{"id":1132,"date":"2014-10-21T08:00:49","date_gmt":"2014-10-21T08:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/eng\/?p=1132"},"modified":"2014-10-22T17:53:57","modified_gmt":"2014-10-22T17:53:57","slug":"happy-birthday-alfred-nobel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/eng\/happy-birthday-alfred-nobel\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Birthday, Alfred Nobel"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Alfred<\/a>
Alfred Nobel (October 21, 1833 – December 10, 1896)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ALFRED NOBEL<\/strong><\/p>\n

October 21st is the birthday of the late Alfred Bernhard\u00a0Nobel who lived from 1833 to 1896. He was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator and manufacturer.<\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/a>
U.S. Patent 78317, November 26, 1868<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1862, he started experimenting with nitroglycerin as an explosive material for oil mining.\u00a0By the next year, at age 30, he obtained\u00a0his first patent. A year later,\u00a0he also developed and patented a detonator, or blasting cap, for triggering the explosive device. By age 40, Nobel\u00a0had\u00a0armament\u00a0and explosives manufacturing companies around the world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Diagram<\/a>
Diagram of dynamite. A. Sawdust (or any other type of absorbent material) soaked in nitroglycerin. B. Protective coating surrounding the explosive material. C. Blasting cap. D. Metal strips to hold the dynamite in place.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ironically, in 1866, one of Nobel’s German manufacturing\u00a0factories\u00a0exploded.\u00a0Resolved to improve the products’\u00a0safety, Nobel discovered that\u00a0adding diatomaceous earth, a form of hardened algae as fine as powder, stabilizes the explosive material.<\/p>\n

Although Nobel\u00a0held\u00a0over 350 different patents, his dynamite patent was his most notable invention. “Dynamite revolutionized the transportation industry by greatly facilitating the construction of roads and railways, tunnels and canals. It also played a crucial role in the modern mining industry.”\u00b9<\/p>\n

\"Alfred<\/a>
Alfred Nobel’s third and last Will & Testament, November 25, 1895<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE NOBEL PRIZE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nobel’s wealth was derived\u00a0from his manufacturing companies and from his\u00a0investment in his two brothers’\u00a0oilfields along\u00a0the Caspian Sea. Upon his death, Nobel left the majority of his wealth, $186 million,\u00a0in a trust\u00a0from which his fortune is posthumously awarded “to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.”\u00b2<\/p>\n

\"Nobel<\/a>
Nobel Medal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1900, The Nobel Foundation was\u00a0established as a private organization to\u00a0administer\u00a0the trust, and, in accordance with Nobel’s wishes, “The prizes for physics and chemistry shall be awarded by the Swedish Academy of Sciences; that for physiology or medical works by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm; that for literature by the Academy in Stockholm, and that for champions of peace by a committee of five persons to be elected by the Norwegian Storting. It is my express wish that in awarding the prizes no consideration be given to the nationality of the candidates, but that the most worthy shall receive the prize, whether he be Scandinavian or not.”\u00b2\u00a0Up to three people may receive the award in any given field. For example, Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell and William E. Moerner jointly received the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry\u00a0“for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy.”\u00b3<\/p>\n

REFERENCES<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A Most Damnable Invention by Stephen R. Bown<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1. The Official Web Site of the Nobel Prize, http:\/\/www.nobelprize.org\/alfred_nobel\/biographical\/articles\/krummel\/<\/p>\n

2. The Official Web Site of Nobel Prize, http:\/\/www.nobelprize.org\/alfred_nobel\/will\/<\/p>\n

3. The Official Web Site of Nobel Prize, http:\/\/www.nobelprize.org\/nobel_prizes\/chemistry\/laureates\/2014\/<\/p>\n

4. Bown, Stephen R. A most damnable invention : dynamite, nitrates, and the making of the modern world. New York : T. Dunne Books, 2005.\u00a0Engineering Library Q175.35 .B69 2005<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ALFRED NOBEL October 21st is the birthday of the late Alfred Bernhard\u00a0Nobel who lived from 1833 to 1896. He was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator and manufacturer. In 1862, he started experimenting with nitroglycerin as an explosive material for oil mining.\u00a0By the next year, at age 30, he obtained\u00a0his first patent. A year later,\u00a0he alsoContinue reading “Happy Birthday, Alfred Nobel”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"syndication":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1132"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1132"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1225,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1132\/revisions\/1225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1132"},{"taxonomy":"syndication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/syndication?post=1132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}