Alfred Nobel There are many famous chemists and biochemist, who are known for very many important and significant findings. Someone who interested me was Alfred Nobel. Noble was born in Stockholm, Sweden on October 21, 1833. Sadly, he only lived to the age of 63, when he passed away in 1896 due to a stroke. Within those great 63 years of his life he accomplished great things. Alfred is the fourth of eight children. When he was seven years old, he moved to Russia with the rest of his family to be with his father, who was there as an explosive maker. While there, his parents had gotten Alfred a private tutor and very quickly he mastered chemistry an became fluent in four other languages, aside from Swedish. Nobel’s father owned a guns and arms factory and after working there, Nobel became curious, which led him to studying more deeply into the field of chemistry (and explosives). He spent a year studying in Paris and five years in the U.S. before he moved back to Russia. Nobel’s greatest accomplishment was the discovery of dynamite in 1867. The reason he created it was because there was an explosion that killed his younger brother and he wanted to develop a safer alternative explosive. Nobel was patented with the mixture of nitroglycerin and an absorbent substance, and then coined it dynamite. Nobel earned a great deal of money from his discovery, but he put it to good use by creating the Nobel Prize. The Noble Prize is defined as any of the six international prizes awarded annually for outstanding work in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, economics, and the promotion of peace. The first one was awarded in 1901 and then annually awarded on December 10th, in honor of his death. There have been a few controversies regarding Nobel. One of which has to do with the Nobel Prize. It is supposed to be awarded for excellence in an area of expertise, but instead some say it is awarded to politicians and is bringing forth international conflicts. A french newspaper once wrote “Le marchand de la mort est mort” which translates to “The merchant of death is dead”. Some claim that he was a man who became rich by finding ways to kill more people quicker. Aside from the controversies and negative obituary that was falsely published, Nobel has been a significant chemist. He was credited with 355 patents, one being for the discovery of dynamite. He also set aside a bulk of his estate, to use the money to award Nobel Prizes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize http://www.biography.com/people/alfred-nobel-9424195#early-years http://tribune.com.pk/story/876707/10-most-controversial-nobel-peace-prize-winners/ http://www.livescience.com/40188-dark-history-alfred-nobel-prizes.html