Portrait: AI-generated imagined likeness
Inventor · Chemist · Engineer · Entrepreneur
Swedish inventor and businessman. He influenced modern industry by inventing dynamite, and created the Nobel Prize in his will. He is a person who thinks about science and technology and social responsibility.
View in catalogStockholm
Birth
Sanremo
Death
Dynamite
1867
Invention
Nobel Prize
1895
Other
Development of the modern explosives industry
1860–1896
Cultural event · Participant
Map: Natural Earth (PD)
Born in Stockholm, he studied science and languages while traveling around the country with his engineer father. Industrialization in the 19th century required safe explosives for mining, railroads, and construction.
He invented dynamite, which made nitroglycerin easier to handle, and developed international business activities. In his last will, prizes were established in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace, and other fields.
Although Nobel was a man who made a fortune from explosives, he is also remembered as the founder of the Peace Prize. This contrast makes us think about the benefits and risks that inventions bring to society.
When you study Nobel, you learn that science and technology in the 19th century changed both industry and the military, and that a system was created to evaluate research results as contributions to humanity. It can also be used for comparison with surrounding areas from the same era.
