Alfred Nobel: A Life from Beginning to End (Biographies of Inventors), by Hourly History.

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

ALFRED NOBEL: A LIFE 

FROM BEGINNING TO END 

(BIOGRAPHIES OF INVENTORS), 

by HOURLY HISTORY. 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

It's electric to begin with, what with the very colorful background of this very literate family involved in science hands on - from Sweden to St. Petersburg to France to US to back in and across Europe, always about work in science, about experiments and discovery and invention. 

But then one is puzzled, as author begins to delve in relatively uninteresting and unimportant details of a personal life, stopping barely short of throwing muck. 

Why, one wonders. 

Is it because the series is sponsored by church, and anyone who cannot be certified as a pious adherent must be then  maligned, somehow?   

Or is it worse, and it's sheer hatred of towering figures of science and other disciplines - if they weren't church followers? 

At any rate, it exhibits a low taste. 

................................................................................................

"In their efforts, the Nobel brothers were able to implement all kinds of innovation in oil production through the use of pipelines, tanker ships, as well as railroad-based tankers. They learned how to efficiently transport the crude oil by both land and sea, and they also learned to make the most of their workforce. Russia at the time had a numerous but largely untrained workforce. This was in large part due to Tsar Alexander II’s emancipation of the serfs in 1861. In Russian society, the serfs had been a landless peasant class that was forced to work the land of the nobility who in turn allowed them to live on their property.

"The Nobel brothers were sure to make good use of this newly freed pool of labor. Not only did they make use of their calloused hands, but the Nobels were credited with generally providing for them a decent work environment. Right in the vicinity of the worksite, the Nobel brothers implemented what became called their garden city. This garden was close to the workers’ houses and had everything from billiard halls and parks for fun, to schools and libraries for workers who wished to better themselves and their children.

"The Nobel brothers could be rightly commended for these philanthropic efforts. Still, they also clearly realized that a happy workforce is a reliable one and that the success of their enterprise largely depended on workers who were loyal and enthusiastic. 

"The post-emancipation life of the common Russian serf was rough. Although they had their freedom, they had very few options to better themselves. Just like the poor sharecroppers after Abraham Lincoln’s famous Emancipation Proclamation in the United States, the newly freed Russian peasants often found themselves with no choice but to return to work for their former masters, the Russian nobility. The Nobel brothers helped to provide an alternative path for many of these newly freed Russians that they otherwise would not have had access to."

To anyone unfamiliar with history of US,  would it be a surprise, shock even, that in saying "poor sharecroppers after Abraham Lincoln’s famous Emancipation Proclamation in the United States", author attempts to be oblique enough to make it incomprehensible that the reference thereby is to slavery, African-American people abducted by force and shipped in inhuman condition across Atlantic to be sold off to work for enrichment of their masters, and subject to anything the said masters thought fit? 

In what way does "sharecroppers" fit the description? 

Why make it so veiled a reference as to almost qualify as a lie? 

Pointing out that serfs in Russia were no better off then than the ex-slaves in US does not make US - in particular the slavers and the Confederacy in general - look guilt free, as hoped by author. Quite on the contrary. 

It only exposes the fact, by throwing this spotlight, that the Russian revolution and subsequent regime seeking to uplift the said poor succeeded in dome measure in bringing equality in Russian society, whereas Confederate South sought for decades to repress the humans they had used as property, animals, machines, anything but humans. 

And, too, it exposes the fear US  has of erstwhile slaves uprising in a revolution, as the reason for hatred of Russia.  

Strangely enough it's not hatred of communism or leftist ideologies, although so professed. For US has almost - singlehandedly,  at that - sponsored exactly that in China, still just as communist, repressive and belligerent with every neighbour, as ever, and if anything, worse. 

Does the key lie in racism? Asia a non sequitur, but Europe must be a certain way? Because, why? Asia can be nuked, as easily as the two cities that were, a unique distinction?

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Alfred Nobel is of Swedish descent, yet the surname of Nobel is a bit of a rarity in Scandinavia. By any other measure, just a glance at the name and one might figure Alfred was from Germany rather than Sweden. But Alfred Nobel did indeed begin his life in Swedish habitation; the Nobel family hailed from the village of Nöbbelöv in southern Sweden, which is where the name originated. 

"Nobel’s father, Immanuel, was an ambitious engineer who came from a long line of inventors and scientists, the most notable of which was a man by the name of Olof Rudbeck. Rudbeck, born in 1630, was said to be a brilliant student and eventually went on to become the rector of Uppsala University in Sweden. Here he delved into studies of medical science, which led to his ground-breaking work in helping to identify the lymphatic system of the body among other things.

................................................................................................

"Rudbeck’s grandson, Olof Nobelius, was the father of Immanuel Nobel the Elder, and it was Immanuel the Elder who first changed the family name to its now-famous, shortened form of Nobel. Immanuel Nobel went on to be a prestigious physician as he settled down, had a family, and named his son after himself. That son—Immanuel the Younger—was Alfred Nobel’s father. 

"Alfred’s father was the one in the family who first delved into work on munitions and incendiary devices. Big industry was avidly seeking a more efficient means to cut through large stone structures so that bridges, tunnels, and other important pieces of infrastructure could be built. It was his father’s background in engineering combined with a love of chemistry and the explosive secrets of nitroglycerin that would eventually lead Alfred Nobel on his path to destiny."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“I am a misanthrope and yet utterly benevolent, have more than one screw loose yet am a super-idealist who digests philosophy more efficiently than food.” 

"—Alfred Nobel"

................................................................................................

"Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born on October 21, 1833, in Stockholm, Sweden. Not a whole lot is known about his immediate childhood. For the most part, he was homeschooled, and his initial teaching was no doubt in the hands of his mother, Karolina Andriette, along with whatever private education could be provided. 

"When Alfred was around four years of age, his father, who had been struggling to keep his fledgling enterprises afloat in Sweden, opted to head on over to Finland to seek employment as an engineer. From here, Immanuel then traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, where he hoped that his work as an engineer would be in much higher demand than it was in the more competitive auspices of Scandinavia.

"It seems that Mr. Nobel arrived just in time. Russia had fended off a massive French invasion from Napoleon a couple of decades prior, in which French artillery and superior armaments had almost brought the Russian Empire to its knees. Tsar Nicholas I was determined that Russia would not make that same mistake twice and was eager to modernize Russian industry as rapidly as possible.

................................................................................................


"To Immanuel Nobel’s delight, he suddenly had not only steady work but also steady and reliable income. With his financial situation much improved, in 1842, he finally invited his wife and children to join him. Alfred was nine years old at the time, and it was in Russia that the young boy was first exposed to the power of chemistry.

"Although Alfred was not sent to any public schools in Russia, his father made sure that he had his own private instructors. One was a Swedish tutor by the name of Lars Santesson, and under the guidance of Lars, Alfred studied his native Swedish language and history as well as literature and philosophy. It was a Russian instructor, however, that would prove more influential. Ivan Peterov was recruited to teach young Alfred and his brothers mathematics, physics, and chemistry. It was from Ivan that the precocious Alfred would first learn about the chemical reactions upon which much of his career would be based.

"After learning the fundamentals under Ivan, Alfred then went on to study chemistry more in-depth under a Russian chemist by the name of Yuri Trapp. Perhaps most important, however, was the instruction that Alfred received under another professor, Nikolai Zinin, who worked at the Technical Institute of St. Petersburg. It was Zinin in particular who introduced both Alfred and his father to nitroglycerin. Nitroglycerin—a chemical compound put together by mixing glycerol with nitric and sulfuric acids—had just recently come in vogue among chemists of that day and age.

................................................................................................

"It was under the auspices of top-notch instructors like these that Alfred Nobel passed the 1840s. His father meanwhile had begun work on many important projects for the Russian military. He worked to perfect torpedoes for Russian ships as well as explosive sea mines—both of which would play a role in the coming Crimean War that would break out between Russia and the other great powers in 1853.

"It is somewhat ironic that Albert’s father would play such a key role in a war that would be fought in part between Russia and France, considering the fact that his son Alfred would receive some of his most important training from the French. In 1850, just three years before the outbreak of the Crimean War, Alfred Nobel left home to travel to Paris. It was in Paris that Alfred would meet the man behind the invention of nitroglycerin, Ascanio Sobrero.

"Although Ascanio was the man who invented the compound, as Alfred would find out, Ascanio was also its number one detractor. Every chance he got, Ascanio Sobrero warned of the inherent dangers of his invention. He declared that nitroglycerin was far too unstable to be used on a regular basis. And he was right. In the early days of experimentation with nitroglycerin, several scientists and technicians had lost their lives or had been severely injured. It was precisely this instability that Alfred Nobel became inspired to find a solution to.

................................................................................................


"From France, Nobel then went on to visit the United States to engage in one year of study under the auspices of a Swedish immigrant of some fame—John Ericsson. Ericsson would later work for the U.S. military and design the steel freighter the USS Monitor during the American Civil War.

"Alfred Nobel met up with Ericsson in the early 1850s in New York. He was eager to learn as much as possible about the fellow Swede’s experiments—most especially those conducted in regard to the caloric engine and warm engine, the latter of which had had great success in New York, with big industry corporations buying them by the boatload. The reason why these inventions were so crucial to New York at the time was due to the need for pressurized pipes to be able to send water up beyond the first floor of buildings. This was just a few decades prior to what would become New York’s first skyscraper boom, and buildings in New York were steadily getting taller and taller. As structures gained in altitude, having water only on the ground floor of businesses was no longer going to cut it. The warm air engine allowed the pressure of pipes to be substantial enough to make this innovation possible.

"Like much of Alfred’s early life, not a whole lot is known about the relationship between Nobel and Ericsson. He apparently learned much under his tutelage though, and by the time Alfred returned to St. Petersburg, he was still sending correspondence to the inventor. Most importantly, however, once he was back at his father’s residence in Russia, the roving Alfred Nobel set to work in his father’s shop attempting to make sure of some of the theories he had just learned so much about. An excited Alfred spoke to his father about Ericsson’s work, but Immanuel Nobel was most enthused with the prospect of it being used in his armament business, thinking that they could be used for Russian battleships.

................................................................................................

"The armaments factory that Alfred’s father oversaw could use all the help it could get since by 1853, the Crimean War was in full gear. Immanuel’s shop was now working around the clock with over 1,000 staffers at its disposal at any given time. Immanuel was quite a taskmaster and believed in pushing anyone under his charge to do their best at all times. His strong work ethic was passed on to his son, and Alfred made sure that he worked just as hard as anyone else, working well into the night and early into the next morning. This industrious pace eventually took its toll on his health, however, and in 1854, Alfred became quite sick from overwork, leading to chronic fatigue and exhaustion.

"It was due to this overwork and strain that Alfred Nobel was sent packing to his relatives back in Sweden for an impromptu vacation. Here he attended several spa treatments in an effort to recoup. He would write at the time, “I’ve been in Eger since the 4th of September, and have begun my bath and guzzle cure (that’s the correct term, because you guzzle enormous amounts of water here). The season is somewhat late but the cure is fine anyway.”"

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“I would not leave anything to a man of action as he would be tempted to give up work; on the other hand, I would like to help dreamers as they find it difficult to get on in life.” 

"—Alfred Nobel"

................................................................................................

"Alfred Nobel—rested up and recovered from his stay in Sweden—returned to his duties at his father’s armaments factory in St. Petersburg in the mid-1850s. The work conducted by the Nobel family would come to a screeching halt in 1856, however, when the Crimean War came to a close. The Nobel family benefactor Tsar Nicholas I had died, and his successor, Alexander II, was forced to sign a peace treaty in France, putting an end to all hostilities against the great powers.

"With the loss of his major backer and buyer of armaments, Alfred Nobel’s father found himself suddenly in some pretty dire financial straits. Alfred, now in his early 20s, was deemed old enough to represent the family, and soon he was visiting bankers all over Europe to see if he could find someone willing to invest in the family business. There were no takers, however, and ultimately the doors and windows of Nobel and Sons were shuttered, and the family was forced to cut their losses and sell the business. 

"Immanuel, his wife, and their youngest son Emil moved back to Sweden shortly thereafter. In the wake of his father’s business collapse, Alfred and his older brothers Ludvig and Robert would try to pick up the pieces."

................................................................................................

"While all this was taking place, Alfred continued his experiments with nitroglycerin. He had moved into a modest apartment with his brother Robert, and it was in these cramped confines that he managed to turn the small kitchen they shared into a makeshift lab. Here he mixed all manner of chemicals and meticulously took notes as to what the final results were. In these heady days, Alfred first learned how to conduct trial-and-error experiments as a scientist. 

"The life of these two brotherly bachelors would change, however, when Alfred’s older brother Robert decided to get married. His wife was a beautiful and apparently quite wealthy woman from Finland by the name of Paulina Lenngren. With Robert settling down into married life in 1861, Alfred was left to his own machinations.

"Having his fill of St. Petersburg for a time, Alfred would return to Sweden in 1863. Soon after his arrival, Alfred returned to his experimentation, and in particular he discovered a potent means of incendiary powder by mixing regular gunpowder with nitroglycerin. This then led to the Board of Trade officially granting him a ten years’ patent for this new type of gunpowder on October 14, 1863. Alfred would then receive another patent after he improved the formula on July 15, 1864.

................................................................................................

"On the heels of these accomplishments, the Nobel family oversaw the building of a new armaments factory in an outlying region of Stockholm called Heleneborg. It was here that Alfred would be rocked by the greatest grief of his life when in a freak accident, his little brother Emil would perish in a nitroglycerin-sparked explosion.

"The accident occurred on September 3, 1864. Emil was at the lab attempting to purify nitroglycerin when the explosion occurred. The terrible blast killed not only Emil but also four others that happened to be in attendance. As sad as the incident was for Alfred, his father—whose youngest son had just perished—took the news even worse. It was said that a part of Immanuel died when Emil did, and he just wasn’t the same again. After Emil’s death, Immanuel suffered from a stroke, and his health would be on a steep decline in its aftermath until he passed away eight years later to the day.

"The death of Emil did more than sadden the family—it also presented itself as a serious legal setback since the Swedish government deemed nitroglycerin unsafe for further experimentation and placed a strict ban upon its use within the city limits of Stockholm. Nobel wasn’t ready to give up, however, and if he couldn’t experiment on land, he determined to experiment by sea. This he did by creating a kind of mobile laboratory on a boat he parked on a lake just outside of Stockholm. It was in this amphibious lab that Nobel learned to perfect nitroglycerin even further.

................................................................................................


"In 1865, in particular, he learned how to utilize mercury as a charge for explosions, which would be an integral part of later incendiary devices. Alfred immediately sought out a patent for his discovery before attempting to market it. At this point, he had also begun the operation of a new corporation called Nitroglycerin AB. The company was run out of a newly made armaments factory in Vinterviken, just outside of Stockholm. Alfred ran this company quite literally from top to bottom, with him acting as managing director all the way to lowly clerk and cashier.

"It was around this time that he also embarked upon a mission in Germany in search of financial backers for his enterprise. These efforts resulted in Alfred becoming acquainted with Wilhelm and Theodor Winkler, two Swedish-born brothers and businessmen. A factory was soon established in Hamburg, Germany, and by the spring of 1866, it was creating nitroglycerin on a regular basis and distributing it to various clients in Germany, Austria, Belgium, and several other countries.

"This was not without its risk, however, and since guidelines of handling this material were still in their infancy, several more mishaps were to come, including the destruction of a steamboat called the European, which was hauling the product to Panama. On April 3, 1866, a terrible explosion from the cargo hold erupted, killing 74 people on the craft. Even Nobel’s own factory in Germany was demolished by explosions—not once but two times!

"Nevertheless, Alfred continued his work, and it was just a year later, in 1867, that Nobel would complete the invention that would change his life more than anything else: dynamite."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“For my part, I wish all guns with their belongings and everything could be sent to hell, which is the proper place for their exhibition and use.” 

"—Alfred Nobel"

................................................................................................

"Due to all of the chronic mishaps and deadly accidents engendered by nitroglycerin, by the fall of 1866, Alfred Nobel was doggedly pursuing a means with which he could render a safer application of the chemical. He found the most promising means of doing so through the use of an absorbent. In these efforts, he mixed nitroglycerin with everything from powdered charcoal, sand, and wood shavings to brick dust and cement. Yet it wasn’t until he stumbled upon a solid absorbent called kieselguhr, also known as diatomite, that he really saw some promise.

"Heavy testing was conducted in October of 1866 in which combinations of nitroglycerin packed with kieselguhr were used. It was through this trial run that dynamite came into being. Alfred Nobel’s patent for the invention then came roughly a year later, with an English patent obtained in May of 1867, followed by a Swedish one in September.

"In the following year of 1868, Nobel set up another factory just outside of Prague, but his sights weren’t only set on Europe, and soon his eyes would wander over to the United States. He knew that America was a vast country with a lot of land, and in turn, it was the home of many aspiring industries seeking to blaze a path through some of the nation’s wild terrain. Bridges, railroads, and the like needed to be built, and Nobel knew that his dynamite would be necessary to help them build it.

................................................................................................

"Realizing that the Americans would eventually yield a tremendous market for his products, Nobel began asking around about potential contacts in the United States. One of his German associates then put him into contact with a certain Colonel Bürstenbinder in New York City. Colonel Bürstenbinder was greatly interested in Nobel’s inventions and sought to create a platform in which they could be used.

"Unfortunately, by then, nitroglycerin despite its promise had a decidedly bad reputation. Concerned about public fears over safety, Nobel toyed with the idea of marketing his dynamite as “Nobel’s Safety Powder.” Eventually, however, Nobel’s company would come to be known as the Giant Powder Company, which would become operational out of San Francisco by the late 1860s.

"When word of this new powerful incendiary got out, it wasn’t long before the militaries of the world took notice. In 1870, the Franco-Prussian War broke out, and after German troops successfully hurled dynamite at French positions, the French were both alarmed and excited enough to request their own batch of dynamite. An associate of Nobel’s had actually already approached the French in December of 1869 with a request from Alfred to build a dynamite factory in France, but no decision was made until the French saw the explosive in action on the battlefield. It was then that the French war minister made the arrangements to start making dynamite in France.

"This led to an agreement being reached on October 31, 1870, to have a dynamite factory installed in France, officially backed by French finance. With the help of Nobel’s partner Paul Barbe, an armaments factory in southern France promptly became operational in the spring of 1871. From France, dynamite would only spread and proliferate to several other countries near and far.

................................................................................................

"Initially, the deal seemed very good for Alfred Nobel. He now had plenty of resources at his disposal with which to conduct further research. Eventually, however, he would come to regret partnering with the likes of Paul Barbe. Although both Paul Barbe and his father were established industrialists and had a good reputation in France, Nobel began to realize that Barbe’s ambition went beyond big industry. Nobel soon came to understand that Paul Barbe was a man without scruples, always seeing to his own best interest in his work in the armament business as well as politics. According to Nobel, Barbe was “a nimble man with excellent capacity for work but whose conscience is more elastic than rubber.”

"It was already concerning to Nobel that his inventions were being used for war, but for someone like Paul Barbe to insert themselves into the mix only complicated matters further. In the end, Barbe would get into so much trouble from his illegal activities and subsequent scandals that he decided to take his own life.

"Nevertheless, Alfred persevered and would continue to perfect his craft. By and large, the invention of dynamite was widely hailed as a success, although in the next few years certain flaws would emerge. It was found that the kieselguhr configuration that Nobel used substantially reduced the explosive yield of the nitroglycerin. Even more alarming, the dynamite sticks also were said to “sweat,” causing nitroglycerin to leak from the packing.

................................................................................................

"In order to correct this problem, Alfred Nobel created his next great invention in 1875: blasting gelatin, also known as gelignite. This was a concoction of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin that Nobel put together that helped to maintain the integrity of dynamite while not dampening its explosive power. Thanks to this one little trick, Alfred Nobel was now a household name.

"Nobel was perhaps most famous in France, where he was known not just for his inventions but also for his generosity, as was evidenced in a lavish wedding gift that he gave to one of his domestic servants in Paris. Out of the blue, he apparently asked the worker what she would like for a gift for her wedding and she gave him an interesting reply. She responded that she would like to have “as much as you earn in one day.” This of course was meant to be a joke on the part of Nobel’s spirited employee, but much to the woman’s surprise, Alfred agreed to the bargain and promptly paid up in full on her wedding day (in today’s currency, this gift would be worth more than $100,000). If this was one of Alfred’s first forays into the world of philanthropy, he didn’t just get his feet wet; he dived right in."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“Nature is man’s teacher. She unfolds her treasure to his search, unseals his eye, illumes his mind, and purifies his heart; an influence breathes from all the sights and sounds of her existence.” 

"—Alfred Nobel"

................................................................................................

"By the mid-1870s, Nobel was wealthy and spent most of his time traveling between his numerous factories in Europe. Always the businessman, Alfred never married and he ultimately never had children, yet there were a few cracks in this ironclad bachelor’s stoic façade and there were indeed a few women that he cared for very deeply. 

"One of these lost loves was said to have occurred early on when Nobel was a young man in Russia. The girl’s name is said to have been Alexandra, but hardly anything else is known about the relationship other than the fact that Alexandra turned down Alfred’s marriage proposal. 

"Another notable woman that would capture Nobel’s heart came into his life in 1876 when Alfred put out an advertisement in the paper for a personal secretary. The woman that answered that call was the Austro-Bohemian Countess Bertha Kinsky. The countess would only actually work for Alfred for a short time before she left to marry the Austrian writer to whom she was betrothed. Despite all this, during the brief time that she was around Alfred, she had made a distinct impression, and the two would continue to carry on a correspondence by way of written letters for the rest of Nobel’s life. It was actually partly through his long dialogues with Bertha, who was a staunch pacifist, that Alfred was inspired to create the Nobel Peace Prize.

................................................................................................

"The relationship with Bertha was a rather benign one, but another woman whom Nobel met that same year, Sofie Hess, was not quite as benevolent in nature. In fact, it would eventually turn quite volatile. The relationship began simple enough when Alfred ran into Sofie at a flower shop. Nobel was on leave in Austria at the time, and he was browsing through the shop trying to decide which set of flowers to purchase when he encountered Sofie who was working at the shop as an assistant. After a short conversation, Nobel found himself to be quite smitten.

"The two soon became inseparable, and Nobel even paid for Sofie to move to France, where he began to foot the bill for her rent and other living expenses. Alfred paid Sofie regular visits over the next 15 years, and during this time, he continued to pay for her way in life. This situation remained seemingly unchanged until in 1891, Alfred was alarmed to receive a letter from Sofie stating that she had suddenly become pregnant by a young Hungarian officer. Nobel must have known that the rough-and-tumble young woman hadn’t been faithful to him in the past, but still, this open admission of infidelity must have struck him like a blow.

"If anything else, it was Alfred’s brothers that were his rock of stability for much of his life. In the late 1870s, Alfred met up with his two older brothers Ludvig and Robert and was finally convinced to enter into a new partnership with them. Initially, a cautious Alfred held only a small amount of stocks in the company, but as the corporation grew, it would eventually be responsible for providing more than 20% of the funds used to start the Nobel Prize.

................................................................................................

"The boon to the Nobel brothers during this time occurred almost by accident. A few years earlier, Ludvig, who had long stayed in business as a provider of armaments for the Russians, was commissioned to produce some 450,000 rifles for the Russian army. Ludvig needed a good solid contract like this and jumped at the chance, but there was only one problem—decent rifles were made of walnut. This type of wood was just not to be found in St. Petersburg. Since there wasn’t any walnut in their immediate Russian backyard, it was therefore deemed expedient for the eldest Nobel brother, Robert, to travel south to the Caucasus region of Azerbaijan.

"Robert did indeed collect walnut there, but this wasn’t the highlight of the trip. What really caught his attention was not the densely wooded regions of Azerbaijan but the petroleum-spouting shores of the Caspian Sea. Although its most consequential use would not come to fruition until the Industrial Age, oil production in the region had been witnessed and documented by the likes of Marco Polo back in 1272.

"After he returned to St. Petersburg, Robert reported back to his brother on what he had seen. Ludvig was impressed and became convinced that the Nobel brothers should go into the petroleum production business. Although they were novices, the venture would prove successful. Soon, they had their own fully operational oil business by the name of Branobel, or the Nobel Brothers Petroleum Company.

................................................................................................

"In their efforts, the Nobel brothers were able to implement all kinds of innovation in oil production through the use of pipelines, tanker ships, as well as railroad-based tankers. They learned how to efficiently transport the crude oil by both land and sea, and they also learned to make the most of their workforce. Russia at the time had a numerous but largely untrained workforce. This was in large part due to Tsar Alexander II’s emancipation of the serfs in 1861. In Russian society, the serfs had been a landless peasant class that was forced to work the land of the nobility who in turn allowed them to live on their property.

"The Nobel brothers were sure to make good use of this newly freed pool of labor. Not only did they make use of their calloused hands, but the Nobels were credited with generally providing for them a decent work environment. Right in the vicinity of the worksite, the Nobel brothers implemented what became called their garden city. This garden was close to the workers’ houses and had everything from billiard halls and parks for fun, to schools and libraries for workers who wished to better themselves and their children.

"The Nobel brothers could be rightly commended for these philanthropic efforts. Still, they also clearly realized that a happy workforce is a reliable one and that the success of their enterprise largely depended on workers who were loyal and enthusiastic. 

"The post-emancipation life of the common Russian serf was rough. Although they had their freedom, they had very few options to better themselves. Just like the poor sharecroppers after Abraham Lincoln’s famous Emancipation Proclamation in the United States, the newly freed Russian peasants often found themselves with no choice but to return to work for their former masters, the Russian nobility. The Nobel brothers helped to provide an alternative path for many of these newly freed Russians that they otherwise would not have had access to."

To anyone unfamiliar with history of US, would it be a surprise, shock even, that in saying "poor sharecroppers after Abraham Lincoln’s famous Emancipation Proclamation in the United States", author attempts to be oblique enough to make it incomprehensible that the reference thereby is to slavery, African-American people abducted by force and shipped in inhuman condition across Atlantic to be sold off to work for enrichment of their masters, and subject to anything the said masters thought fit? 

In what way does "sharecroppers" fit the description? 

Why make it so veiled a reference as to almost qualify as a lie? 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“We build upon the sand, and the older we become, the more unstable this foundation becomes.” 

"—Alfred Nobel"

................................................................................................

"By the late 1870s, Alfred Nobel was an unmitigated success story. Just about any industrial enterprise that he put his mind to managed to produce extraordinary results. He had earned prestige and had made a lot of money. Despite his success, however, he was often ill in both body and spirit.

"Developing what he called his “melancholic” ways, he was often depressed, lonely, and in search of rest. It was with this sentiment in 1879 that Alfred Nobel purchased for himself a villa in the Austrian resort town of Bad Ischl. Nestled within several pristine lakes, the healing waters of Ischl were already world-renowned. Here, people from all over sought out spa treatments for whatever may have been ailing them. This was no fly-by-night venture but rather an enterprise that employed the best of physicians whose job it was to monitor the spa treatments that were administered to the vacationers. It was they who dictated the temperature of the water and the amount of time that the spa-goers stayed in the water.

"Nobel of course was no newcomer to these healing waters, and his sojourn at Ischl must have brought back memories of his youth when his father Immanuel had expressly sent him to seek out this sort of treatment. Then, as a young man, he was suffering from overwork and exhaustion in his quest to achieve success; now, as an older gentleman, he was feeling overwhelmed and burned out in the immediate aftermath of obtaining it.

................................................................................................

"Ischl was also a place that allowed Alfred to unwind with the woman that he was spending more and more time with—Ms. Sofie Hess. At first, the couple seemed to be greatly enamored with each other, but it wasn’t long before the relationship began to show friction and strain. Later that summer, Alfred left for a visit to his mother’s home in Sweden, and Sofie was apparently dismayed that her new paramour wouldn’t be taking her with him. Alfred no doubt knew that they were considered socially mismatched and was embarrassed to bring the young woman into the presence of his aging mother. Nevertheless, he came up with a whole litany of excuses as to why he might not be able to bring her for the journey. Whether it was her supposed ill health or her discomfort for travel or her sheer boredom, Alfred had all manner of reasoning to give when it came to leaving his newfound friend at home.

"Writing to Sofie on August 8, 1879, Alfred expressed, “I see from it that you understand now why I had to depart and have put aside your bad mood. If you think it over, you will find that I could not act otherwise. It would be unworthy of me to deny my sick mother the joy of seeing me once a year for a few days, as we sons have accustomed her to expect. It would be much more pleasant for me to make the journey together with you. But you could not possibly have managed the strain. In a few days, perhaps even tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, you will not be able to travel at all. Nor would the stay in Stockholm be pleasant for you, for I could barely be with you. We will therefore have to defer our joint visit until next year.”

"So it was that Alfred Nobel put off introducing Sofie to his mother. This was a meeting that Alfred would continually postpone for the rest of his mother’s life, and this failure of proper acknowledgment would become a bitter hallmark for the rest of Alfred and Sofie’s troubled affair."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“I drift about without a rudder or compass, a wreck of the sea of life; I have no memories to cheer me, no pleasant illusions of the future to comfort me, or about me to satisfy my vanity. I have no family to furnish the only kind of survival that concerns us, no friends for the wholesome development of my affections or enemies for my malice.” 

"—Alfred Nobel"

................................................................................................

"Despite his success in business, the 1880s were not an easy time for Alfred Bernhard Nobel. Now in his fifties, he was getting older and so too was everyone else around him. Nobel had reached that point in life when many of his friends and family began to pass on. His father and younger brother Emil had already passed away, but these deaths were largely unexpected aberrations. Now, however, everyone around Nobel began to perish not as a random fluke but of a pure and simple consequence of the relentless march of time.

"Most distressing of all to Alfred was the death of his oldest brother Ludvig. Since their father’s passing, Ludvig Nobel had for the most part attempted to fill in the gap as the patriarchal head of the family. He had also been extremely successful in business. Before Alfred made it big with dynamite, Ludvig was making steady progress in his career as an engineer in Russia. He later also made a killing with the Nobel brothers’ work in petroleum production in the oil-rich Caucuses, making him one of the richest men in the world at the time. Having that said, when this anchor of stability passed away on April 12, 1888, Alfred was beside himself with grief.

"In a letter he wrote the very next day to Sofie Hess, he poured out his heart. Alfred wrote in part, “My poor brother Ludwig passed away yesterday after a long and grave illness. He died a gentle and, it appears, painless death.”

"Shortly after he wrote this letter, Alfred came across a copy of his brother Ludvig’s obituary. As his eyes sadly perused the print, he was shocked to find that the newspaper ended up mixing him up with his deceased brother; rather than publishing an obituary for Ludvig, they published one for Alfred. In the obituary, Alfred was alarmed to read the headline, “The Merchant of Death is Dead!” The paper then went on to state, “Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday.”

"It was this error that first made Nobel concerned about the kind of legacy he was leaving behind. He certainly didn’t want to be known as a “Merchant of Death” dealing out armaments to the highest bidder.

................................................................................................

"Nevertheless, despite his misgivings, Nobel soon found an interested party for his newest invention of ballistite. The previous year, he had carried out experiments during which he combined nitroglycerin with collodion and camphor. The ultimate fruit of his experimentation was a little something called ballistite. The find came about when Alfred discovered that when two normally volatile ingredients—nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose—were paired together in this way, the end product was actually relatively stable and safe to store as well as smokeless when it was detonated. These abilities were crucial in the development of further high-yield explosives.

"Merchant of death or not, Nobel soon had many interested parties vying to get access to this product. The most enthusiastic client proved to be the Italian government. In 1889, Italy ordered over 300 tons of the stuff and even went so far as to create an exclusive contract with Alfred Nobel. This did not sit very well with Nobel’s previous benefactor of France, however, which feared the potential of European rivals using the product against them in future conflicts. French officials were so indignant about the whole affair that they actually pulled the plug on Nobel’s lab in Paris. Nobel, completely fed up, left France and moved to Italy himself in 1891.

"Another reason to leave France was the unraveling of Nobel’s relationship with Sofie Hess, for it was that year that Alfred found out that his “little Sofie” was pregnant by another man. Although not a lot is known of their relationship, it can be easily inferred from their correspondence—all of which has since been published—that they must have been lovers. Sofie herself was remembered to have once complained of “how difficult it was to find a husband” after being “Nobel’s mistress for so many years.”

................................................................................................

"It is believed that Nobel had wanted to marry Sofie but was hesitant due to her social background and his own preoccupation with work. In a time when class distinction was just about everything, Sofie was from a rather impoverished background. It also can’t be forgotten that she was Jewish, and Alfred no doubt felt that there would be pressure upon an interfaith marriage of Christian and Jew. 

"As their relationship progressed, Nobel also began to view Sofie with increasing disdain. He started to see her as socially and intellectually inferior to him—sometimes jesting that she had a “microscopic brain.” He also accused her of making him look bad, or as he wrote to Sofie on one occasion, “I have sacrificed to you my intellectual life, my reputation which always rests on our association with others, my whole interaction with the cultured world.”

"While Alfred was fine with visiting Sofie in her apartment, he was apparently too embarrassed to be around her in front of high society. When considered in this light, the bitterness Sofie may have felt for Alfred—and even her penchant for extorting money from him in later life—is at least a little bit understandable. She was angry with the man who had brushed her to the side for so many years and had become hellbent on exacting revenge.

................................................................................................

"Their relationship had been unraveling for a while, but the first major sign of discord can be seen in correspondence between the two in late 1890. As much as Alfred expected Sofie to stay quiet in her lodgings and not bother him unless he called on her, his often-spurned lover began to stir up trouble. First, Alfred began to face the very real suspicion that Sofie had been cheating on him. The idea of her being unfaithful is of course a bit complicated since most of the time Alfred refused to acknowledge their relationship in the first place. Nevertheless, a much more jealous, possessive, and angrier Alfred emerged by the fall of 1890. 

"In a letter dated December 1890, Alfred seemed to have unpacked a revelation. In this missive, Alfred declared, “The letter I have received is full of regret and in a tone that is very different from your earlier half-insolent letters that you sent me from Ischl and elsewhere. But the main point is missing: a direct reply to my question, which I believe was clear. In Vienna and even in the circle of your close acquaintances they say that you are pregnant, and since I must dot my i’s and cross my t’s, I will be completely clear and ask you again to consider the negative consequences that might and indeed will arise from your silly cover up. In my eyes there is not greater sin than lies, and a cover up would be the worst lie in this case.”

................................................................................................

"Although Alfred was upset, once Sofie owned up to the indiscretion, she was easily able to reel him back in. When she needed money, she always knew how to present as pitiful a plight to Alfred as possible. In one letter dated shortly before her child Margarethe was born, Sofie turns on the charm just as much as she turns on the pity. In the letter, Sofie remonstrated, “Who knows how I will fare? Who will take care of me? Not even a dog, that’s how alone I am and have not a soul who cares for me. During the night I can’t sleep for all these thoughts and often cry for hours. The child will be born yellow faced, they say when one is troubled a great deal during pregnancy, the child will often turn out skinny and very ugly.”

"Contrary to her fears, Sofie is said to have given birth to a healthy and quite beautiful baby girl on July 14, 1891. After this birth, Alfred would find himself not only footing the bill for Sofie but also on the hook to pay for another man’s child. Over the next few years, their correspondence would devolve into continued chastisement from Alfred and financial begging from Sofie. 

"He may have been dubbed as the “merchant of death” in the press, but in his own life, Nobel was quite often at the losing end of his own interpersonal transactions. His dealings with Sofie Hess most certainly constituted a vicious cycle—and unfortunately, one he would find himself completely at the mercy of until the day he died."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“I regard large inherited wealth as a misfortune, which merely serves to dull men’s faculties. A man who possesses great wealth should, therefore, allow only a small portion to descend to his relatives. Even if he has children, I consider it a mistake to hand over to them considerable sums of money beyond what is necessary for their education. To do so merely encourages laziness and impedes the healthy development of the individual’s capacity to make an independent position for himself.” 

"—Alfred Nobel"

................................................................................................

"Like many in his position, in order to escape from the growing grief and sadness he felt, Nobel buried himself in his profession. From the late 1880s to the early 1890s, Alfred Nobel began to work much more exclusively in the field of armaments. Rather than focusing on dynamite for construction purposes, he began to work more and more for the development of special munitions such as land mines, aerial torpedoes, and even rocket projectiles.

"Yet despite the claims of the premature obituary that called him a “Merchant of Death,” Nobel was always much more interested in the theory behind his inventions than their actual application. It was only after some of his more deadly inventions were applied to the field of battle that Nobel began to feel exceedingly guilty over the devastation his creations had wrought. On some occasions, he even tried his best to make some of his applications more useful for peace rather than war, as was the case when he touted his aerial torpedoes as being good not just for obliterating an enemy in battle, but also to aid in the rescue of shipwrecked persons.

"Nobel also wished to delve into the fundamentals needs of manufacturing by working to find solutions to material shortages of all kinds. Industry had long been looking for ways to replace finite materials. In these efforts, he fell back on his old knowledge of chemistry and managed to find viable substitutions for industrial-grade goods such as leather, rubber, and gutta-percha—a material which would become crucial in the production of electrical insulation. 

"Perhaps most ironically, however, even as he constructed weapons of war, Nobel looked forward to the day when the cost of using them would be so great that peace would reign. In what essentially amounted to a prediction of the nuclear age, Nobel predicted that the day would come “when two army corps will be able to destroy each other in one second [and] all civilized nations will recoil from war in horror and disband their armies.”

................................................................................................

"Although armies have certainly not disbanded, that terrible weapon—the ultimate in incendiary explosives, the nuclear bomb that has led to the doctrine of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction)—has indeed come about. The nuclear bomb is not only fully capable of incinerating an entire army but also entire cities and countries. Many have cited the terror of nuclear weapons as being a major factor in holding the nations of Earth back from a Third World War.

"At any rate, Nobel’s convictions about securing a lasting peace seem to have crystalized in 1892 when he attended an International Peace Congress in Bern, Switzerland. The International Peace Congress was a growing movement and had been held at various cities across Europe for several years. In many ways, this group was a forerunner for what would become the League of Nations, as influential members discussed how best to bring about a more cooperative and peaceful international dialogue. Upon Alfred Nobel’s attendance in 1892, he was deeply impressed.

"Soon thereafter, Nobel determined that the legacy he wished to leave behind was not one of munitions and military might—he wanted to leave behind a legacy of peace. It was just a year later, in 1893, that he determined to donate a sizeable portion of his wealth to a periodical prize to be given “to the man or woman who had done most to advance the idea of general peace in Europe.” Then, on November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel put together his last will and testament in which he dictated how his wealth would be used to annually award his Nobel Prize. With these funds, a total of five Nobel Prizes would be established. The first few would be for achievements in chemistry, physics, and medicine. After this, a prize for literary work, and last but not least a prize for peace.

"Roughly a year later, on December 10, 1896, Alfred Nobel was the victim of a massive stroke and passed away. His Nobel Prize, however, would indeed live on."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“My dynamite will sooner lead to peace than a thousand world conventions. As soon as men will find that in one instant, whole armies can be utterly destroyed, they surely will abide by golden peace.” 

"—Alfred Nobel"

................................................................................................

"It was on December 7, 1896, that Alfred Bernhard Nobel was struck by a massive stroke. Alfred Nobel had no wife and no children to be informed of the sad and distressing developments that had befallen him. The first to be notified of his condition was not a family member but a young apprentice by the name of Ragnar Sohlman.

"Ragnar had spent a lot of time working side by side with Alfred Nobel and had grown to greatly respect him both as a colleague and as a person. He was of course saddened to hear the news of his affliction yet still held out hope that he might somehow pull through. But it wasn’t meant to be. Ragnar arrived to be by his old mentor’s side on December 10 only to find that Alfred had already perished just a few hours prior.

"For all intents and purposes, Alfred Nobel died completely alone. He had long obsessed over his belief that he would be doomed to such a fate and had on occasion even written about it. He noted how he feared that in the time of his passing, he would be bereft of “any close friend or relation whose kind hand would someday close one’s eyes and whisper in one’s ear a gentle and sincere word of comfort.”

................................................................................................

"Nevertheless, after his death, those that knew Alfred Nobel did their best to carry out his last wishes. A kind of impromptu viewing was held at Alfred’s home in San Remo, Italy, followed by an official funeral at a local cathedral. After the funeral service, Nobel was cremated. One of the most curious of Alfred Nobel’s final wishes was that his veins be cut open before he was cremated. This was apparently to make sure that he really was dead since Alfred had long had a morbid fear of being buried alive. As per his wishes, his ashen remains were then placed into his family’s cemetery in Stockholm, Sweden. Here, he was given his eternal rest beside his mother, father, and his younger brother Emil.

"After he had been laid to rest, the matter of straightening out Nobel’s estate came to the forefront. In these matters, his old assistant Ragnar Sohlman was informed that Alfred had designated him as the executor of his will along with another former associate of Alfred’s, Rudolf Liljequist. Ragnar was surprised to hear of these developments and, having no experience in handling such things, was naturally overwhelmed. He was much relieved when Rudolf Liljequist, a man several years older than him and much more experienced in the handling of an estate, stepped forward to shoulder most of the work that would be involved.

"The main trust of Nobel’s estate was no mystery. He had no heirs, and in his last days, he was quite adamant that his money should be used to posthumously fund an endowment that would become the Nobel Prize. The will especially dictated that the Nobel Prize for physics and chemistry would be handed out by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Nobel Prize for literature would be given by the Academy in Sweden, the prize for medicine by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and the Nobel Peace Prize would be handed out in Norway. Nobel’s total wealth at the time of his death was estimated to be a vast 33 million Swedish kronor—a sum that would be worth more than 250 million U.S. dollars by today’s standards.

................................................................................................

"Although Liljequist handled most of the financial arrangements, it was beholden upon Ragnar to better affect the specifics of Alfred’s wishes since he knew him intimately as a person, better than almost anyone else at the time. In order to aid himself as executor, Ragnar hired a top-notch lawyer by the name of Carl Lindhagen, who by January of 1897 was already busy hammering out the details of just how Alfred’s final will and testament would be carried out.

"One of the biggest problems inherent in Alfred Nobel’s will was the fact that it was almost entirely written out by hand. Not only that, but Alfred had not consulted any professional legal help when he drafted it. His relatives had not been informed of his will in advance nor had Nobel contacted any of the institutions to see if they would be willing to organize the prize giving ceremonies. In fact, even something as simple as Alfred Nobel’s permanent place of residence was called into question since he lived in various homes he owned in France, Italy, and Sweden, all at different times in his life.,

"Those that would have the most reason to challenge the will of course would be his surviving relatives. It was Alfred Nobel’s nephew Emmanuel in particular who struggled the most under the weight of his uncle’s legacy. Emmanuel was at the time managing what was left of the Nobel brothers’ oil company in Russia. News of Alfred’s will had some pretty direct effects on the company since Alfred owned 12 percent of it upon his death. Subsequent talk of the will sparked off rampant speculation that a forced sale among the remaining partners was imminent.

................................................................................................

"On November 9, 1897, the estate of Nobel was formally entered into Karlskoga Court. Although many of the family members of Alfred Nobel remained bitter, Emmanuel proved he had no ill feelings by inviting Ragnar Sohlman to meet with him in St. Petersburg, Russia, in December of 1897. Here, they actively discussed what could be done with the rest of Alfred Nobel’s assets in the company. The two did indeed come to a tentative agreement, but it could only be implemented if the rest of the family in Sweden agreed—and this would prove much harder than anyone had anticipated.

"By the spring of 1898, the rest of the Nobel clan would be right back in the courts challenging Alfred Nobel’s will yet again. These court battles would prove to be too long and protracted for even the most stubborn of Alfred’s relatives to stomach, however, and by the summer of 1898, the only thing that they were suing for was peace. Both parties reached an out of court settlement that would have made Alfred proud. As directed, Alfred’s family accepted the will’s philanthropist enterprise and no longer contested it in court in exchange for receiving the interest earned by the assets Alfred had accrued for the fiscal year of 1897.

"After all of these matters had finally been settled, the first Nobel Prizes would then be awarded in Stockholm, Sweden in 1901. It was a grand affair in which the very crown prince of Sweden did the honors of awarding the prize. Worth some 150,000 in Swedish currency, or just about 1 million dollars in today’s money, winning a Nobel Prize was indeed a big deal, just like Alfred Nobel hoped it would be. It continues to be so to this very day."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Alfred Nobel was a man with a strong work ethic. Beyond anything else, this one theme ran strongly throughout his entire life. It was partially inspired by the hardship of his childhood, in which his father struggled to keep the family finances afloat. Due to these early financial difficulties, a simple rule had become ingrained in Alfred’s mind—namely, that one must practice his due diligence in order to prevent starvation. 

"Nobel knew that life wasn’t easy, but as long as you had steady work and the respect that came along with it, an honest living was indeed possible. For most of his life, this desire to be industrious and productive outweighed anything else. It had Alfred Nobel working for governments and corporations that were perhaps just a little bit less scrupulous and more morally ambiguous than he may have ultimately preferred.

................................................................................................

"For Nobel, making armaments was simply a means to an end. As much as he would rather have used his dynamite for construction projects, this was not always possible. No matter how much he inquired about them, major infrastructure projects such as transcontinental railroads and underground tunnels were just not in demand. These were times that the military machines of the world were simply the better buyer.

"Nobel never liked the idea that his inventions would be used for warfare. One unique way he rationalized their use was by making the rather prescient assertion that explosives would one day be so deadly—as nuclear bombs have indeed become—that they would actually prevent war rather than cause them.

"For the most part, however, he tried not to think about what became of his inventions, relegating himself to contemplate the theory behind the bombs he made and not so much what their actual application ended up being. It wasn’t until later years that such things would become distressing enough for him that he would seek to remedy all of the destruction that had been wrought. It was only after a premature obituary labeled him as the “Merchant of Death” that it all really struck home. To see such a description of himself splayed out in black and white print was a real eye-opener. This was most certainly not the legacy that Alfred Nobel wished to leave behind. Such an accusation struck Nobel to his core, and it made him consider an intriguing solution to it. He endeavored to take the very money that he had earned as the so-called “Merchant of Death” and use it to finance instruments of peace rather than instruments of war. And the world is a much better place as a result."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

Table of Contents 

Introduction 

Early Life in Sweden and Russia 

Explosive Accidents 

The Invention of Dynamite 

Growing the Garden City 

A Troubled Affair 

The Merchant of Death 

The Nobel Peace Prize 

The Legacy of Alfred Nobel 

Conclusion 

Bibliography

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

REVIEW 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

Introduction 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Alfred Nobel is of Swedish descent, yet the surname of Nobel is a bit of a rarity in Scandinavia. By any other measure, just a glance at the name and one might figure Alfred was from Germany rather than Sweden. But Alfred Nobel did indeed begin his life in Swedish habitation; the Nobel family hailed from the village of Nöbbelöv in southern Sweden, which is where the name originated. 

"Nobel’s father, Immanuel, was an ambitious engineer who came from a long line of inventors and scientists, the most notable of which was a man by the name of Olof Rudbeck. Rudbeck, born in 1630, was said to be a brilliant student and eventually went on to become the rector of Uppsala University in Sweden. Here he delved into studies of medical science, which led to his ground-breaking work in helping to identify the lymphatic system of the body among other things.

................................................................................................

"Rudbeck’s grandson, Olof Nobelius, was the father of Immanuel Nobel the Elder, and it was Immanuel the Elder who first changed the family name to its now-famous, shortened form of Nobel. Immanuel Nobel went on to be a prestigious physician as he settled down, had a family, and named his son after himself. That son—Immanuel the Younger—was Alfred Nobel’s father. 

"Alfred’s father was the one in the family who first delved into work on munitions and incendiary devices. Big industry was avidly seeking a more efficient means to cut through large stone structures so that bridges, tunnels, and other important pieces of infrastructure could be built. It was his father’s background in engineering combined with a love of chemistry and the explosive secrets of nitroglycerin that would eventually lead Alfred Nobel on his path to destiny."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................

................................................

December 30, 2022 - December 30, 2022. 

................................................

................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

...............................................................................................

Chapter 1. Early Life in Sweden and Russia 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“I am a misanthrope and yet utterly benevolent, have more than one screw loose yet am a super-idealist who digests philosophy more efficiently than food.” 

"—Alfred Nobel"

................................................................................................

"Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born on October 21, 1833, in Stockholm, Sweden. Not a whole lot is known about his immediate childhood. For the most part, he was homeschooled, and his initial teaching was no doubt in the hands of his mother, Karolina Andriette, along with whatever private education could be provided. 

"When Alfred was around four years of age, his father, who had been struggling to keep his fledgling enterprises afloat in Sweden, opted to head on over to Finland to seek employment as an engineer. From here, Immanuel then traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, where he hoped that his work as an engineer would be in much higher demand than it was in the more competitive auspices of Scandinavia.

"It seems that Mr. Nobel arrived just in time. Russia had fended off a massive French invasion from Napoleon a couple of decades prior, in which French artillery and superior armaments had almost brought the Russian Empire to its knees. Tsar Nicholas I was determined that Russia would not make that same mistake twice and was eager to modernize Russian industry as rapidly as possible.

................................................................................................

"To Immanuel Nobel’s delight, he suddenly had not only steady work but also steady and reliable income. With his financial situation much improved, in 1842, he finally invited his wife and children to join him. Alfred was nine years old at the time, and it was in Russia that the young boy was first exposed to the power of chemistry.

"Although Alfred was not sent to any public schools in Russia, his father made sure that he had his own private instructors. One was a Swedish tutor by the name of Lars Santesson, and under the guidance of Lars, Alfred studied his native Swedish language and history as well as literature and philosophy. It was a Russian instructor, however, that would prove more influential. Ivan Peterov was recruited to teach young Alfred and his brothers mathematics, physics, and chemistry. It was from Ivan that the precocious Alfred would first learn about the chemical reactions upon which much of his career would be based.

"After learning the fundamentals under Ivan, Alfred then went on to study chemistry more in-depth under a Russian chemist by the name of Yuri Trapp. Perhaps most important, however, was the instruction that Alfred received under another professor, Nikolai Zinin, who worked at the Technical Institute of St. Petersburg. It was Zinin in particular who introduced both Alfred and his father to nitroglycerin. Nitroglycerin—a chemical compound put together by mixing glycerol with nitric and sulfuric acids—had just recently come in vogue among chemists of that day and age.

................................................................................................

"It was under the auspices of top-notch instructors like these that Alfred Nobel passed the 1840s. His father meanwhile had begun work on many important projects for the Russian military. He worked to perfect torpedoes for Russian ships as well as explosive sea mines—both of which would play a role in the coming Crimean War that would break out between Russia and the other great powers in 1853.

"It is somewhat ironic that Albert’s father would play such a key role in a war that would be fought in part between Russia and France, considering the fact that his son Alfred would receive some of his most important training from the French. In 1850, just three years before the outbreak of the Crimean War, Alfred Nobel left home to travel to Paris. It was in Paris that Alfred would meet the man behind the invention of nitroglycerin, Ascanio Sobrero.

"Although Ascanio was the man who invented the compound, as Alfred would find out, Ascanio was also its number one detractor. Every chance he got, Ascanio Sobrero warned of the inherent dangers of his invention. He declared that nitroglycerin was far too unstable to be used on a regular basis. And he was right. In the early days of experimentation with nitroglycerin, several scientists and technicians had lost their lives or had been severely injured. It was precisely this instability that Alfred Nobel became inspired to find a solution to.

................................................................................................

"From France, Nobel then went on to visit the United States to engage in one year of study under the auspices of a Swedish immigrant of some fame—John Ericsson. Ericsson would later work for the U.S. military and design the steel freighter the USS Monitor during the American Civil War.

"Alfred Nobel met up with Ericsson in the early 1850s in New York. He was eager to learn as much as possible about the fellow Swede’s experiments—most especially those conducted in regard to the caloric engine and warm engine, the latter of which had had great success in New York, with big industry corporations buying them by the boatload. The reason why these inventions were so crucial to New York at the time was due to the need for pressurized pipes to be able to send water up beyond the first floor of buildings. This was just a few decades prior to what would become New York’s first skyscraper boom, and buildings in New York were steadily getting taller and taller. As structures gained in altitude, having water only on the ground floor of businesses was no longer going to cut it. The warm air engine allowed the pressure of pipes to be substantial enough to make this innovation possible.

"Like much of Alfred’s early life, not a whole lot is known about the relationship between Nobel and Ericsson. He apparently learned much under his tutelage though, and by the time Alfred returned to St. Petersburg, he was still sending correspondence to the inventor. Most importantly, however, once he was back at his father’s residence in Russia, the roving Alfred Nobel set to work in his father’s shop attempting to make sure of some of the theories he had just learned so much about. An excited Alfred spoke to his father about Ericsson’s work, but Immanuel Nobel was most enthused with the prospect of it being used in his armament business, thinking that they could be used for Russian battleships.

................................................................................................

"The armaments factory that Alfred’s father oversaw could use all the help it could get since by 1853, the Crimean War was in full gear. Immanuel’s shop was now working around the clock with over 1,000 staffers at its disposal at any given time. Immanuel was quite a taskmaster and believed in pushing anyone under his charge to do their best at all times. His strong work ethic was passed on to his son, and Alfred made sure that he worked just as hard as anyone else, working well into the night and early into the next morning. This industrious pace eventually took its toll on his health, however, and in 1854, Alfred became quite sick from overwork, leading to chronic fatigue and exhaustion.

"It was due to this overwork and strain that Alfred Nobel was sent packing to his relatives back in Sweden for an impromptu vacation. Here he attended several spa treatments in an effort to recoup. He would write at the time, “I’ve been in Eger since the 4th of September, and have begun my bath and guzzle cure (that’s the correct term, because you guzzle enormous amounts of water here). The season is somewhat late but the cure is fine anyway.”"

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................

................................................

December 30, 2022 - December 30, 2022. 

................................................

................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

Chapter 2. Explosive Accidents 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“I would not leave anything to a man of action as he would be tempted to give up work; on the other hand, I would like to help dreamers as they find it difficult to get on in life.” 

"—Alfred Nobel"

................................................................................................

"Alfred Nobel—rested up and recovered from his stay in Sweden—returned to his duties at his father’s armaments factory in St. Petersburg in the mid-1850s. The work conducted by the Nobel family would come to a screeching halt in 1856, however, when the Crimean War came to a close. The Nobel family benefactor Tsar Nicholas I had died, and his successor, Alexander II, was forced to sign a peace treaty in France, putting an end to all hostilities against the great powers.

"With the loss of his major backer and buyer of armaments, Alfred Nobel’s father found himself suddenly in some pretty dire financial straits. Alfred, now in his early 20s, was deemed old enough to represent the family, and soon he was visiting bankers all over Europe to see if he could find someone willing to invest in the family business. There were no takers, however, and ultimately the doors and windows of Nobel and Sons were shuttered, and the family was forced to cut their losses and sell the business. 

"Immanuel, his wife, and their youngest son Emil moved back to Sweden shortly thereafter. In the wake of his father’s business collapse, Alfred and his older brothers Ludvig and Robert would try to pick up the pieces."

................................................................................................

"While all this was taking place, Alfred continued his experiments with nitroglycerin. He had moved into a modest apartment with his brother Robert, and it was in these cramped confines that he managed to turn the small kitchen they shared into a makeshift lab. Here he mixed all manner of chemicals and meticulously took notes as to what the final results were. In these heady days, Alfred first learned how to conduct trial-and-error experiments as a scientist. 

"The life of these two brotherly bachelors would change, however, when Alfred’s older brother Robert decided to get married. His wife was a beautiful and apparently quite wealthy woman from Finland by the name of Paulina Lenngren. With Robert settling down into married life in 1861, Alfred was left to his own machinations.

"Having his fill of St. Petersburg for a time, Alfred would return to Sweden in 1863. Soon after his arrival, Alfred returned to his experimentation, and in particular he discovered a potent means of incendiary powder by mixing regular gunpowder with nitroglycerin. This then led to the Board of Trade officially granting him a ten years’ patent for this new type of gunpowder on October 14, 1863. Alfred would then receive another patent after he improved the formula on July 15, 1864.

................................................................................................

"On the heels of these accomplishments, the Nobel family oversaw the building of a new armaments factory in an outlying region of Stockholm called Heleneborg. It was here that Alfred would be rocked by the greatest grief of his life when in a freak accident, his little brother Emil would perish in a nitroglycerin-sparked explosion.

"The accident occurred on September 3, 1864. Emil was at the lab attempting to purify nitroglycerin when the explosion occurred. The terrible blast killed not only Emil but also four others that happened to be in attendance. As sad as the incident was for Alfred, his father—whose youngest son had just perished—took the news even worse. It was said that a part of Immanuel died when Emil did, and he just wasn’t the same again. After Emil’s death, Immanuel suffered from a stroke, and his health would be on a steep decline in its aftermath until he passed away eight years later to the day.

"The death of Emil did more than sadden the family—it also presented itself as a serious legal setback since the Swedish government deemed nitroglycerin unsafe for further experimentation and placed a strict ban upon its use within the city limits of Stockholm. Nobel wasn’t ready to give up, however, and if he couldn’t experiment on land, he determined to experiment by sea. This he did by creating a kind of mobile laboratory on a boat he parked on a lake just outside of Stockholm. It was in this amphibious lab that Nobel learned to perfect nitroglycerin even further.

................................................................................................

"In 1865, in particular, he learned how to utilize mercury as a charge for explosions, which would be an integral part of later incendiary devices. Alfred immediately sought out a patent for his discovery before attempting to market it. At this point, he had also begun the operation of a new corporation called Nitroglycerin AB. The company was run out of a newly made armaments factory in Vinterviken, just outside of Stockholm. Alfred ran this company quite literally from top to bottom, with him acting as managing director all the way to lowly clerk and cashier.

"It was around this time that he also embarked upon a mission in Germany in search of financial backers for his enterprise. These efforts resulted in Alfred becoming acquainted with Wilhelm and Theodor Winkler, two Swedish-born brothers and businessmen. A factory was soon established in Hamburg, Germany, and by the spring of 1866, it was creating nitroglycerin on a regular basis and distributing it to various clients in Germany, Austria, Belgium, and several other countries.

"This was not without its risk, however, and since guidelines of handling this material were still in their infancy, several more mishaps were to come, including the destruction of a steamboat called the European, which was hauling the product to Panama. On April 3, 1866, a terrible explosion from the cargo hold erupted, killing 74 people on the craft. Even Nobel’s own factory in Germany was demolished by explosions—not once but two times!

"Nevertheless, Alfred continued his work, and it was just a year later, in 1867, that Nobel would complete the invention that would change his life more than anything else: dynamite."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................

................................................

December 30, 2022 - December 30, 2022. 

................................................

................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

Chapter 3. The Invention of Dynamite 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“For my part, I wish all guns with their belongings and everything could be sent to hell, which is the proper place for their exhibition and use.” 

"—Alfred Nobel"

................................................................................................

"Due to all of the chronic mishaps and deadly accidents engendered by nitroglycerin, by the fall of 1866, Alfred Nobel was doggedly pursuing a means with which he could render a safer application of the chemical. He found the most promising means of doing so through the use of an absorbent. In these efforts, he mixed nitroglycerin with everything from powdered charcoal, sand, and wood shavings to brick dust and cement. Yet it wasn’t until he stumbled upon a solid absorbent called kieselguhr, also known as diatomite, that he really saw some promise.

"Heavy testing was conducted in October of 1866 in which combinations of nitroglycerin packed with kieselguhr were used. It was through this trial run that dynamite came into being. Alfred Nobel’s patent for the invention then came roughly a year later, with an English patent obtained in May of 1867, followed by a Swedish one in September.

"In the following year of 1868, Nobel set up another factory just outside of Prague, but his sights weren’t only set on Europe, and soon his eyes would wander over to the United States. He knew that America was a vast country with a lot of land, and in turn, it was the home of many aspiring industries seeking to blaze a path through some of the nation’s wild terrain. Bridges, railroads, and the like needed to be built, and Nobel knew that his dynamite would be necessary to help them build it.

................................................................................................

"Realizing that the Americans would eventually yield a tremendous market for his products, Nobel began asking around about potential contacts in the United States. One of his German associates then put him into contact with a certain Colonel Bürstenbinder in New York City. Colonel Bürstenbinder was greatly interested in Nobel’s inventions and sought to create a platform in which they could be used.

"Unfortunately, by then, nitroglycerin despite its promise had a decidedly bad reputation. Concerned about public fears over safety, Nobel toyed with the idea of marketing his dynamite as “Nobel’s Safety Powder.” Eventually, however, Nobel’s company would come to be known as the Giant Powder Company, which would become operational out of San Francisco by the late 1860s.

"When word of this new powerful incendiary got out, it wasn’t long before the militaries of the world took notice. In 1870, the Franco-Prussian War broke out, and after German troops successfully hurled dynamite at French positions, the French were both alarmed and excited enough to request their own batch of dynamite. An associate of Nobel’s had actually already approached the French in December of 1869 with a request from Alfred to build a dynamite factory in France, but no decision was made until the French saw the explosive in action on the battlefield. It was then that the French war minister made the arrangements to start making dynamite in France.

"This led to an agreement being reached on October 31, 1870, to have a dynamite factory installed in France, officially backed by French finance. With the help of Nobel’s partner Paul Barbe, an armaments factory in southern France promptly became operational in the spring of 1871. From France, dynamite would only spread and proliferate to several other countries near and far.

................................................................................................

"Initially, the deal seemed very good for Alfred Nobel. He now had plenty of resources at his disposal with which to conduct further research. Eventually, however, he would come to regret partnering with the likes of Paul Barbe. Although both Paul Barbe and his father were established industrialists and had a good reputation in France, Nobel began to realize that Barbe’s ambition went beyond big industry. Nobel soon came to understand that Paul Barbe was a man without scruples, always seeing to his own best interest in his work in the armament business as well as politics. According to Nobel, Barbe was “a nimble man with excellent capacity for work but whose conscience is more elastic than rubber.”

"It was already concerning to Nobel that his inventions were being used for war, but for someone like Paul Barbe to insert themselves into the mix only complicated matters further. In the end, Barbe would get into so much trouble from his illegal activities and subsequent scandals that he decided to take his own life.

"Nevertheless, Alfred persevered and would continue to perfect his craft. By and large, the invention of dynamite was widely hailed as a success, although in the next few years certain flaws would emerge. It was found that the kieselguhr configuration that Nobel used substantially reduced the explosive yield of the nitroglycerin. Even more alarming, the dynamite sticks also were said to “sweat,” causing nitroglycerin to leak from the packing.

................................................................................................

"In order to correct this problem, Alfred Nobel created his next great invention in 1875: blasting gelatin, also known as gelignite. This was a concoction of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin that Nobel put together that helped to maintain the integrity of dynamite while not dampening its explosive power. Thanks to this one little trick, Alfred Nobel was now a household name.

"Nobel was perhaps most famous in France, where he was known not just for his inventions but also for his generosity, as was evidenced in a lavish wedding gift that he gave to one of his domestic servants in Paris. Out of the blue, he apparently asked the worker what she would like for a gift for her wedding and she gave him an interesting reply. She responded that she would like to have “as much as you earn in one day.” This of course was meant to be a joke on the part of Nobel’s spirited employee, but much to the woman’s surprise, Alfred agreed to the bargain and promptly paid up in full on her wedding day (in today’s currency, this gift would be worth more than $100,000). If this was one of Alfred’s first forays into the world of philanthropy, he didn’t just get his feet wet; he dived right in."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................

................................................

December 30, 2022 - December 30, 2022. 

................................................

................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

Chapter 4. Growing the Garden City 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“Nature is man’s teacher. She unfolds her treasure to his search, unseals his eye, illumes his mind, and purifies his heart; an influence breathes from all the sights and sounds of her existence.” 

"—Alfred Nobel"

................................................................................................

"By the mid-1870s, Nobel was wealthy and spent most of his time traveling between his numerous factories in Europe. Always the businessman, Alfred never married and he ultimately never had children, yet there were a few cracks in this ironclad bachelor’s stoic façade and there were indeed a few women that he cared for very deeply. 

"One of these lost loves was said to have occurred early on when Nobel was a young man in Russia. The girl’s name is said to have been Alexandra, but hardly anything else is known about the relationship other than the fact that Alexandra turned down Alfred’s marriage proposal. 

"Another notable woman that would capture Nobel’s heart came into his life in 1876 when Alfred put out an advertisement in the paper for a personal secretary. The woman that answered that call was the Austro-Bohemian Countess Bertha Kinsky. The countess would only actually work for Alfred for a short time before she left to marry the Austrian writer to whom she was betrothed. Despite all this, during the brief time that she was around Alfred, she had made a distinct impression, and the two would continue to carry on a correspondence by way of written letters for the rest of Nobel’s life. It was actually partly through his long dialogues with Bertha, who was a staunch pacifist, that Alfred was inspired to create the Nobel Peace Prize.

................................................................................................

"The relationship with Bertha was a rather benign one, but another woman whom Nobel met that same year, Sofie Hess, was not quite as benevolent in nature. In fact, it would eventually turn quite volatile. The relationship began simple enough when Alfred ran into Sofie at a flower shop. Nobel was on leave in Austria at the time, and he was browsing through the shop trying to decide which set of flowers to purchase when he encountered Sofie who was working at the shop as an assistant. After a short conversation, Nobel found himself to be quite smitten.

"The two soon became inseparable, and Nobel even paid for Sofie to move to France, where he began to foot the bill for her rent and other living expenses. Alfred paid Sofie regular visits over the next 15 years, and during this time, he continued to pay for her way in life. This situation remained seemingly unchanged until in 1891, Alfred was alarmed to receive a letter from Sofie stating that she had suddenly become pregnant by a young Hungarian officer. Nobel must have known that the rough-and-tumble young woman hadn’t been faithful to him in the past, but still, this open admission of infidelity must have struck him like a blow.

"If anything else, it was Alfred’s brothers that were his rock of stability for much of his life. In the late 1870s, Alfred met up with his two older brothers Ludvig and Robert and was finally convinced to enter into a new partnership with them. Initially, a cautious Alfred held only a small amount of stocks in the company, but as the corporation grew, it would eventually be responsible for providing more than 20% of the funds used to start the Nobel Prize.

................................................................................................

"The boon to the Nobel brothers during this time occurred almost by accident. A few years earlier, Ludvig, who had long stayed in business as a provider of armaments for the Russians, was commissioned to produce some 450,000 rifles for the Russian army. Ludvig needed a good solid contract like this and jumped at the chance, but there was only one problem—decent rifles were made of walnut. This type of wood was just not to be found in St. Petersburg. Since there wasn’t any walnut in their immediate Russian backyard, it was therefore deemed expedient for the eldest Nobel brother, Robert, to travel south to the Caucasus region of Azerbaijan.

"Robert did indeed collect walnut there, but this wasn’t the highlight of the trip. What really caught his attention was not the densely wooded regions of Azerbaijan but the petroleum-spouting shores of the Caspian Sea. Although its most consequential use would not come to fruition until the Industrial Age, oil production in the region had been witnessed and documented by the likes of Marco Polo back in 1272.

"After he returned to St. Petersburg, Robert reported back to his brother on what he had seen. Ludvig was impressed and became convinced that the Nobel brothers should go into the petroleum production business. Although they were novices, the venture would prove successful. Soon, they had their own fully operational oil business by the name of Branobel, or the Nobel Brothers Petroleum Company.

................................................................................................

"In their efforts, the Nobel brothers were able to implement all kinds of innovation in oil production through the use of pipelines, tanker ships, as well as railroad-based tankers. They learned how to efficiently transport the crude oil by both land and sea, and they also learned to make the most of their workforce. Russia at the time had a numerous but largely untrained workforce. This was in large part due to Tsar Alexander II’s emancipation of the serfs in 1861. In Russian society, the serfs had been a landless peasant class that was forced to work the land of the nobility who in turn allowed them to live on their property.

"The Nobel brothers were sure to make good use of this newly freed pool of labor. Not only did they make use of their calloused hands, but the Nobels were credited with generally providing for them a decent work environment. Right in the vicinity of the worksite, the Nobel brothers implemented what became called their garden city. This garden was close to the workers’ houses and had everything from billiard halls and parks for fun, to schools and libraries for workers who wished to better themselves and their children.

"The Nobel brothers could be rightly commended for these philanthropic efforts. Still, they also clearly realized that a happy workforce is a reliable one and that the success of their enterprise largely depended on workers who were loyal and enthusiastic. 

"The post-emancipation life of the common Russian serf was rough. Although they had their freedom, they had very few options to better themselves. Just like the poor sharecroppers after Abraham Lincoln’s famous Emancipation Proclamation in the United States, the newly freed Russian peasants often found themselves with no choice but to return to work for their former masters, the Russian nobility. The Nobel brothers helped to provide an alternative path for many of these newly freed Russians that they otherwise would not have had access to."

To anyone unfamiliar with history of US,  would it be a surprise, shock even, that in saying "poor sharecroppers after Abraham Lincoln’s famous Emancipation Proclamation in the United States", author attempts to be oblique enough to make it incomprehensible that the reference thereby is to slavery, African-American people abducted by force and shipped in inhuman condition across Atlantic to be sold off to work for enrichment of their masters, and subject to anything the said masters thought fit? 

In what way does "sharecroppers" fit the description? 

Why make it so veiled a reference as to almost qualify as a lie? 

Pointing out that serfs in Russia were no better off then than the ex-slaves in US does not make US - in particular the slavers and the Confederacy in general - look guilt free, as hoped by author. Quite on the contrary. 

It only exposes the fact, by throwing this spotlight, that the Russian revolution and subsequent regime seeking to uplift the said poor succeeded in dome measure in bringing equality in Russian society, whereas Confederate South sought for decades to repress the humans they had used as property, animals, machines, anything but humans. 

And, too, it exposes the fear US  has of erstwhile slaves uprising in a revolution, as the reason for hatred of Russia.  

Strangely enough it's not hatred of communism or leftist ideologies, although so professed. For US has almost - singlehandedly,  at that - sponsored exactly that in China, still just as communist, repressive and belligerent with every neighbour, as ever, and if anything, worse. 

Does the key lie in racism? Asia a non sequitur, but Europe must be a certain way? Because, why? Asia can be nuked, as easily as the two cities that were, a unique distinction?

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................

................................................

December 30, 2022 - December 30, 2022. 

................................................

................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

Chapter 5. A Troubled Affair 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“We build upon the sand, and the older we become, the more unstable this foundation becomes.” 

"—Alfred Nobel"

................................................................................................

"By the late 1870s, Alfred Nobel was an unmitigated success story. Just about any industrial enterprise that he put his mind to managed to produce extraordinary results. He had earned prestige and had made a lot of money. Despite his success, however, he was often ill in both body and spirit.

"Developing what he called his “melancholic” ways, he was often depressed, lonely, and in search of rest. It was with this sentiment in 1879 that Alfred Nobel purchased for himself a villa in the Austrian resort town of Bad Ischl. Nestled within several pristine lakes, the healing waters of Ischl were already world-renowned. Here, people from all over sought out spa treatments for whatever may have been ailing them. This was no fly-by-night venture but rather an enterprise that employed the best of physicians whose job it was to monitor the spa treatments that were administered to the vacationers. It was they who dictated the temperature of the water and the amount of time that the spa-goers stayed in the water.

"Nobel of course was no newcomer to these healing waters, and his sojourn at Ischl must have brought back memories of his youth when his father Immanuel had expressly sent him to seek out this sort of treatment. Then, as a young man, he was suffering from overwork and exhaustion in his quest to achieve success; now, as an older gentleman, he was feeling overwhelmed and burned out in the immediate aftermath of obtaining it.

................................................................................................

"Ischl was also a place that allowed Alfred to unwind with the woman that he was spending more and more time with—Ms. Sofie Hess. At first, the couple seemed to be greatly enamored with each other, but it wasn’t long before the relationship began to show friction and strain. Later that summer, Alfred left for a visit to his mother’s home in Sweden, and Sofie was apparently dismayed that her new paramour wouldn’t be taking her with him. Alfred no doubt knew that they were considered socially mismatched and was embarrassed to bring the young woman into the presence of his aging mother. Nevertheless, he came up with a whole litany of excuses as to why he might not be able to bring her for the journey. Whether it was her supposed ill health or her discomfort for travel or her sheer boredom, Alfred had all manner of reasoning to give when it came to leaving his newfound friend at home.

"Writing to Sofie on August 8, 1879, Alfred expressed, “I see from it that you understand now why I had to depart and have put aside your bad mood. If you think it over, you will find that I could not act otherwise. It would be unworthy of me to deny my sick mother the joy of seeing me once a year for a few days, as we sons have accustomed her to expect. It would be much more pleasant for me to make the journey together with you. But you could not possibly have managed the strain. In a few days, perhaps even tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, you will not be able to travel at all. Nor would the stay in Stockholm be pleasant for you, for I could barely be with you. We will therefore have to defer our joint visit until next year.”

"So it was that Alfred Nobel put off introducing Sofie to his mother. This was a meeting that Alfred would continually postpone for the rest of his mother’s life, and this failure of proper acknowledgment would become a bitter hallmark for the rest of Alfred and Sofie’s troubled affair."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................

................................................

December 30, 2022 - December 30, 2022. 

................................................

................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

Chapter 6. The Merchant of Death 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“I drift about without a rudder or compass, a wreck of the sea of life; I have no memories to cheer me, no pleasant illusions of the future to comfort me, or about me to satisfy my vanity. I have no family to furnish the only kind of survival that concerns us, no friends for the wholesome development of my affections or enemies for my malice.” 

"—Alfred Nobel"

................................................................................................

"Despite his success in business, the 1880s were not an easy time for Alfred Bernhard Nobel. Now in his fifties, he was getting older and so too was everyone else around him. Nobel had reached that point in life when many of his friends and family began to pass on. His father and younger brother Emil had already passed away, but these deaths were largely unexpected aberrations. Now, however, everyone around Nobel began to perish not as a random fluke but of a pure and simple consequence of the relentless march of time.

"Most distressing of all to Alfred was the death of his oldest brother Ludvig. Since their father’s passing, Ludvig Nobel had for the most part attempted to fill in the gap as the patriarchal head of the family. He had also been extremely successful in business. Before Alfred made it big with dynamite, Ludvig was making steady progress in his career as an engineer in Russia. He later also made a killing with the Nobel brothers’ work in petroleum production in the oil-rich Caucuses, making him one of the richest men in the world at the time. Having that said, when this anchor of stability passed away on April 12, 1888, Alfred was beside himself with grief.

"In a letter he wrote the very next day to Sofie Hess, he poured out his heart. Alfred wrote in part, “My poor brother Ludwig passed away yesterday after a long and grave illness. He died a gentle and, it appears, painless death.”

"Shortly after he wrote this letter, Alfred came across a copy of his brother Ludvig’s obituary. As his eyes sadly perused the print, he was shocked to find that the newspaper ended up mixing him up with his deceased brother; rather than publishing an obituary for Ludvig, they published one for Alfred. In the obituary, Alfred was alarmed to read the headline, “The Merchant of Death is Dead!” The paper then went on to state, “Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday.”

"It was this error that first made Nobel concerned about the kind of legacy he was leaving behind. He certainly didn’t want to be known as a “Merchant of Death” dealing out armaments to the highest bidder.

................................................................................................

"Nevertheless, despite his misgivings, Nobel soon found an interested party for his newest invention of ballistite. The previous year, he had carried out experiments during which he combined nitroglycerin with collodion and camphor. The ultimate fruit of his experimentation was a little something called ballistite. The find came about when Alfred discovered that when two normally volatile ingredients—nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose—were paired together in this way, the end product was actually relatively stable and safe to store as well as smokeless when it was detonated. These abilities were crucial in the development of further high-yield explosives.

"Merchant of death or not, Nobel soon had many interested parties vying to get access to this product. The most enthusiastic client proved to be the Italian government. In 1889, Italy ordered over 300 tons of the stuff and even went so far as to create an exclusive contract with Alfred Nobel. This did not sit very well with Nobel’s previous benefactor of France, however, which feared the potential of European rivals using the product against them in future conflicts. French officials were so indignant about the whole affair that they actually pulled the plug on Nobel’s lab in Paris. Nobel, completely fed up, left France and moved to Italy himself in 1891.

"Another reason to leave France was the unraveling of Nobel’s relationship with Sofie Hess, for it was that year that Alfred found out that his “little Sofie” was pregnant by another man. Although not a lot is known of their relationship, it can be easily inferred from their correspondence—all of which has since been published—that they must have been lovers. Sofie herself was remembered to have once complained of “how difficult it was to find a husband” after being “Nobel’s mistress for so many years.”

................................................................................................

"It is believed that Nobel had wanted to marry Sofie but was hesitant due to her social background and his own preoccupation with work. In a time when class distinction was just about everything, Sofie was from a rather impoverished background. It also can’t be forgotten that she was Jewish, and Alfred no doubt felt that there would be pressure upon an interfaith marriage of Christian and Jew. 

"As their relationship progressed, Nobel also began to view Sofie with increasing disdain. He started to see her as socially and intellectually inferior to him—sometimes jesting that she had a “microscopic brain.” He also accused her of making him look bad, or as he wrote to Sofie on one occasion, “I have sacrificed to you my intellectual life, my reputation which always rests on our association with others, my whole interaction with the cultured world.”

"While Alfred was fine with visiting Sofie in her apartment, he was apparently too embarrassed to be around her in front of high society. When considered in this light, the bitterness Sofie may have felt for Alfred—and even her penchant for extorting money from him in later life—is at least a little bit understandable. She was angry with the man who had brushed her to the side for so many years and had become hellbent on exacting revenge.

................................................................................................

"Their relationship had been unraveling for a while, but the first major sign of discord can be seen in correspondence between the two in late 1890. As much as Alfred expected Sofie to stay quiet in her lodgings and not bother him unless he called on her, his often-spurned lover began to stir up trouble. First, Alfred began to face the very real suspicion that Sofie had been cheating on him. The idea of her being unfaithful is of course a bit complicated since most of the time Alfred refused to acknowledge their relationship in the first place. Nevertheless, a much more jealous, possessive, and angrier Alfred emerged by the fall of 1890. 

"In a letter dated December 1890, Alfred seemed to have unpacked a revelation. In this missive, Alfred declared, “The letter I have received is full of regret and in a tone that is very different from your earlier half-insolent letters that you sent me from Ischl and elsewhere. But the main point is missing: a direct reply to my question, which I believe was clear. In Vienna and even in the circle of your close acquaintances they say that you are pregnant, and since I must dot my i’s and cross my t’s, I will be completely clear and ask you again to consider the negative consequences that might and indeed will arise from your silly cover up. In my eyes there is not greater sin than lies, and a cover up would be the worst lie in this case.”

................................................................................................

"Although Alfred was upset, once Sofie owned up to the indiscretion, she was easily able to reel him back in. When she needed money, she always knew how to present as pitiful a plight to Alfred as possible. In one letter dated shortly before her child Margarethe was born, Sofie turns on the charm just as much as she turns on the pity. In the letter, Sofie remonstrated, “Who knows how I will fare? Who will take care of me? Not even a dog, that’s how alone I am and have not a soul who cares for me. During the night I can’t sleep for all these thoughts and often cry for hours. The child will be born yellow faced, they say when one is troubled a great deal during pregnancy, the child will often turn out skinny and very ugly.”

"Contrary to her fears, Sofie is said to have given birth to a healthy and quite beautiful baby girl on July 14, 1891. After this birth, Alfred would find himself not only footing the bill for Sofie but also on the hook to pay for another man’s child. Over the next few years, their correspondence would devolve into continued chastisement from Alfred and financial begging from Sofie. 

"He may have been dubbed as the “merchant of death” in the press, but in his own life, Nobel was quite often at the losing end of his own interpersonal transactions. His dealings with Sofie Hess most certainly constituted a vicious cycle—and unfortunately, one he would find himself completely at the mercy of until the day he died."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................

................................................

December 30, 2022 - December 30, 2022. 

................................................

................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

Chapter 7. The Nobel Peace Prize 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“I regard large inherited wealth as a misfortune, which merely serves to dull men’s faculties. A man who possesses great wealth should, therefore, allow only a small portion to descend to his relatives. Even if he has children, I consider it a mistake to hand over to them considerable sums of money beyond what is necessary for their education. To do so merely encourages laziness and impedes the healthy development of the individual’s capacity to make an independent position for himself.” 

"—Alfred Nobel"

................................................................................................

"Like many in his position, in order to escape from the growing grief and sadness he felt, Nobel buried himself in his profession. From the late 1880s to the early 1890s, Alfred Nobel began to work much more exclusively in the field of armaments. Rather than focusing on dynamite for construction purposes, he began to work more and more for the development of special munitions such as land mines, aerial torpedoes, and even rocket projectiles.

"Yet despite the claims of the premature obituary that called him a “Merchant of Death,” Nobel was always much more interested in the theory behind his inventions than their actual application. It was only after some of his more deadly inventions were applied to the field of battle that Nobel began to feel exceedingly guilty over the devastation his creations had wrought. On some occasions, he even tried his best to make some of his applications more useful for peace rather than war, as was the case when he touted his aerial torpedoes as being good not just for obliterating an enemy in battle, but also to aid in the rescue of shipwrecked persons.

"Nobel also wished to delve into the fundamentals needs of manufacturing by working to find solutions to material shortages of all kinds. Industry had long been looking for ways to replace finite materials. In these efforts, he fell back on his old knowledge of chemistry and managed to find viable substitutions for industrial-grade goods such as leather, rubber, and gutta-percha—a material which would become crucial in the production of electrical insulation. 

"Perhaps most ironically, however, even as he constructed weapons of war, Nobel looked forward to the day when the cost of using them would be so great that peace would reign. In what essentially amounted to a prediction of the nuclear age, Nobel predicted that the day would come “when two army corps will be able to destroy each other in one second [and] all civilized nations will recoil from war in horror and disband their armies.”

................................................................................................

"Although armies have certainly not disbanded, that terrible weapon—the ultimate in incendiary explosives, the nuclear bomb that has led to the doctrine of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction)—has indeed come about. The nuclear bomb is not only fully capable of incinerating an entire army but also entire cities and countries. Many have cited the terror of nuclear weapons as being a major factor in holding the nations of Earth back from a Third World War.

"At any rate, Nobel’s convictions about securing a lasting peace seem to have crystalized in 1892 when he attended an International Peace Congress in Bern, Switzerland. The International Peace Congress was a growing movement and had been held at various cities across Europe for several years. In many ways, this group was a forerunner for what would become the League of Nations, as influential members discussed how best to bring about a more cooperative and peaceful international dialogue. Upon Alfred Nobel’s attendance in 1892, he was deeply impressed.

"Soon thereafter, Nobel determined that the legacy he wished to leave behind was not one of munitions and military might—he wanted to leave behind a legacy of peace. It was just a year later, in 1893, that he determined to donate a sizeable portion of his wealth to a periodical prize to be given “to the man or woman who had done most to advance the idea of general peace in Europe.” Then, on November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel put together his last will and testament in which he dictated how his wealth would be used to annually award his Nobel Prize. With these funds, a total of five Nobel Prizes would be established. The first few would be for achievements in chemistry, physics, and medicine. After this, a prize for literary work, and last but not least a prize for peace.

"Roughly a year later, on December 10, 1896, Alfred Nobel was the victim of a massive stroke and passed away. His Nobel Prize, however, would indeed live on."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................

................................................

December 30, 2022 - December 30, 2022. 

................................................

................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

Chapter 8. The Legacy of Alfred Nobel 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“My dynamite will sooner lead to peace than a thousand world conventions. As soon as men will find that in one instant, whole armies can be utterly destroyed, they surely will abide by golden peace.” 

"—Alfred Nobel"

................................................................................................

"It was on December 7, 1896, that Alfred Bernhard Nobel was struck by a massive stroke. Alfred Nobel had no wife and no children to be informed of the sad and distressing developments that had befallen him. The first to be notified of his condition was not a family member but a young apprentice by the name of Ragnar Sohlman.

"Ragnar had spent a lot of time working side by side with Alfred Nobel and had grown to greatly respect him both as a colleague and as a person. He was of course saddened to hear the news of his affliction yet still held out hope that he might somehow pull through. But it wasn’t meant to be. Ragnar arrived to be by his old mentor’s side on December 10 only to find that Alfred had already perished just a few hours prior.

"For all intents and purposes, Alfred Nobel died completely alone. He had long obsessed over his belief that he would be doomed to such a fate and had on occasion even written about it. He noted how he feared that in the time of his passing, he would be bereft of “any close friend or relation whose kind hand would someday close one’s eyes and whisper in one’s ear a gentle and sincere word of comfort.”

................................................................................................

"Nevertheless, after his death, those that knew Alfred Nobel did their best to carry out his last wishes. A kind of impromptu viewing was held at Alfred’s home in San Remo, Italy, followed by an official funeral at a local cathedral. After the funeral service, Nobel was cremated. One of the most curious of Alfred Nobel’s final wishes was that his veins be cut open before he was cremated. This was apparently to make sure that he really was dead since Alfred had long had a morbid fear of being buried alive. As per his wishes, his ashen remains were then placed into his family’s cemetery in Stockholm, Sweden. Here, he was given his eternal rest beside his mother, father, and his younger brother Emil.

"After he had been laid to rest, the matter of straightening out Nobel’s estate came to the forefront. In these matters, his old assistant Ragnar Sohlman was informed that Alfred had designated him as the executor of his will along with another former associate of Alfred’s, Rudolf Liljequist. Ragnar was surprised to hear of these developments and, having no experience in handling such things, was naturally overwhelmed. He was much relieved when Rudolf Liljequist, a man several years older than him and much more experienced in the handling of an estate, stepped forward to shoulder most of the work that would be involved.

"The main trust of Nobel’s estate was no mystery. He had no heirs, and in his last days, he was quite adamant that his money should be used to posthumously fund an endowment that would become the Nobel Prize. The will especially dictated that the Nobel Prize for physics and chemistry would be handed out by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Nobel Prize for literature would be given by the Academy in Sweden, the prize for medicine by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and the Nobel Peace Prize would be handed out in Norway. Nobel’s total wealth at the time of his death was estimated to be a vast 33 million Swedish kronor—a sum that would be worth more than 250 million U.S. dollars by today’s standards.

................................................................................................

"Although Liljequist handled most of the financial arrangements, it was beholden upon Ragnar to better affect the specifics of Alfred’s wishes since he knew him intimately as a person, better than almost anyone else at the time. In order to aid himself as executor, Ragnar hired a top-notch lawyer by the name of Carl Lindhagen, who by January of 1897 was already busy hammering out the details of just how Alfred’s final will and testament would be carried out.

"One of the biggest problems inherent in Alfred Nobel’s will was the fact that it was almost entirely written out by hand. Not only that, but Alfred had not consulted any professional legal help when he drafted it. His relatives had not been informed of his will in advance nor had Nobel contacted any of the institutions to see if they would be willing to organize the prize giving ceremonies. In fact, even something as simple as Alfred Nobel’s permanent place of residence was called into question since he lived in various homes he owned in France, Italy, and Sweden, all at different times in his life.,

"Those that would have the most reason to challenge the will of course would be his surviving relatives. It was Alfred Nobel’s nephew Emmanuel in particular who struggled the most under the weight of his uncle’s legacy. Emmanuel was at the time managing what was left of the Nobel brothers’ oil company in Russia. News of Alfred’s will had some pretty direct effects on the company since Alfred owned 12 percent of it upon his death. Subsequent talk of the will sparked off rampant speculation that a forced sale among the remaining partners was imminent.

................................................................................................

"On November 9, 1897, the estate of Nobel was formally entered into Karlskoga Court. Although many of the family members of Alfred Nobel remained bitter, Emmanuel proved he had no ill feelings by inviting Ragnar Sohlman to meet with him in St. Petersburg, Russia, in December of 1897. Here, they actively discussed what could be done with the rest of Alfred Nobel’s assets in the company. The two did indeed come to a tentative agreement, but it could only be implemented if the rest of the family in Sweden agreed—and this would prove much harder than anyone had anticipated.

"By the spring of 1898, the rest of the Nobel clan would be right back in the courts challenging Alfred Nobel’s will yet again. These court battles would prove to be too long and protracted for even the most stubborn of Alfred’s relatives to stomach, however, and by the summer of 1898, the only thing that they were suing for was peace. Both parties reached an out of court settlement that would have made Alfred proud. As directed, Alfred’s family accepted the will’s philanthropist enterprise and no longer contested it in court in exchange for receiving the interest earned by the assets Alfred had accrued for the fiscal year of 1897.

"After all of these matters had finally been settled, the first Nobel Prizes would then be awarded in Stockholm, Sweden in 1901. It was a grand affair in which the very crown prince of Sweden did the honors of awarding the prize. Worth some 150,000 in Swedish currency, or just about 1 million dollars in today’s money, winning a Nobel Prize was indeed a big deal, just like Alfred Nobel hoped it would be. It continues to be so to this very day."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................

................................................

December 30, 2022 - December 30, 2022. 

................................................

................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

Conclusion 

................................................................................................

...............................................................................................

"Alfred Nobel was a man with a strong work ethic. Beyond anything else, this one theme ran strongly throughout his entire life. It was partially inspired by the hardship of his childhood, in which his father struggled to keep the family finances afloat. Due to these early financial difficulties, a simple rule had become ingrained in Alfred’s mind—namely, that one must practice his due diligence in order to prevent starvation. 

"Nobel knew that life wasn’t easy, but as long as you had steady work and the respect that came along with it, an honest living was indeed possible. For most of his life, this desire to be industrious and productive outweighed anything else. It had Alfred Nobel working for governments and corporations that were perhaps just a little bit less scrupulous and more morally ambiguous than he may have ultimately preferred.

................................................................................................

"For Nobel, making armaments was simply a means to an end. As much as he would rather have used his dynamite for construction projects, this was not always possible. No matter how much he inquired about them, major infrastructure projects such as transcontinental railroads and underground tunnels were just not in demand. These were times that the military machines of the world were simply the better buyer.

"Nobel never liked the idea that his inventions would be used for warfare. One unique way he rationalized their use was by making the rather prescient assertion that explosives would one day be so deadly—as nuclear bombs have indeed become—that they would actually prevent war rather than cause them.

"For the most part, however, he tried not to think about what became of his inventions, relegating himself to contemplate the theory behind the bombs he made and not so much what their actual application ended up being. It wasn’t until later years that such things would become distressing enough for him that he would seek to remedy all of the destruction that had been wrought. It was only after a premature obituary labeled him as the “Merchant of Death” that it all really struck home. To see such a description of himself splayed out in black and white print was a real eye-opener. This was most certainly not the legacy that Alfred Nobel wished to leave behind. Such an accusation struck Nobel to his core, and it made him consider an intriguing solution to it. He endeavored to take the very money that he had earned as the so-called “Merchant of Death” and use it to finance instruments of peace rather than instruments of war. And the world is a much better place as a result."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................

................................................

December 30, 2022 - December 30, 2022. 

................................................

................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

Bibliography 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Crawford, Elisabeth T. (1987). The Beginnings of the Nobel Institution: The Science Prizes, 1901-1915. 

"Fant, Kenne (2006). Alfred Nobel: A Biography. 

"Feldman, Burton (2000). The Nobel Prize: A History of Genius, Controversy, and Prestige. 

"Rummel, Erika (2017). A Nobel Affair: The Correspondence between Alfred Nobel and Sofie Hess. 

"Schück, H., & Sohlman, R. (1929). The Life of Alfred Nobel. 

"Sohlman, Ragnar (1929). Nobel, Dynamite and Peace."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................

................................................

December 30, 2022 - December 30, 2022. 

................................................

................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

ALFRED NOBEL: A LIFE 

FROM BEGINNING TO END 

(BIOGRAPHIES OF INVENTORS), 

by HOURLY HISTORY. 

................................................

................................................

December 15, 2022 - December 30, 2022. 

Purchased December 15, 2022.  

ASIN:- B08MZNPMRM

................................................

................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5164664650

................................................................................................

................................................................................................