His father Immanuel Nobel was a renowned engineer and inventor himself, mainly experimenting with techniques to blast rocks. In 1842, the Nobel family moved to Russia, where Alfred and his brothers received a first class education with a focus on sciences.
Moving back to Stockholm as an adult, he pursued an interest in the highly explosive and unstable liquid 'nitroglycerin'. This was fostered by his father’s work and a meeting with Ascanio Sombrero, the inventor of the substance. His curiosity continued to grow after one of his brothers was killed in a nitroglycerine explosion.
In 1867, he invented dynamite - a paste made up of nitroglycerine and kieselguhr - which made controlled explosions possible and safe. It was revolutionary for reducing the time and cost of construction works, and mining, allowing for the efficient and swift functioning of industrial practice. However, dynamite also became a focal development in the munitions sector. At the time of his death in 1896, he owned 355 patents including gelignite (blasting gelatin) and ballistite (explosive, smokeless gunpowder), showcasing how his creation had aided in the progress of weapons manufacturing and pioneering new methods of warfare,
His most famous work, however, remains the Nobel Prize. In his will, he explained his wish for his fortune to be used to award prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, Peace and Economics (since 1968) to “those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind”. The first Nobel prizes were awarded in 1901.
Once called “the merchant of death”, Alfred Nobel was a controversial figure. His creation of dynamite, a catalyst for weapons and explosive manufacturing despite its initial use in construction and industrial work practice, has prompted lengthy ethical discussions about his character that are not limited to the irony of his 'Peace Prize'. Was he trying to build himself a better legacy and obtain forgiveness? Did he even need forgiveness? Opinions diverge, but Alfred Nobel and his contributions to the scientific field will remain a permanent fixture in the history of modernised warfare and the debate over the functions of prize culture.
