Alfred Nobel
Alfred Nobel was an amazing writer, scientist, inventor, and business man. He lived his life exploring the various areas that held his interest at any given time. He was a very wealthy man who lived a prosperous life. One of the things Alfred Nobel is best known for is leaving behind money in his will to fund what we know at the Nobel Peace Prize that has been awarded annually since 1901.
Nobel was born in 1833 in Sweden. His family was very poor. In an effort to provide a better life for them his father travels to Russia to work and leaves his family in Sweden. His father rejoined the family years later. Alfred learned to love books and to take a deep look at different aspects of the world from his mother.
In 1850 Nobel travels to the United States to work in a laboratory. Over the next few years his studies will take him to Paris, Italy, and Germany. In 1853 Nobel is struggling to help his father develop new products to keep the family business from going bankrupt. He begins experimenting with making various products using nitroglycerine. He gets a patent to use it as an industrial explosive.
Over the next ten years Nobel is involved in establishing several companies that involve the concept of industrial explosives. This includes Nobel & Company in Germany and the United States Blasting Oil Company. In 1867 Nobel obtained a patent for dynamite. He continues to experiment with explosives and in 1876 he invents blasting gelatine.
Nobel then took time to enjoy the world, writing about his many travels. He had the money by then to do anything he desired. He took a keen interest in activists for human rights and those striving for world peace. He decided to leave all his money to the causes because he had never married or had children. Nobel died peacefully at his home in Italy on December 10, 1896. However his legacy lives on with each Nobel Peace Prize winner.
There are several good books available about the life of Alfred Nobel that you can get at your local library, online, or at a bookstore. There are also books that he has written about his travels, his experiments, his life, and his beliefs for a better world.
