Nobel, Alfred Bernhard, 1833-96, Swedish chemist and inventor. Educated in St. Petersburg, Russia, he traveled as a youth and returned to St. Petersburg in 1852 to assist his father in the development of torpedoes and mines. Manufacture of a mixture of nitroglycerine and gunpowder, developed cooperatively by the family, was begun in the small Nobel works in Heleneborg, near Stockholm, in 1863. After a number of serious explosions, which killed several people, Nobel continued experimentation with nitroglycerine in order to find a safer explosive. In 1866 he perfected a combination of nitroglycerine and kieselguhr, a diatomaceous earth, to which he gave the name dynamite. His other inventions include an explosive gelatin more powerful than dynamite and the smokeless powder Ballistite. Nobel, who inclined toward pacifism, had long had reservations about his family's industry, and he developed strong misgivings about the potential uses of his own invention. On his death in San Remo, Italy, he left a fund from the interest of which annual awards, called Nobel Prizes, were to be given for work in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, and literature, and toward the promotion of international peace.

(born Oct. 21, 1833, Stockholm, Swed.—died Dec. 10, 1896, San Remo, Italy) Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist. His attempts to find a safe way to handle nitroglycerin resulted in the invention of dynamite and the blasting cap. He built a network of factories to manufacture dynamite and corporations to produce and market his explosives. He went on to develop more powerful explosives and to construct and perfect detonators for explosives that did not explode on simple firing (e.g., when lit with a match). Nobel registered more than 350 patents, many unrelated to explosives (e.g., artificial silk and leather). A complex personality, both dynamic and reclusive, he was a pacifist but was labeled the “merchant of death” for inventing explosives used in war. Perhaps to counter this label, he left most of his immense fortune, from worldwide explosives and oil interests, to establish the Nobel Prizes, which would become the most highly regarded of all international awards.

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Any of the prizes awarded annually by four institutions (three Swedish and one Norwegian) from a fund established under the will of Alfred B. Nobel. The will specified that awards should be given “to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.” Since 1901, prizes have been awarded for physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace; since 1969, a sixth prize, established by the Bank of Sweden, has been awarded in economic sciences. The Nobel Prizes are regarded as the most prestigious prizes in the world.

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(born Oct. 21, 1833, Stockholm, Swed.—died Dec. 10, 1896, San Remo, Italy) Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist. His attempts to find a safe way to handle nitroglycerin resulted in the invention of dynamite and the blasting cap. He built a network of factories to manufacture dynamite and corporations to produce and market his explosives. He went on to develop more powerful explosives and to construct and perfect detonators for explosives that did not explode on simple firing (e.g., when lit with a match). Nobel registered more than 350 patents, many unrelated to explosives (e.g., artificial silk and leather). A complex personality, both dynamic and reclusive, he was a pacifist but was labeled the “merchant of death” for inventing explosives used in war. Perhaps to counter this label, he left most of his immense fortune, from worldwide explosives and oil interests, to establish the Nobel Prizes, which would become the most highly regarded of all international awards.

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Nobel can mean:

• Nobel Prize, awarded annually since 1901, from the bequest of Swedish inventor Alfred NobelThe Nobel family:
• Alfred Nobel, (1833-1896), the inventor of dynamite, instituted the Nobel Prizes
• Immanuel Nobel, (1801-1872), father of Alfred Nobel
• Robert Nobel, (1829-1896), brother of Alfred Nobel, co-founder of Branobel
• Ludvig Nobel, (1831-1888), brother of Alfred Nobel, co-founder of Branobel and its first president
• Emil Oskar Nobel, (1843-1864), brother of Alfred Nobel
• Emanuel Nobel, (1859-1932), son of Ludvig Nobel and Branobel's second president
• Claes Nobel, great grandnephew of Alfred
• Nobel Family Museum, in Rybinsk, RussiaOr:
• Nobel Industries (Scotland), a UK chemicals company founded by Alfred Nobel
• Nobel Industries (Sweden) - UK chemicals company founded by Alfred Nobel, merged in 1994 with Akzo.
• Nobel Biocare, a bio-tech company, formerly a subsidiary of Nobel Industries
• Akzo Nobel, the result of the merger between Akzo and Nobel Industries in 1994
• Nobel, Ontario, a village located in Ontario, Canada.
• Nobel (crater), a crater on the far side of the Moon
• Fuldamobil a German car, manufactured under licsence in the U.K. and Chile as the Nobel.
• The Nobel School, a Secondary School in Stevenage, England.

See also

• Noble