parliament) approved it.
Nobel Prize in Literature | Background
On 27 November 1895, at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, Nobel signed his last will and testament and set aside the bulk of his estate to establish the Nobel Prizes, to be awarded annually without distinction of nationality. After taxes and bequests to individuals, Nobel's will allocated 94% of his total assets, 31,225,000 Swedish kronor, to establish the five Nobel Prizes. This converted to £1,687,837 (GBP) at the time. In 2012, the capital was worth around SEK 3.1 billion (US$472 million, EUR 337 million), which is almost twice the amount of the initial capital, taking inflation into account. The first three of these prizes are awarded for eminence in physical science, in chemistry and in medical science or physiology; the fourth is for literary work "in an ideal direction" and the fifth prize is to be given to the person or society that renders the greatest service to the cause of international fraternity, in the suppression or reduction of standing armies, or in the establishment or furtherance of peace congresses.
Alfred Nobel | Nobel Prizes
Alfred Renard was born in Anderlecht on 21 April 1895. As a youngster and inspired by the kites he saw his father make, he installed electricity and a telephone system at an uncle's farm. In 1912, his inspiration was kindled by a prize of 10.000 francs, offered by French car builder Peugeot to the first cyclist to make two aircraft flights of 10 meters each, relying solely on his or her own muscular power. Alfred conceived and, with help from his brother Georges, made his own device for the test: a bicycle augmented with a propeller and a fabric-covered wing, which unfolded by means of a lever when the device reached airspeed.
Alfred Renard | Biography
Alfred Nobel, in his last will and testament, stated that his wealth should be used to create a series of prizes for those who confer the "greatest benefit on mankind" in the fields of physics, chemistry, peace, physiology or medicine, and literature. Though Nobel wrote several wills during his lifetime, the last one was written a year before he died and was signed at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris on 27 November 1895. Nobel bequeathed 94% of his total assets, 31 million Swedish "kronor" (US$198 million, Euro€176 million in 2016), to establish and endow the five Nobel Prizes. Owing to the level of skepticism surrounding the will, it was not until April 26, 1897 that it was approved by the Storting (Norwegian Parliament).
Nobel Prize in Physics | Background
In 1888, Nobel was astonished to read his own obituary, titled "The merchant of death is dead", in a French newspaper. It was Alfred's brother Ludvig who had died; the obituary was eight years premature. The article disconcerted Nobel and made him apprehensive about how he would be remembered. This inspired him to change his will. On 10 December 1896, Alfred Nobel died in his villa in San Remo, Italy, from a cerebral haemorrhage. He was 63 years old. Nobel wrote several wills during his lifetime. He composed the last over a year before he died, signing it at the Swedish–Norwegian Club in Paris on 27 November 1895.
Nobel Prize | History
According to Roberts, the common story that Alfred Nobel's discovery of dynamite was an accident may not be true. On the other hand, Roberts says, Nobel did make a discovery with the help of luck soon after that. Nobel cut his finger on a piece of glass one day at work and subsequently applied collodion in order to form a protective layer over the wound (similar in principle to liquid bandage). Nobel was kept up at night by the pain in his finger, so he started to think about a problem he was having back at work: Nobel was trying to create a powerful explosive using nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine, but the two would not combine.
List of discoveries influenced by chance circumstances | Nobel and blasting gelatin
No one objected. However, no one supported him, no one helped to realize the idea. G. Askaryan then was inexperienced in forms and methods of scientific investigation. He even did not publish his proposal. Several years later, in 1952, the same idea was set forth independently by an American physicist Donald Arthur Glaser. He put the idea into practice having assembled the device known now as bubble chamber. This instrument proved to be so useful in high energy physics that D. A. Glazer was awarded with the Nobel Prize in 1960. This event gave rise to Askaryan's deep concern. Of course, he was shaken that Nobel Prize was so near and, so to say, he let it slip.
Gurgen Askaryan | Missed Nobel Prize
In 1901 Lindberg was given the task of creating the medal for the Nobel Prizes in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine and Literature. The medal for the Nobel Peace Prize was created by Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943). According to correspondence between Lindberg and his father, the designs were not quite ready for the first ceremony in 1901; the reverse sides of the medals required approval from the Prize-Giving association, and so the winners were given temporary medals. In November 1901, after lengthy discussions by letter, Lindberg returned to Stockholm to present his ideas in person. However, it wasn't until September the following year the designs were ready and the first winners received their proper prize.
Erik Lindberg | Biography
In 1888, Alfred's brother, Ludvig, died while visiting Cannes, and a French newspaper mistakenly published Alfred's obituary. It condemned him for his invention of military explosives (not, as is commonly quoted, dynamite, which was mainly used for civilian applications) and is said to have brought about his decision to leave a better legacy after his death. The obituary stated, "" ("The merchant of death is dead") and went on to say, "Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday." Alfred (who never had a wife or children) was disappointed with what he read and concerned with how he would be remembered.
Alfred Nobel | Nobel Prizes
Ludvig was also the founder of Branobel, the foremost Russian oil industry of its time, and launched the world's first diesel-driven tugs and tankers, besides building the first European pipeline. Alfred Nobel, who died childless, was the inventor of dynamite and the founder of the Nobel Prizes, to the creation of which he left the bulk of his estate. The Nobel family have created several societies, including the Nobel Family Society, a private society of which only the descendants of Immanuel Nobel, the younger, are eligible as members, the Nobel Foundation, a private society administering the prizes of Alfred Nobel, and the Nobel Charitable Trust.
Nobel family | Achievements
Alfred Benlloch Llorach (October 17, 1917 – May 8, 2013) was a Spanish inventor with over one hundred patents registered in different areas. He was born in Barcelona and was one of the pioneers of the first blood transfusion service in the world, created under the direction of Frederic Durán-Jordà during the Spanish Civil War. He also developed pioneering work on artillery predictors, reverse osmosis, transfusion equipment, thermoformed timber, solar energy, and in his last years worked on theoretical physics. He died in Ibiza, aged 95.
Alfred Benlloch Llorach | Introduction
Claes Nobel ( , ; born 1930), a native of Sweden, is grandson of Ludvig Nobel and grand nephew to Alfred Nobel, who established the Nobel Prizes.
Claes Nobel | Introduction
Technical innovativity was notably initiated in the ateliers of his father in Östermalm in Stockholm, that cooperated among others with the early manufactory of L. M. Ericsson. Of importance to his significant autodidact studies was also the tutorship in physics by Salomon August Andrée, as was the early mentorship of Alfred Nobel. Later, Fredrik Ljungström would in turn offer mentorship to junior industrialists such as Curt Nicolin. Alfred Nobel was aged 61 when he acquainted the Fredrik and Birger Ljungström, 19 and 22 years old. Nobel, who didn't have any own children, would enthusiastically collaborate in the brother's early endeavours.
Fredrik Ljungström | Early life and background
Alfred Binet (; July 8, 1857 – October 18, 1911), born Alfredo Binetti, was a French psychologist who invented the first practical IQ test, the Binet–Simon test. In 1904, the French Ministry of Education asked psychologist Alfred Binet to devise a method that would determine which students did not learn effectively from regular classroom instruction so they could be given remedial work. Along with his collaborator Théodore Simon, Binet published revisions of his test in 1908 and 1911, the last of which appeared just before his death.
Alfred Binet | Introduction
By the will of the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel the Nobel Prize were established in 1895. The prizes in Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine were first awarded in 1901. The percentage of ethnically European Nobel prize winners during the first and second halves of the 20th century were respectively 98 and 94 percent. A study by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) – Japan's equivalent of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) – concluded that 54% of the world's most important inventions were British. Of the rest, 25% were American and 5% Japanese. The West is credited with the development of the steam engine and adapting its use into factories, and for the generation of electric power.
Western culture | Scientific and technological inventions and discoveries
Oskar Heil (20 March 1908, in Langwieden – 15 May 1994, San Mateo, California) was a German electrical engineer and inventor. He studied physics, chemistry, mathematics, and music at the Georg-August University of Göttingen and was awarded his PhD in 1933, for his work on molecular spectroscopy.
Oskar Heil | Introduction
In 1887 Bryn established the office "Bryns Patentbyrå", which he managed for fifty years. Among his publications are "Om patenter" from 1894, "Raadhuset og Piperviks-reguleringen" from 1916, "Varemerket" from 1929, and "Retten i oppfinnelser efter norsk lov" from 1932.
Alfred Jørgen Bryn | Career
Although he did not succeed in his attempts to explain all those things, his findings in the field of hydrodynamics were important. His experiments were shown at the first International Exposition of Electricity in Paris that ran from August 15, 1881 through to November 15, 1881 at the Palais de l'Industrie on the Champs-Élysées and at the Scandinavian naturalist meeting in Stockholm. John Charles Fields the founder of the Fields Medal for outstanding achievement in mathematics had this to say about the great minds that Norway had produced since it gained independence:
Carl Anton Bjerknes | Biography
He also developed sufficient literary skill to write poetry in English. His "Nemesis" is a prose tragedy in four acts about Beatrice Cenci. It was printed while he was dying, but the entire stock was destroyed immediately after his death except for three copies, being regarded as scandalous and blasphemous. It was published in Sweden in 2003 and has been translated into Slovenian and French.
Alfred Nobel | Personal life
Of inventive mind, he patented a machine for setting up type at a distance by the transmission of electric impulses, and a flying machine, the precursor of the aeroplane.
Edward FitzGerald Law | Sudan
The design was widely studied and copied, with Nobel refusing to patent any part of it. In October 1878, he ordered two more tankers of the same design: the "Buddha" and the "Nordenskjöld". The first tank steamer of the United States was built after drawings and calculations of Nobel after his death.
Ludvig Nobel | Inventions
Alfred Brauer was Richard's brother and seven years older. They were born to a Jewish family. Both were interested in science and mathematics, but Alfred was injured in combat in World War I. As a boy, Richard dreamt of becoming an inventor, and in February 1919 enrolled in Technische Hochschule Berlin-Charlottenburg. He soon transferred to University of Berlin. Except for the summer of 1920 when he studied at University of Freiburg, he studied in Berlin, being awarded his Ph.D. on 16 March 1926. Issai Schur conducted a seminar and posed a problem in 1921 that Alfred and Richard worked on together, and published a result.
Richard Brauer | Education and career
In 1903 he became the first Swede to be awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry. In 1905, upon the founding of the Nobel Institute for Physical Research at Stockholm, he was appointed rector of the institute, the position where he remained until retirement in 1927. In 1911 he won the first Willard Gibbs Award.
Svante Arrhenius | Nobel Prizes
Ragnar Sohlman was born in Stockholm, son to August Sohlman, a well-known newspaper man, and his wife Hulda Maria Sandeberg. In 1887, he enrolled at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and graduated as a chemical engineer in 1890. In 1893 Sohlman became the assistant of Alfred Nobel in San Remo, and Nobel's will from 1895 named him and Rudolf Lilljequist as executors, with Sohlman expected to do most of the work. The will stated: The sum of 100.000 crowns was a very significant amount at the time, and made Sohlman a wealthy man. The amount can be compared to the prize amount of the first Nobel Prizes in 1901, 150.782 crowns each.
Ragnar Sohlman | Biography
Ludvig Nobel also abolished child labour in his companies and shortened work hours while establishing a workers' savings bank and a system of regular payment.
Nobelite | Introduction
Members of the Nobel family are known not only for their interest in art but also for their inventive ability, which is sometimes referred to as a "Rudbeckian" trait, inherited from their ancestor Olaus Rudbeck, the elder. Immanuel Nobel pioneered the development of underwater mines, designed some of the first steam engines to power Russian ships, installed the first central heating systems in Russian homes and was the first to develop modern plywood (cut with a rotary lathe). One of his sons, Ludvig Nobel, was the founder of The Machine-Building Factory Ludvig Nobel, a great armaments concern and the inventor of the Nobel wheel.
Nobel family | Achievements
Nobel was accused of high treason against France for selling Ballistite to Italy, so he moved from Paris to Sanremo, Italy in 1891. On 10 December 1896, he suffered a stroke and died. He had left most of his wealth in trust, unbeknown to his family, in order to fund the Nobel Prize awards. He is buried in Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm.
Alfred Nobel | Death
Robert Nobel was born in Maria Magdalena parish in Stockholm, Sweden. He was the eldest son of Karolina Andrietta Ahlsell and her husband Immanuel Nobel. He was the brother of Emil Oscar Nobel, Ludvig Nobel and Alfred Nobel. Robert Nobel started Branobel, an important early oil company which controlled a significant amount of Russian oil output. In 1873 he started his business in Baku, Azerbaijan and began to interest his brother Ludvig in the growing company. In 1876, he bought an interest in an oil refinery in Baku. In 1878, together with the third brother Alfred Nobel, the two brothers formed Naftabolaget Bröderna Nobel (Branobel).
Robert Nobel | Biography
Ingemar Henry Lundquist (born in Stockholm, Sweden, October 19, 1921, died in Carmel Valley Village, California, February 25, 2007) was a prolific inventor and mechanical engineer.
Ingemar Lundquist | Introduction
Additionally he is credited with 20 inventions.
Mohamed Yousef Soliman | Introduction
In 1954, Krupa created the first modern suitcase on wheels, and in 1957, he created a glass-bottom boat that could be used to observe underwater. Krupa also invented a folding canvas catamaran and boxing gloves that could be inflated with compressed air. Krupa attempted to patent these inventions by contacting authorities in Belgrade, Yugoslavia and even the British Embassy, but he eventually gave up on the idea. Born in Mikolow, Poland in 1915, he lost both his parents at an early age and was raised along with his two brothers and a sister by his grandmother. Following high school, Krupa traveled to Krakow, Poland, where he studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts.
Alfred Krupa | Introduction
Dalén was born in Stenstorp, a small village in Falköping Municipality, Västra Götaland County. He managed the family farm, which he expanded to include a market garden, a seed merchants and a dairy. In 1892 he invented a milk-fat tester to check milk quality of the milk delivered and went to Stockholm to show his new invention for Gustaf de Laval. de Laval was impressed by the self-taught Dalén and the invention and encouraged him to get a basic technical education. He was admitted to the Chalmers University of Technology where he earned his Master's degree and a Doctorate on leaving in 1896.
Gustaf Dalén | Early years
Eben Norton Horsford (27 July 1818 – 1 January 1893) was a United States scientist who taught agricultural chemistry in the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard from 1847 to 1863. Later he was known for his reformulation of baking powder, his interest in Viking settlements in North America, and the monuments he built to Leif Erikson.
Eben Norton Horsford | Introduction
During its history, Vinterviken has transformed from a vital industrial area to a recreational region. The most important stage was when Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist, established his new research laboratory and factory there. In his Vinterviken laboratory, Nobel invented an enormous revolution for armaments and explosive manufacturing, dynamite.
Vinterviken | Historical and cultural area
Alfred Schack (1895 – 1978) was a German inventor and entrepreneur.
Alfred Schack | Introduction
In 1950, he invented a technique for producing the supersonic source for molecular beams ; this was subsequently used by chemists in research that led to two Nobel Prizes. In the 1960s and 1970s, he led the design and development at AERL of the first intra-aortic balloon pump. The balloon pump is a temporary cardiac assist device which has been used worldwide on three million people. The device was used on his own failing heart.
Arthur Kantrowitz | Scientific contributions
Wifalk developed two aids for people with physical disabilities: the manuped and the walker. She did not patent her inventions because she wanted to make them available to as many disabled people as possible. She received only royalties from the sale of her developments, which she bequeathed in the name of the Nordic Church Association on the Spanish Costa del Sol, which she had visited several times in her life.
Aina Wifalk | Inventions
Fredrik Ljungström (16 June 1875 in Stockholm – 18 February 1964 in Stockholm) was a Swedish engineer, technical designer, and industrialist. Considered one of the foremost inventors of Sweden, Fredrik Ljungström accounted for hundreds of technical patents alone and in collaboration with his brother Birger Ljungström (1872–1948): from early bicycling free wheeling hubs techniques and mechanical automatic transmissions for vehicles, to steam turbines, air preheaters, and circular arc hulls for sailing boats. He co-founded companies such as The New Cycle Company, Ljungström Steam Turbine Co. and Ljungström Swedish Turbine Manufacturing Co. (STAL), and associated with other industrialists such as Alfred Nobel, Helge Palmcrantz, Gustaf de Laval, Curt Nicolin, and Gustaf Dalén.
Fredrik Ljungström | Introduction
Charles developed several useful inventions, including a valve to let hydrogen out of the balloon and other devices, such as the hydrometer and reflecting goniometer, and improved the Gravesand heliostat and Fahrenheit's aerometer. In addition he confirmed Benjamin Franklin's electrical experiments.
Jacques Charles | Inventions
Alfred Dolge (December 22, 1848 – January 5, 1922) was a German-born industrialist, inventor, and author of two books. Originally an importer and manufacturer of piano materials he later founded his own factory, manufacturing felt products at Brockett's Bridge, Fulton County, New York, which in 1887 was renamed to Dolgeville.
Alfred Dolge | Introduction
Theodor ("The") Svedberg (30 August 1884 – 25 February 1971) was a Swedish chemist and Nobel laureate for his research on colloids and proteins using the ultracentrifuge, active at Uppsala University.
Theodor Svedberg | Introduction
Under the Nobel Foundation statutes, Hahn had six months to deliver the Nobel Prize lecture, and until 1 October 1946 to cash the 150,000 Swedish krona cheque.
Otto Hahn | The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1944
Alfred Nobel left his fortune to finance annual prizes to be awarded "to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind". He stated that the Nobel Prizes in Physics should be given "to the person who shall have made the most important 'discovery' or 'invention' within the field of physics". Nobel did not emphasise discoveries, but they have historically been held in higher respect by the Nobel Prize Committee than inventions: 77% of the Physics Prizes have been given to discoveries, compared with only 23% to inventions. Christoph Bartneck and Matthias Rauterberg, in papers published in "Nature" and "Technoetic Arts", have argued this emphasis on discoveries has moved the Nobel Prize away from its original intention of rewarding the greatest contribution to society.
Nobel Prize | Emphasis on discoveries over inventions
The invention that brought Lawrence to international fame started out as a sketch on a scrap of a paper napkin. While sitting in the library one evening in 1929, Lawrence glanced over a journal article by Rolf Widerøe, and was intrigued by one of the diagrams. This depicted a device that produced high-energy particles by means of a succession of small "pushes". The device depicted was laid out in a straight line using increasingly longer electrodes. At the time, physicists were beginning to explore the atomic nucleus. In 1919, the New Zealand physicist Ernest Rutherford had fired alpha particles into nitrogen and had succeeded in knocking protons out of some of the nuclei.
Ernest Lawrence | Invention
Alfred-Marie Liénard (2 April 1869 in Amiens – 29 April 1958 in Paris), was a French physicist and engineer. He is most well known for his derivation of the Liénard–Wiechert potentials. From 1887–1889 Liénard was a student at the École Polytechnique and from 1889–1892 at the École des mines de Paris. From 1892–1895 he was a mining engineer in Valencia, Marseille, and Angers. From 1895–1908 he was professor at the École des Mines de Saint-Étienne and from 1908–1911 he was professor of electrical engineering at the École des Mines de Paris. In World War I he served in the French Army.
Alfred-Marie Liénard | Introduction
Robert Hjalmar Nobel ( , ; 4 August 1829 – 7 August 1896) was a Swedish businessman, industrialist and investor. He was the founder Branobel and was a pioneer in the Russian oil industry.
Robert Nobel | Introduction
Alfred Ely Beach (September 1, 1826 – January 1, 1896) was an American inventor, publisher, and patent lawyer, born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He is most known for his design of New York City's earliest subway predecessor, the Beach Pneumatic Transit. He also patented a typewriter for the blind.
Alfred Ely Beach | Introduction
Both portray the process of industrialisation by depicting picturesque pre-industrial handicrafts. The inventor is supposed to be pondering these manual skills while he forms in his mind a mechanism to replace them.
Alfred Elmore | Introduction
Since the first award in 1901, conferment of the Nobel Prize has occasionally engendered criticism and controversy. After his death in 1896, the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel established that an annual prize be awarded for service to humanity in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. Similarly, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel is awarded along with the Nobel Prizes. Nobel sought to reward "those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind". One prize, he stated, should be given "to the person who shall have made the most important 'discovery' or 'invention' within the field of physics".
Nobel Prize controversies | Introduction
Because of his Jewish origin, he lost his position during the Nazi regime in 1934 and moved to Sweden, where he worked until 1952 at the Nobel Institute of Physical Chemistry. During his time at the Nobel Institute, Riesenfeld worked on the thermal formation of ozone at high temperatures.
Ernst Hermann Riesenfeld | Biography
The Nobel Prize medals, minted by Myntverket in Sweden and the Mint of Norway since 1902, are registered trademarks of the Nobel Foundation. Each medal feature an image of Alfred Nobel in left profile on the obverse (front side of the medal). The Nobel Prize medals for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature have identical obverses, showing the image of Alfred Nobel and the years of his birth and death (1833–1896). Nobel's portrait also appears on the obverse of the Nobel Peace Prize medal and the Medal for the Prize in Economics, but with a slightly different design. The image on the reverse of a medal varies according to the institution awarding the prize.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry | Nobel Prize medals
The Nobel Prize medals, minted by Myntverket in Sweden and the Mint of Norway since 1902, are registered trademarks of the Nobel Foundation. Each medal features an image of Alfred Nobel in left profile on the obverse (front side of the medal). The Nobel Prize medals for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature have identical obverses, showing the image of Alfred Nobel and the years of his birth and death (1833–1896). Nobel's portrait also appears on the obverse of the Nobel Peace Prize medal and the Medal for the Prize in Economics, but with a slightly different design. The image on the reverse of a medal varies according to the institution awarding the prize.
Nobel Prize in Literature | Medals
Born in Vienna on August 17, 1922, Jakob Knoblauch, was credited in at least one publication as the “designer of the first bubble car” although this is otherwise unsubstantiated. In England, he adopted the name York Noble and formed the company Noble Motors, Ltd., in May 1956, as UK concessionaires for the Heinkel bubble car, until its manufacture was transferred to the Dundalk Engineering Company, in Dundalk during 1958. In December 1957, Noble set up another company, York Noble Industries Ltd, and in June 1958, it was announced that the company would be introducing two cars. The Nobel 200 limousine, a hard-top saloon, and the Nobel 200 ‘Vicky’, described as van or pick-up with detachable canvas top and side panels.
Nobel (automobile) | Background
The Nobel Prize medals, minted by Myntverket in Sweden and the Mint of Norway since 1902, are registered trademarks of the Nobel Foundation. Each medal has an image of Alfred Nobel in left profile on the obverse. The Nobel Prize medals for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature have identical obverses, showing the image of Alfred Nobel and the years of his birth and death (1833–1896). Nobel's portrait also appears on the obverse of the Nobel Peace Prize medal and the Medal for the Prize in Economics, but with a slightly different design. The image on the reverse of a medal varies according to the institution awarding the prize.
Nobel Prize in Physics | Medals
He argues that no member of the Nobel family has ever had the intention of creating a prize in economics.
Peter Nobel | Introduction
In 1991, he published a biography of Alfred Nobel that included many references to the extensive collection of Nobel's letters. Fant was appointed in 2005 an honorary doctorate in History and Philosophy of Science at Uppsala University.
Kenne Fant | Introduction
At his Nobel lecture in 1927, Svedberg mentioned Chirnoagă's contribution to the development of the ultracentrifuge.
Eugen Chirnoagă | Introduction
After Alfred Nobel's death on December 10, 1896, Sohlman was occupied for several years with the task of realizing Nobel's intentions of establishing the Nobel Prize. Since the will did not contain detailed regulations regarding selection of laureates and was contested by Nobel's relatives, the task kept Sohlman and his advisors occupied for several years. Sohlman was a member of the interim board of the Nobel Foundation.
Ragnar Sohlman | Biography
In 1968, Sweden's central bank Sveriges Riksbank celebrated its 300th anniversary by donating a large sum of money to the Nobel Foundation to be used to set up a prize in honour of Alfred Nobel. The following year, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was awarded for the first time. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences became responsible for selecting laureates. The first laureates for the Economics Prize were Jan Tinbergen and Ragnar Frisch "for having developed and applied dynamic models for the analysis of economic processes". The Board of the Nobel Foundation decided that after this addition, it would allow no further new prizes.
Nobel Prize | Prize in Economic Sciences
Ludvig Nobel invented oil tankers, and better refineries, pipelines. Before 1880 the United States was Russia's teacher in most aspects of the oil business. The roles were reversed in some respects by Nobel. The oil business lacked technical know-how and scientific methodology. To rectify this, Nobel established technical chemical research labs in Baku. These research centers were very active and when something of commercial interest was found, Nobel was fast in trying the new products out on a large scale. Dozens of scientists were employed, finding ways to treat oil, developing new uses for oil, and developing products derived from oil.
Ludvig Nobel | Inventions
He also studied the toxicity of volatile compounds of fluorine; which resulted in his suffering an acute case of poisoning. He and Lord Rothschild devised a device based on mercuric chloride which was used by Allied parachutists into France. In 1941, he got to know several French nuclear physicists from the Curie Institute in Paris who had escaped the Nazi invasion. He initially worked with them at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, and later moved with them and others to Ottawa, Canada, where he helped build a heavy water reactor, as part of what was first known as the Tube Alloys Project and later as the Manhattan Project.
Alfred Maddock | Biography
Alfred Stock (July 16, 1876 – August 12, 1946) was a German inorganic chemist. He did pioneering research on the hydrides of boron and silicon, coordination chemistry, mercury, and mercury poisoning. The German Chemical Society's Alfred-Stock Memorial Prize is named after him.
Alfred Stock | Introduction
Abraham Niclas (Clewberg) Edelcrantz (28 July 1754 in Turku – 15 March 1821 in Stockholm) was a Finnish born Swedish poet and inventor. He was a member of the Swedish Academy, chair 2, from 1786 to 1821. Edelcrantz was the librarian at The Royal Academy of Turku. In 1783 he moved to Stockholm to lead the Royal Theater and later work as the private secretary of the king Gustaf III. He is known for his experiment with the optical telegraph. He inaugurated his telegraph with a poem dedicated to the Swedish King on his birthday in 1794. The message went from the Palace in Stockholm to the King at Drottningholm.
Abraham Niclas Edelcrantz | Introduction
Ising earned his first academic degree ("filosofie kandidat"/Bachelor of Arts) at Uppsala University in 1903 and continued studying at Stockholm University receiving his Ph.D. in 1919, and receiving an honorary professor title in 1934. He is best known for the invention of the linear accelerator concept in 1924, which is the progenitor of all modern accelerators based on oscillating electromagnetic fields. His article was then taken up and turned into practice by Rolf Widerøe, also starting the development of cyclic accelerator structures like the cyclotron. He was elected to the Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1935, being a member of the Nobel Committee for Physics from 1947–1953, together with former Nobel Laureate and chairman Manne Siegbahn, Svante Arrhenius, Erik Hulthen, Axel Edvin Lindh, Ivar Waller, and Gudmund Borelius.
Gustav Ising | Biography
It was in France that Nobel first encountered nitroglycerin, which Pelouze cautioned against using as a commercial explosive because of its great sensitivity to shock. In 1857, Nobel filed the first of several hundred patents, mostly concerning air pressure, gas and fluid gauges, but remained fascinated with nitroglycerin's potential as an explosive. Nobel, along with his father and brother Emil, experimented with various combinations of nitroglycerin and black powder. Nobel came up with a solution of how to safely detonate nitroglycerin by inventing the detonator, or blasting cap, that allowed a controlled explosion set off from a distance using a fuse.
Dynamite | History
It was during a stay in England that young Alfried became enamored of the country and adopted the English spelling of his name. For years, the works made barely enough money to cover the workmen's wages. Then, in 1841, Alfred's brother Hermann invented the spoon-roller—which Alfred patented, bringing in enough money to enlarge the factory, steel production, and cast steel blocks. In 1847 Krupp made his first cannon of cast steel. At the Great Exhibition (London) of 1851, he exhibited a 6 pounder made entirely from cast steel, and a solid flawless ingot of steel weighing , more than twice as much as any previously cast.
Krupp | Alfred's era
Saÿen was born in Philadelphia on 25 April 1875 to Edward M. Saÿen and Annie T. Saÿen (née Thomas). Soon after graduating from Central Manual Training School in 1891, he went to work for James W. Queen & Company, a large manufacturer of scientific equipment. He distinguished himself at the age of 18 by designing a large induction coil that was cited at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. In 1897 he received a patent for a self-regulating x-ray tube. This tube was the first of its kind to solve the problem of an unstable output caused by a drop in tube gas pressure.
H. Lyman Saÿen | Early years
Arnold (2018).
Nobel Prize in Chemistry | Introduction
. . speeding up over time? It arises because of this special characteristic of an idea, which is if [a million people try] to discover something, if any one person finds it, everybody can use the idea." The same day he received the award, Romer married Caroline Weber, a professor of French Literature at Barnard College.
Paul Romer | Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics
Ludvig Immanuel Nobel ( ; ; ; 27 July 1831, Stockholm – 12 April 1888, Cannes) was a Swedish-Russian engineer, a noted businessman and a humanitarian. One of the most prominent members of the Nobel family, he was the son of Immanuel Nobel (also an engineering pioneer) and Andriette Nobel, and the older brother of Alfred Nobel (founder of the Nobel Prize). With his brother Robert, he operated Branobel, an oil company in Baku, Azerbaijan which at one point produced 50% of the world's oil. He is credited with creating the Russian oil industry. Ludvig Nobel built the largest fortune of any of the Nobel brothers and was one of the world's richest men.
Ludvig Nobel | Introduction
Hans Nobel (1657 – 26 August 1732) was a Danish landowner and civil servant.
Hans Nobel | Introduction
Jean-Baptiste Alfred Perot (; 3 November 1863 – 28 November 1925) was a French physicist. Together with his colleague Charles Fabry he developed the Fabry–Pérot interferometer in 1899. The French Academy of Sciences awarded him the Janssen Medal for 1912. The Royal Society awarded Fabry and Perot the Rumford medal in 1918.
Alfred Perot | Introduction
This starts in 1953 with Alfred Kastler in Paris (Nobel prize 1966) followed by Gerhard Herzberg 1989 in Leipzig (Nobel prize 1971), Harold Kroto 2000 in Coimbra (Nobel prize 1996) and Theodor W. Hänsch 2010 in Florence (Nobel prize 2005).
EUCMOS | History
John Wallis of Kent, introduced the symbol for infinity, and the standard notation for powers of numbers in 1656. Thomas Bayes was an important statistician from Tunbridge Wells; his theorem (of probability theory) is used for spam filters and Google's search. Sir David N. Payne at the University of Southampton's Optoelectronics Research Centre invented the erbium-doped fibre amplifier, a type of optical amplifier, in the mid-1980s, which became essential for the internet. Henry Moseley at Oxford in 1913 discovered his Moseley's law of X-ray spectra of chemical elements that enabled him to be the first to assign the correct atomic number to elements in periodic table; he did not receive any Nobel Prize as it is not awarded posthumously, and he was killed in 1915 at Gallipoli with the Royal Engineers.
South East England | Scientific heritage