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STUDYING TO BE A SCIENTIST<o:p></o:p>I was born in Stockholm, Sweden. My father, Immanuel, was an engineer and an inventor. He built bridges and buildings and experimented with different ways of blasting rocks. He also supplied equipment to the Russian army. <o:p></o:p>My mother, Andriette, ran a small grocery store in Stockholm.<o:p></o:p>By 1842, my father’s business in St Petersburg was doing well, due to the outbreak of war in the Crimea creating much business. So my mother, two brothers and I were able to join him in Russia.&nbsp; We were lucky to be given a very good education.<div style="text-align: left;"><img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F9a529bfacd8549248f925ffc293bd521" alt="" style="color: rgb(21, 20, 20); width: 345px; height: 211.852px;"></div> <o:p></o:p>I enjoyed studying chemistry and physics. I also loved literature, poetry and languages. In fact, I was a romantic at heart and wrote much of my own poetry and dramatic works. In addition to my native language Swedish, I learned to speak Russian, French, German and English.<o:p></o:p>My father wanted me to become a chemical engineer. He made sure that I had the chance to travel, live in Paris and visit places like Italy and the USA.<o:p></o:p>In 1850, while in Paris, I met Professor T.J. Pelouze, a famous chemist. I also met the Italian chemist, Ascanio Sobrero. <o:p></o:p>Sobrero had invented a highly explosive liquid called nitro-glycerine. Professor Pelouze warned that it was too dangerous to use. Despite this warning, I was fascinated. I wondered how nitro-glycerine could be used in construction work. <o:p></o:p>DEVELOPING DYNAMITE<o:p></o:p>After my studies, I returned to Sweden with my father and continued to look at ways to develop nitro-glycerine as an explosive.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>Professor T.J. Pelouze’s warnings about the dangers of nitro-glycerine were right and experimenting with this chemical resulted in a terrible tragedy. My younger brother, Emil, was killed as we studied it.<o:p></o:p>This was very shocking, but I couldn’t give up because I believed that there was a way to make this industrial chemical much safer for wider use. So, I moved my experiments to a barge on Lake Mälaren in Sweden. <o:p></o:p>In 1864, a year after Emil’s death, I began to mass produce nitro-glycerine. I also found that mixing nitro-glycerine with fines and called kieselguhr turned the liquid into a paste. <o:p></o:p>This paste could be shaped into rods and the rods inserted into drilling holes. I lodged a patent, or legal right of ownership, in 1867 and named it ‘dynamite’.<o:p></o:p>Dynamite was suddenly in demand across the construction industry around the world. I set up factories in more than 90 different places, and whilst I made Paris my home, I travelled to factories in more than 20 countries. <o:p></o:p>I also kept inventing. I made synthetic rubber, leather and artificial silk. I also worked out that when gun cotton (a replacement for gun powder) was added to nitro-glycerine, a new effect was created. It made the explosion more powerful. I called the new substance ‘gelignite’. <o:p></o:p>My work absorbed my life, and I never married or had a family. I had lots of money and little to worry about.<div style="text-align: left;"><img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F27d3b72a54c849f49ff5fcc7589a5547" alt="" style="color: rgb(21, 20, 20); width: 292px; height: 385.406px;"></div> <o:p></o:p>LEAVING A LEGACY<o:p></o:p>Yet one day, on a visit to France, a strange thing happened. I picked up a French newspaper and saw my own name printed, with an article telling the world that I had died. <o:p></o:p>I read the piece with horror, not because of the mistake, but because of what it said about me and my work. The headline said: ‘the merchant of death is dead’. It was actually my brother, Ludwig, who had died. But this newspaper mistakenly believed it was me. <o:p></o:p>As I read further, a chill went down my spine. It stated, ‘Dr Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday.’<o:p></o:p>Deeply disturbed, I thought about my life. Was this how I wanted the world to remember me? At heart, I had a great interest in social and peace-related issues and cared deeply about the world.<o:p></o:p>I was 55 and I needed to make some changes that would influence the world in a positive way.<o:p></o:p>THE NOBEL PRIZES<o:p></o:p>I decided that I wanted to support and reward the work that makes our lives better, so I set up the Nobel Prizes.<div style="text-align: left;"><img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F9a06cbf6e1054c00974c90fc51adfef8" alt="" style="color: rgb(21, 20, 20); width: 266.141px; height: 266.141px;"></div> <o:p></o:p>In my will, I made sure that money from my estate was left to always cover the costs of the prizes. The Swedish Academy was the organisation elected to administer the prizes.<o:p></o:p>I arranged for prizes to be named in different categories: Physical Science, Chemistry, Medical Science or Physiology, Literature and Peace. <o:p></o:p>Each prize winner would receive funds to help them carry on with their work. The winners could come from any country and there were to be no racial, religious, or other barriers.<o:p></o:p>My wealth had come from producing and selling dangerous materials. It was impossible to turn back the clock. Instead, I had focused on the future – the Nobel Prizes, designed to help people build a better world. This was how I showed my care and love for the world.&nbsp;GLOSSARYChemical engineer – someone who works in a laboratory and applies the principles of chemistry and other sciences to solve problems that improve people’s lives.Synthetic – made with chemicals formed in a laboratory instead of something found in nature.Estate – the property of all kinds that a person leaves when they die.LEGACY AND RECOGNITION<ul><li>Alfred Nobel’s inventions were hugely successful and made him a wealthy man. He was able to build factories in more than 20 countries.</li><li>During his career, Alfred Nobel was granted 355 different patents, including one for gelignite, which is more powerful than dynamite.</li><li>The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901. Since then, more than 600 prizes have been awarded in the categories of physics, chemistry, medicine or physiology, literature, economic sciences, and peace.</li><li>Although his inventions were largely used in warfare, Alfred Nobel wanted his legacy to focus on peace and the contributions ‘for the greatest benefit for humankind’.</li><li>While known for inventing dynamite, Alfred Nobel was also a writer and a keen reader. He wrote lots of poems and essays about the universe and human evolution.</li><li>The Nobel Museum and The Nobel Library, both in Stockholm, Sweden, are named in his honour.</li></ul>IMAGE CAPTIONS AND CREDITSSt Petersburg (1841), Ferdinand Perrot, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsAlfred Nobel (before 1896), Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsNobel Prize medal, © Nobel Foundation, via Wikipedia

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