The hometown of the Nobel prize

Stockholm is the hometown of the Nobel Prize and several previous Nobel Laureates can be found among its inhabitants. Every year since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and for peace.

The Nobel Prize is an international award administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm. In 1968, the Sveriges Riksbank ( the Swedish central bank) established the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize. Each prize consists of a medal, a personal diploma, and a cash award. The Nobel Banquet, with all the Nobel Laureates and the Swedish royal family among its guests, is held in the Blue Hall of the Stockholm City Hall.

 

Who was Alfred Nobel?

Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 21 October 1833. His family was descended from Olof Rudbeck, the best-known technical genius in Sweden in the 17th century, an era in which Sweden was a great power in northern Europe.

After several years of studies and travels abroad, Alfred settled down in Stockholm in 1863 and concentrated on developing nitroglycerine as an explosive. Several explosions, including one in 1864 in which his brother Emil and several other persons were killed, convinced the authorities that nitroglycerine production was exceedingly dangerous. They forbade further experimentation with nitroglycerine within the Stockholm city limits and Alfred Nobel had to move his experimentation to a barge anchored on Lake Mälaren. Alfred was not discouraged and in 1864 he was able to start mass production of nitroglycerine. To make the handling of nitroglycerine safer, Alfred Nobel experimented with different additives. He soon found that mixing nitroglycerine with kieselguhr would turn the liquid into a paste which could be shaped into rods of a size and form suitable for insertion into drilling holes.

In 1867 he patented this material under the name of dynamite. To be able to detonate the dynamite rods, he also invented a detonator (blasting cap) which could be ignited by lighting a fuse. These inventions were made at the same time as the diamond drilling crown and the pneumatic drill came into general use. Together these inventions drastically reduced the cost of blasting rock, drilling tunnels, building canals, and many other forms of construction work.

On 27 November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will in Paris. When it was opened and read after his death, the will caused a lot of controversy both in Sweden and internationally, as Nobel had left much of his wealth for the establishment of a prize. His family opposed the establishment of the Nobel Prize, and the prize awarders he had named refused to do what he had requested in his will. It was five years before the first Nobel Prize could be awarded in 1901.

Source: The Official Web Site of the Nobel Foundation, http://nobelprize.org