Nobel
He was born in a family of technicians. On October 21, 1833, a thin baby was born in this family. He was the later dynamite king Nobel. Nobel was frail and sickly since he was a child, but he was strong-willed and unwilling to lag behind. Nobel's father was very concerned about little Nobel's interests and hobbies. He often told him stories about scientists and encouraged him to grow up and become a useful person. Nobel's mother, Carol Lehmann, was a well-educated woman who was practical, optimistic, open-minded, modest and polite. She was both strict and loving towards her children, and often took Nobel to do some work such as watering flowers, weeding, and removing garbage. In 1841, when Nobel was 8 years old, he finally reached the age of going to school. Nobel entered the local Yotai Primary School, which was the only school he received formal education in his life. Nobel's class attendance was at its lowest due to illness. But in school, he studied hard, so his grades were often among the best. At that time, Nobel's father had gone to work in neighboring Finland because of difficulties in making a living. He and his mother remain in Stockholm. Not long after, a naval mine invented by Nobel's father was known to the Russian minister. The minister visited his products and appreciated them very much. He warmly invited him to work in Russia and sent him to Petersburg (Leningrad). The mines he created were used by the Russian army to block the advance of the British fleet during the Crimean War that broke out in 1853. In 1842, Nobel's family moved to Petersburg, Russia. 9-year-old Nobel cannot enter the local school because he does not understand Russian and is in poor health. His father hired a tutor to tutor his three brothers in cultural studies. The teacher often conducted performance assessments and reported learning status to his father. Nobel made rapid progress. After studying, he likes to follow his father and do odd jobs in the factory. Nobel followed his father and watched his father design and develop mines, mine boats and explosives. In his young mind, the ideal of dedicating himself to science sprouted. His father also hoped that he would learn mechanics and become a mechanic when he grew up. In 1850, the 17-year-old Nobel traveled across the ocean to the United States in the name of an engineer and interned in the factory of the famous Engineer Allison. After the internship ended, he visited European and American countries for four years before returning home. During the inspection, wherever he went, he immediately started working and gained an in-depth understanding of the industrial development of various countries. Nobel had been frail and sick since he was a child, and he was particularly diligent. In the summer of 1854, his illness became more and more serious. As a last resort, he had to put down his work for medical treatment. During the treatment, he wrote to his father and said: "I hope to end this nomadic life soon and start a new life with more activities. The current life is killing my time and is really annoying." There is no waiting for the disease. Completely fine, he devoted himself to work and study. Nobel's father moved back to Sweden in 1859. At that time, many countries urgently required the development of the mining industry and accelerated the speed of extraction. The inability of explosives to meet this need was a major problem that needed to be solved urgently. Nobel, who understood the industrial conditions of various countries, strengthened his determination to improve the production of explosives. At this time, an amazing news came: France invented explosives with excellent performance. In fact, this news is inaccurate. It turned out that when General Piggot, a famous French ordnance expert, was studying to improve the range and speed of bullets, he found that it was impossible to achieve better results with existing explosives, and the explosives must be improved. As a result, the Army Department organized its forces and began to study explosives. This incident prompted Nobel to go all out to study explosives. Nobel stayed in the laboratory all day long, looking up information, and doing various explosive tests again and again. His parents understood the dangers of working with explosives and were unhappy about his change of major. One day, his father said to him: "Son, your profession is to do machinery. You should concentrate on doing your job and not be distracted in other aspects." Nobel said: "It is very important to improve explosives. , once used in production, it will create great wealth for mankind. Of course, danger is inevitable, I just try to be careful." From then on, Nobel often explained the importance of improving explosives to relatives and friends.
In this way, more and more people sympathized with and supported him. Even his parents who opposed him were moved by his strong will and had to acquiesce. 2. Research on explosives. Before Nobel, many people had researched and manufactured explosives. China’s black gunpowder had already spread to Europe. Nitroglycerin, invented by Italian Sublero in 1847, is a powerful explosive much more powerful than black powder. However, this kind of explosive is particularly sensitive and easy to explode. It is dangerous to manufacture, store and transport, and people do not know how to use it. In early 1862, Nobel's brother tried to make a better explosive using nitroglycerin. He thought: Nitroglycerin is a liquid and difficult to control. If it is mixed with solid black gunpowder, it can be made into a good explosive. He tested repeatedly and found that the explosive power was greatly weakened after being left for a few hours, making it of no practical value. Old Nobel failed. Nobel continued his research. In the past, people used to light a fuse to cause black powder to explode, which was safe and reliable. However, this method cannot make nitroglycerin explode. Nitroglycerine is easy to explode on its own, but not easy to explode according to human requirements. Therefore, in the more than ten years after its invention, no one used it as an explosive except for the treatment of angina pectoris. In May and June of 1862, Nobel conducted a very important experiment: Fill a small glass tube with nitroglycerin, and plug the mouth of the tube tightly; then, put the glass tube into a slightly larger metal tube, and inside Fill it with black powder, insert a detonator, and plug the metal pipe mouth tightly; after lighting the detonator, throw the metal pipe into the ditch. As a result, a violent explosion occurred, apparently much more violent than the explosion of an equivalent amount of black powder. This indicates that all the nitroglycerine has completely exploded. This situation inspired Nobel to realize that in a sealed container, a small amount of black powder exploded first, which could cause the separated nitroglycerin to completely explode. In the autumn of 1863, Nobel and his brother established a laboratory in Helenpo, Stockholm, to engage in the manufacture and research of nitroglycerin. After many experiments, at the end of the year, Nobel finally invented an effective method to explode nitroglycerin. At first, Nobel used black powder as the detonator; later, he invented the detonator to detonate nitroglycerin. In 1864, he patented the invention. After the initial success, came huge setbacks. On September 3, 1864, an explosion occurred in the Helenpo Laboratory while manufacturing nitroglycerin, killing five people on the spot, including Nobel's brother. After this disaster happened, the surrounding residents were very panicked and strongly opposed Nobel's production of nitroglycerin there. As a result, Nobel had to move the equipment to Lake Maralen near Stockholm and make nitroglycerine on a boat. After many twists and turns, in March 1865, Nobel found a new factory site in Winterwegen and built the world's first nitroglycerin factory there. 3. The Dynamite Family The road ahead for Nobel was full of thorns. Countries around the world bought the nitroglycerin he made, and explosions often occurred: a train in the United States exploded into a pile of scrap metal due to an explosion of explosives; a factory in Germany exploded due to explosives, and the factory building and nearby houses were all turned into a piece of debris. Ruins; the "Europa" seagoing ship encountered strong winds and bumps in the Atlantic Ocean, causing the nitroglycerine to explode and the ship sank, killing everyone. These tragic accidents caused countries around the world to lose confidence in nitroglycerine, and some countries even ordered a ban on the manufacture, storage, and transportation of nitroglycerin. Faced with this difficult situation, Nobel did not lose heart. He firmly believed that it was entirely possible to solve the problem of nitroglycerin instability. A year has passed. Nobel discovered through repeated experiments that using some porous charcoal powder, sawdust, diatomaceous earth, etc. to absorb nitroglycerin can reduce the risk of explosion. Finally, he used one part heavy diatomaceous earth to absorb three parts heavy nitroglycerin, and for the first time made a nitroglycerin industrial explosive that was safe to transport and use. This is the Nobel safety explosive.
4. Erudite and versatile. Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, was a versatile person with rich knowledge and wide interests. He has a good understanding of electricity, optics, mechanics, biology, and physiology, and often thinks about linking his research with other disciplines. He said: "Various sciences are intrinsically related to each other. In order to solve problems in a certain scientific field, we should rely on other related scientific knowledge." Nobel obtained various patent rights throughout his life. 355 items. In his later years, he experimented with rayon and artificial rubber. Although he was unsuccessful, it was of great help to subsequent inventions. When it comes to Nobel, people praise him as a great inventor. Few people know that he was also a poet and literary lover. He likes to read various literary classics in Swedish, English, French, German and Russian. He particularly liked the poems of the British poet Shelley. In a lyric poem he wrote, there was this sentence: "I only know how to concentrate on reading, exploring nature, and absorbing the profound and vast fountain of knowledge."
[Edit this paragraph] Inventor
Nobel’s father was a talented inventor who was devoted to chemical research, especially the study of explosives. Influenced by his father, Nobel showed a tenacious and brave character since he was a child. He often went to experiment with explosives with his father. After many years of studying explosives with his father, his interest soon turned to the application of chemical explosives. In the summer of 1862, he began research on nitroglycerin. This is an arduous journey full of danger and sacrifice. Death was always with him. An explosion occurred during an explosives experiment. The laboratory was blown up without a trace, and all five assistants died. Even his youngest brother was not spared. This shocking explosion dealt a very heavy blow to Nobel's father, and he died not long after. Out of fear, his neighbors also complained to the government about Nobel. After that, the government did not allow Nobel to conduct experiments in the city. But Nobel was unyielding and moved his laboratory to a boat in a lake on the outskirts of the city to continue his experiments. After long-term research, he finally discovered a substance that is very easy to cause explosions - mercury fulminate. He used mercury fulminate as a detonator for explosives and successfully solved the problem of detonating explosives. This was the invention of the detonator. It is a major breakthrough on the road to Nobel science. Mine development, river excavation, railway construction and tunnel excavation all require a large amount of high explosives, so the advent of nitroglycerin explosives has been generally welcomed. Nobel built the world's first nitroglycerin factory in Sweden, and later established joint ventures abroad to produce explosives. However, the explosive itself had many imperfections. It will decompose if stored for a long time, and strong vibration can also cause explosion. Many accidents occurred during transportation and storage. In response to these situations, the governments of Sweden and other countries issued many bans, prohibiting anyone from transporting the explosives invented by Nobel, and clearly proposed to pursue Nobel's legal responsibility. Faced with these tests, Nobel was not intimidated. Based on repeated research, he invented a safety explosive using diatomaceous earth as an absorbent. This safety explosive, called yellow explosive, can be used during fire and hammering. All show great safety. This completely lifted people's doubts about Nobel's explosives. Nobel once again gained credibility, and the explosives industry also developed rapidly. Based on the successful development of safe explosives, Nobel began research on the improvement of old explosives and the production of new explosives. Two years later, a new type of colloidal explosive mixed with gunpowder cotton and nitroglycerin was successfully developed. This new type of explosive is not only highly explosive, but also safer. It can be rolled between hot rollers or pressed into a rope shape under hot air. The invention of colloidal explosives has received widespread attention in the scientific and technological circles. Nobel did not stop in the face of the achievements he had made. When he learned about the superiority of smokeless gunpowder, he invested in the development of mixed smokeless gunpowder, and developed a new type of smokeless gunpowder in a short period of time. Nobel made many inventions in his life, and received 255 patents, including 129 types of explosives alone. Even when he was dying, he still couldn't forget his research on new explosives.
[Edit this paragraph] Industrial Empire
Nobel once said during his lifetime that he did not like doing business and that he hated those intrigues and deceitful business disputes. He said that instead of entering those commercial arbitration offices, it would be better to into his tech lab. However, he was indeed a wealthy businessman. The Nobel branches he founded in various countries during his lifetime can be said to be the pioneer of modern multinational companies. The first steps were taken on a flat-bottomed barge abandoned on the shores of Lake M?laren. On October 14, 1863, after Nobel obtained the patent for nitroglycerin detonator in Sweden, he wanted to build a factory and start production immediately. Due to the ban by the municipal authorities, he could not find a factory site anywhere in the city, so he had to start production at the "Ship Chemical Plant". Since then, 4 factories have been opened in Nobel, Sweden. In 1865, Nobel opened the German Nobel Company in Hamburg, Germany; between 1873 and 1891 when he moved to France, the number of factories owned by the French Nobel Company increased to seven; the number of factories owned by the British Nobel Company grew to eight. ; By the 1970s, Nobel had become an industrial tycoon. He entrusted his eldest brother to open chemical plants in Finland and Russia, and also invested in Nobel Brothers Oil Company, which was one of the important sources of Nobel's huge assets. Later, companies and factories in various countries were reorganized into two international trusts: the Anglo-German Trust and the Latin Trust. In the 10 years from 1886 to 1896, the Nobel multinational company had spread to 21 countries, owned more than 90 factories, and employed more than 10,000 people. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Nobel multinational company had actually become a A huge industrial empire. While Nobel was working and living in Paris, there were many anecdotes about him. One story says that a French girl whom he employed as a cook told him that she was quitting her job to get married. Nobel asked the French girl what kind of wedding gift she wanted from him. The smart and clever French girl said that she wanted nothing else but "what Mr. Nobel earned in a day." This request stumped Nobel, because Nobel himself did not know how much money he earned in a day. However, Nobel is a person who must do what he promises, so after several days of calculation, he calculated that he could earn approximately 40,000 francs a day. In this way, he gave 40,000 francs as a wedding gift to the girl. It is said that the value of this money at the time was that the interest alone could allow the girl to live comfortably for the rest of her life.
[Edit this paragraph] Poet's Dream
Nobel was deeply influenced by the British poet Shelley when he was a boy, and therefore had the "Shelley Dream" of wanting to be a poet. As an adult, although he had very little spare time due to his extremely busy schedule of technological inventions and business development, Nobel's interest in literature remained as consistent as his interest in science. It can be said that literature and science are the two spiritual pillars of Nobel. Regarding British literature, in addition to reading the works of Shelley, Byron and Shakespeare, Nobel was even very familiar with the works of less famous British writers. Regarding French literature, in addition to having direct contact with Hugo and reading his works, he also read extensively the works of Maupassant, Balzac, Zola and others. Regarding Russian literature, he likes to read the works of Gogol, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy and Turgenev. Regarding the literature of Scandinavian countries, including his native Sweden, he has read the works of Ibsen, Bjornsson, Garborg, Kieran and others. He has unique evaluations of these works. Nobel not only liked reading literary works, but also tried to create literary works. He wrote poems, and "A Riddle" is one of his long autobiographical poems. In his later years, he began to write novels, including "In Brightest Africa" ??written in 1861 and "Sisters" written in 1862. These two works expressed his views on social reform. In 1895, he wrote the comedy "The Patent of the Bacillus Invention". , takes a critical attitude towards reality, and his works are full of sarcasm and ridicule. His only officially published dramatic work was "The Furies" written in 1895. By the time this tragedy was published in Paris, Nobel had already passed away. His family members said: "Such a pitiful play cannot bring honor to a great man.
"So only 3 copies were kept, and the rest were destroyed. The family's decision may be right, because Nobel's poetic temperament when he was young has already been recognized by his long career as an inventor and big business owner. Disappeared in the unromantic years. Nobel also liked philosophy that was closely related to literature. Among the famous European and American philosophers at that time, he preferred the positivist philosophy of the British philosopher Spencer. In terms of philosophy, he once listed. Table of contents and outline of some papers to be written
[Edit this paragraph] Love
During his lifetime and after his death, people often regarded Nobel as the "richest tramp" in Europe. Said. He never had a wife, children, or a fixed residence. He once said: "Wherever I work is my home." "There were three women who entered his life, but one died young, one was not destined, and one was ignorant and heartbroken. Nobel's love was a tragedy. During that trip to Europe and the United States in his youth, Nobel met a French girl in Paris. There was a brief passionate love, but unfortunately, the girl died suddenly of illness soon. In 1876, when Nobel was 43 years old, Bertha, the daughter of Austrian General Marshal Count Franz Kinski, applied to be his secretary, and Nobel fell in love with her. They fell in love at first sight, but Bertha's heart fell in love with her. Although the two were not destined to get married, they formed an eternal friendship. Bertha later became a famous female writer and one of the pioneers of the world peace movement. In the autumn of 1876, Nobel died. During a business trip to Austria, he met the flower girl Sophie in a flower shop in Vienna. After that, Nobel and Sophie maintained a relationship for nearly 15 years (some say 18 years). Nobel once wanted Sophie to be his. Her partner bought her a beautiful villa in a sanatorium and a gorgeous mansion in a wealthy area of ??Paris. However, because Sophie was uneducated and lacked education, and did not listen to Nobel's advice, she only knew how to squander and indulge in debauchery. Nobel felt sad and disappointed. In the spring of 1891, she wrote to tell Nobel that she was about to give birth to a child whose father was a Hungarian officer. Nobel was completely disappointed when he saw the news, but he still wrote. The letter went to comfort and advise her. Nobel decided not to have any contact with her and provided her with a pension of 300,000 Hungarian crowns through a lawyer, which was a large amount of money at the time. Fei also went to Ragnar Solman, who threatened to sell the original publication rights of the 216 letters Nobel gave her if he did not give her more than what was stipulated in the will. , Solman was in embarrassment, and in order to avoid a possible scandal, the executors conditionally bought the letters, thus ensuring that they would not suffer any future corruption on these letters. Called Sofie 'Madame Sofie Nobel'. Those letters were locked in Stockholm after Nobel's death. They were not made public until 1955 with Nobel's autobiography.
[Edit this paragraph] Will
In the last few years of his life, Nobel made three wills with very similar contents. The first was made in 1889, the second was made in 1893, and the third was made. In 1895, it was finally deposited in a bank in Stockholm, which was the final will that was to be based on it. This will canceled the gift to relatives and friends and used all of his property to establish a reward fund. It was published in Sweden in early 1897. To the public: The undersigned, Alfred Nobel, after mature consideration, hereby declares that his last will and testament with respect to the property I may leave behind him is as follows: “All my property, convertible into cash, shall be It will be disposed of in the following manner: This capital will be invested by my executors in safe securities and will form a fund; its interest will be distributed annually in the form of bonuses to those who during the previous year have bestowed upon mankind the greatest Benefit people.
The above-mentioned interest will be divided into 5 equal parts, and the distribution method is as follows: one part will be given to the person who has made the most important discovery or invention in physics; one part will be given to the person who has made the most important chemical discovery or improvement; one part will be given to the person who has made the most important chemical discovery or improvement; one part will be given to the person who has made the most important discovery or improvement in physics and physics. one to the person who has made the most important discoveries in the field of medicine; one to the person who has produced the most outstanding works of idealistic tendencies in literature; one to the person who has contributed to the promotion of amity between nations, to the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and to the A person who has done the greatest or best work by holding peace conferences. The Physics and Chemistry Prizes are awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences; the Physiology and Medicine Prizes are awarded by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm; the Literature Prizes are awarded by the Swedish Academy in Stockholm; and the Peace Prizes are awarded by a five-member committee elected by the Norwegian Parliament. Granted. It is my express wish that these prizes be awarded without any regard to the nationality of the candidate, and that if he is worthy he should be awarded the prize whether he is Scandinavian or not. I hereby declare that it is my urgent wish to award the prize in this way. This is my only valid will. After my death, any previous wills related to the disposition of property will be invalidated. Alfred Bernhard Nobel November 27, 1895 When Nobel’s will was announced, criticism and condemnation from Swedish public opinion prevailed. The press openly encouraged relatives to appeal, arguing against it primarily as "legal deficiencies" and "unpatriotic." The press said that a Swede did not pay attention to Sweden's interests. He neither donated this huge inheritance to Sweden nor gave Swedes or even Scandinavians priority in winning awards. He also asked Sweden to undertake these additional tasks. It would be purely unpatriotic to thereby cause trouble to the Swedes that would not bring them any benefit, and it would be impossible for the Swedish prize-awarding agencies to fulfill satisfactorily the tasks assigned to them. The will also assigned the task of awarding the peace prize to a committee appointed by the Norwegian Parliament. Relations between Sweden and Norway were already very tense at that time, which would seriously harm Swedish interests. Some social democrats accused Nobel of setting up bonuses to support individual outstanding figures, which was not conducive to social progress. They believe that Nobel's property comes from labor and nature and should benefit every member of society. Criticisms of legal flaws were thought to invalidate the entire will. The first flaw that skilled lawyers found was that the will did not clearly state which country the testator was a citizen of. As a result, it is difficult to determine which country's law enforcement agency should judge the legality of the will, let alone which government should organize the Nobel Fund Committee. This accusation is not unreasonable, because Nobel was born in Sweden, grew up in Russia, had entrepreneurial activities all over Europe, and did not become a citizen of any European country in his later years. The second problem they found was that the will did not clearly indicate who was responsible for the custody of all the property. They said that although the will stated that a foundation would be established, it did not specify who would organize the foundation. Therefore, it can be considered that the executor has no right to inherit the estate, and the foundation for inheriting the estate does not exist. The most frustrating thing is that in his will, Nobel entrusted the Swedish Academy of Sciences to assess the prizes in physics and chemistry, but the president of the academy, Hans Forscher, advocated donating Nobel’s property to the Swedish Academy. Forscher also Refuse to attend the meeting to study the details of the award. The executor Solman and others worked tirelessly, and on May 21, 1898, the King of Sweden declared Nobel's will effective. On June 29, 1900, the Swedish Parliament adopted the charter of the Nobel Foundation. The first Nobel Prize was awarded on December 10, 1901, the fifth anniversary of Nobel's death.
[Edit this paragraph] Property
How much assets Nobel has is a question that even Nobel himself does not know very well. According to Nobel's will, turning all his assets into cash is a huge project involving the economies and laws of many countries. After several years of traveling back and forth among many countries, Solman and others finally had a preliminary outline of the cleanup of Nobel's legacy in 1900.
A main list of Nobel's assets in various countries after they were converted into cash is as follows (this is a list that has been greatly devalued and discounted in the process of converting Nobel's assets into cash): Sweden 5,796,140.00; Norway 94,472.28 ; Germany 6,152,250.95; Austria 228,754.20; France 7,280,817.23; Scotland 3,913,938.67; England 3,904,235.32; Italy 630,410.10; Russia 5,232,773.45; Total: 33, 233,792.20 SEK. The total amount of the inheritance converted into cash is SEK 33,233,792, which is approximately US$9.2 million. Not only at that time, but also now, Nobel's legacy is indeed a huge legacy. According to the Nobel Foundation's selection regulations, a fund can be obtained entirely by one person or shared equally by two or more people. Among them, in addition to being awarded to an individual, two or more people, the Peace Prize can also be awarded to an organization or institution. According to the regulations, in addition to the considerable bonus awarded that year, the winner can also receive a gold medal and an award certificate every year. Since the main fund of the Nobel Fund changes every year, the net income from the fund will also vary from year to year, so the amount of each bonus each year will also vary. For example, when the awards were first awarded in 1901, the amount of each prize was approximately 150,000 Swedish krona, or approximately US$42,000. Since then, due to profits from investments in bonds, stocks, real estate, etc., the Nobel Fund has continued to increase in value and its bonus amount has also increased year by year. After the 1980s, the amount of each bonus increased to more than 1 million Swedish kronor. In the 1990s, the amount of each bonus increased significantly. For example, each bonus in 1993 was SEK 6.7 million, which was equivalent to about $840,000 that year. As another example, each bonus increased to 7.4 million Swedish kronor in 1996, which was approximately US$1.12 million that year. The gold medal weighs about half a pound and contains 23K gold. The diameter of the medal is about 6.5 centimeters. On the front is a relief statue of Nobel. Different awards and medals have different decorations on the back. The design of each award certificate also has its own unique style. The award ceremony is grand and simple, with the number of attendees limited to between 1,500 and 1,800 people each year. Men must wear tuxedos or national costumes, and women must wear serious evening gowns. The flowers used in the ceremony are flown in from all over the world. Show respect for knowledge.