. Alfred Bernhard Nobel born on October 21 ,1833 was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, and armaments manufacturer. Nobel held 350 different patents, dynamite being the most famous. Born in Stockholm, Alfred Nobel was the fourth son of Immanuel Nobel , and Andriette Nobel .
Following various business failures, Nobel's father moved to Saint Petersburg in 1837 and grew successful there as a manufacturer of machine tools and explosives. He invented modern plywood and started work on the "torpedo.
The family factory produced armaments for the Crimean War but, had difficulty switching back to regular domestic production when the fighting ended and they became bankrupt. In 1859, Nobel's father left his factory in the care of the second son, Ludvig Nobel , who greatly improved the business. Nobel and his parents returned to Sweden from Russia and Nobel devoted himself to the study of explosives, and especially to the safe manufacture and use of nitroglycerine . Nobel invented a detonator in 1863; and, in 1865, he designed the blasting cap. He invented the dynamite in 1867, a substance easier and safer to handle than the more unstable nitroglycerin.
Nobel tried to build factories, focusing on improving the stability of the explosives he was developing. In 1875 Nobel invented gelignite, more stable and powerful than dynamite.
His inventions were used extensively in mining and in the building of transport networks internationally.
Owing to his generous contributions to science, Nobel was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1884.Unfortunately Nobel had to bid farewell to the world in 1896 due to a severe case of cerebral haemorrhage . He had left most of his wealth in trust, in order to fund the awards that would be known as the Nobel Prizes.
Despite the lack of formal education, Nobel had gained proficiency in six languages: Swedish, French, Russian, English, German and Italian. He has even published some of his