Alfred Nobel essays

Alfred Nobel essays Alfred Nobel was more than just a scientist; he was an engineer, a chemist, and a very good businessman. Born October 21st 1833 in Stockholm Sweden, the son of the late Immanuel Nobel and Andriette Ahlsell. In 1837 Immanuel Nobel left Stockholm in pursuit of a career in Finland and Russia. Leaving his wife and kids in Stockholm. Immanuel gained a very successful career in engineering. In 1942 Albert's father took the family over to St. Petersburg. There, Alfred and his brother's were given a " first-class" education from private teachers. In school Alfred learned natural sciences, languages and literature. When Alfred was only 17 he was fluent in 5 languages Swedish, Russian, French, English and German. Out of all of his studies Alfred most enjoyed poetry, which did not thrill his father. In an attempt to get Alfred to join his enterprises he sent him to study abroad in chemical engineering. For two years Alfred visited many countries including Sweden, Germany, France and the United States. In Paris he met Ascanio Sobrero an Italian scientist who had discovered Nitroglycerin. Nitroglycerin was a very powerful substance with a lot more explosive power than gunpowder. The problem was that Nitroglycerin was highly unpredictable and extremely reactive. Alfred Nobel was very interested in nitroglycerin and spent a lot of time trying figuring out a practical use in construction. He also had to design a safer way to detonate the nitroglycerin. Shortly after he visited his friend John Ericcson he went back to work in the Family business. After his father went bankrupt him and his brother Emil moved to Sweden and worked together improving the explosive. In their workshop they had several explosions one in 1864 killed his brother Emil and several other workers. Because of these explosions Alfred was unfortunately shut down by the authorities and had to move out of Stockholm City limits in order to conduct his experiments. Finally in...