HEROES OF… SCIENCE
In the first 20 years after dynamite was patented, 66,500 tons was produced across the globe
HISTORY’S MOST INFLUENTIAL SCIENTISTS
Alfred Nobel
After exploding into the history books, this Swede sought to leave an academic legacy Few scientists have left a legacy more noble than Alfred Nobel. This Swedish chemist not only invented dynamite, but also urged other scientists to explore new avenues of study by establishing the world’s most prestigious accolade for intellectual achievement: the Nobel prize. Since the award was founded in 1901, the greatest minds have been rewarded for their services to the advancement of science and other arts. This peer-assessed award, Nobel hoped, would inspire people to push the boundaries for the benefit of humanity. Past winners include such geniuses as Albert Einstein, Marie Curie and Alexander Fleming.
The big idea Nobel’s work with nitroglycerin led him to experiment with different additives to stabilise the oily liquid. One of Nobel’s early ‘big ideas’ was the invention of a functioning detonator, which he designed first as a simple wooden plug and developed into the patented blasting cap, which was fitted with a small primary charge that could be detonated by a strong shock. While the detonators were groundbreaking, it was Alfred’s chemistry that really put him on the map. To make nitroglycerin safer, Nobel spent years developing the formula; several labs and factories were blown up in the process! Before long he discovered that by adding a very fine inert silica powder called diatomaceous earth, or kieselguhr, the oily nitroglycerin liquid could be transformed into a safer, malleable paste. When shaped into rods, this paste could be inserted into drilling holes and detonated in order to blast rock for mining. And the name of this material? Dynamite.
A life’s work The explosive timeline of the inventor of dynamite
052 | How It Works
1833
Alfred Bernhard Nobel is born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 21 October.
Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 21 October 1833 to Immanuel and Andriette. His mechanical engineer father enjoyed varying degrees of success with a number of inventing and manufacturing business ventures. In 1837, however, Immanuel left in search of better fortune in Russia. By 1842 he had established a profitable business producing equipment for the Russian military, and so the rest of the Nobel family moved out to join him. Together with his three brothers – Robert, Ludwig and Emil – Alfred was home-educated by private tutors. Taking a cue from his entrepreneurial father, who also designed and made mines, Alfred developed a talent for chemistry – and explosives in particular. In 1850 Alfred travelled to Paris to study chemistry under French professor Théophile-Jules Pelouze, who had been carrying out experiments using concentrated nitric acid to develop explosive materials in his laboratory. On his return to Russia Nobel began working in his father’s factory manufacturing military equipment for the Crimean War. Once the conflict was over in 1856, however, the company struggled to turn a profit and, by 1859, the firm had gone bust, forcing the Nobels to return to Sweden. Alfred’s two elder brothers, Robert and Ludwig, remained in Russia with hopes of salvaging what was left of the business. Alfred, meanwhile, started experimenting with explosives in his father’s lab. By 1862 he had set up a small factory in which he began to manufacture an exciting but highly volatile explosive called nitroglycerin, which had recently been invented by another of Pelouze’s
1837
Nobel’s father (right) moves away from the family to Finland and then St Petersburg to start up a mechanical workshop. The business goes bankrupt in 1856.
students: Ascanio Sobrero. While Nobel recognised the industrial potential of this explosive, the use of nitroglycerin was just not practical due to its unstable nature. The challenge was to find a way to control nitroglycerin so it could be safely handled. Nobel spent many years perfecting the formula for his explosives, as well as inventing and developing detonation devices. Eventually his research led him to discover a way to make nitroglycerin stable and practical for the construction and mining industries. This development was the invention of dynamite (see ‘The big idea’ boxout), for which Nobel obtained the patent in 1867. With a commercial product on his hands, Nobel became a wealthy man at the heart of a brand-new industry. He
1850
After being reunited with his father in Russia, Nobel travels to France. In Paris he is employed in the laboratory of chemist TJ Pelouze.
1862
In a quest to develop new products for his father’s shop, Nobel embarks on the research into nitroglycerin that will lead to dynamite.
WWW.HOWITWORKSDAILY.COM
