Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833-1896) was an outstanding scientist, inventor, and businessman from Sweden. From a young age, he was a frail boy, attending school for only one year. However, his interest in fireworks led him to invent safer explosives, earning him the title of “the King of Dynamite.” He secured a total of 55 patents and established factories worldwide.
These factories not only produced explosives but also manufactured a large volume of by-products, making significant contributions to the advancement of science globally. Noble was a proponent of peace and dedicated much of his fortune to establish the Nobel Prize, which honors individuals for their outstanding contributions in fields such as physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, literature, and peace.
Only One Year of Schooling
The name Nobel is recognized worldwide, not only for his exceptional contributions to science but, more importantly, for establishing the renowned Nobel Prize to promote scientific development, which is acknowledged as the highest scientific award globally.
Nobel had numerous scientific inventions, but few might realize that he only attended school for one year as a child.
As a child, Nobel lived in Sweden, where his father was a mechanical engineer. Due to poor business, their family faced significant hardships. To make matters worse, a fire destroyed all of their possessions, leaving them in a dire situation where they had to borrow money to survive. Burdened by debts, his father decided to leave their homeland for Russia to seek better opportunities.
Due to their difficult circumstances, Nobel’s youth was not as lively and carefree as that of other children: He started school at the age of 8 but only attended for one year before having to drop out. Later, when his father’s business improved in Russia, the entire Nobel family moved there. Unable to speak Russian, Nobel and his two brothers couldn’t attend school and had to hire a tutor to teach them the language. After achieving a certain level of proficiency in Russian, they continued their studies in other subjects. Nobel studied diligently, achieving excellent academic results and receiving praise from his teacher.
Eventually, he went abroad for further studies, visiting many places such as Germany, France, and the United States. He was a keen thinker and worked hard, acquiring a wealth of knowledge. Not only did he learn English, French, and German, but he also became a chemist. At that time, his father’s factory was producing weapons and explosives, and he learned and mastered the production of mines and explosives in his father’s factory, researching the design of cannons and steam engines. He not only grasped numerous applied technology techniques but also understood management and production processes in a factory.
Thus, through self-study, Nobel gradually matured and became a scientist and inventor.
“Science is a special manifestation of human intelligence”
— Nobel —
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Stay tuned for: “Nobel – I Have Succeeded“
