硝酸甘油炸藥(又稱黃色炸藥)的發(fā)明者阿爾弗雷德·諾貝爾(1833-1896)是一位熱愛(ài)和平的發(fā)明家。他痛恨戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng),他發(fā)明炸藥是為了挽救生命,避免人們因使用其他危險(xiǎn)炸藥而死亡。他還認(rèn)為這個(gè)發(fā)明會(huì)令一切戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)結(jié)束——倘若所有國(guó)家都有威力極大的武器,那么各國(guó)會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn),戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)是不可能的,任何打仗的國(guó)家必定會(huì)被毀滅??上屡c愿違,在許多人眼中,硝酸甘油炸藥成為了一種極度危險(xiǎn)的產(chǎn)品。1888年,當(dāng)阿爾弗雷德的哥哥路德維希去世時(shí),一張法國(guó)報(bào)紙誤以為死的是阿爾弗雷德,在訃聞中稱他是“軍火制造商”(merchantofdeath)。
終生未娶、亦無(wú)子嗣的諾貝爾不想在歷史上留下如此惡名。他利用巨大的財(cái)富創(chuàng)立了諾貝爾獎(jiǎng),用來(lái)獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)那些在科學(xué)、文學(xué)和世界和平等領(lǐng)域作出過(guò)卓越貢獻(xiàn)的人。
OnOctober21st,1833,aboywasbornintoafamilyinStockholm,Sweden,whowastobecomeafamousscientist,inventor,businessmanandfounderoftheNobelPrizesaward.HisfatherwasImmanuelNobelandhismotherwasAndrietteAhlsellNobel.TheynamedtheirsonAlfred.
ImmanuelNobelwasanengineerandinventor.Hebuiltbridgesandbuildingsandexperimentedwithdifferentwaysofblasting[爆炸]rocks.ThesameyearthatAlfredwasborn,hisfathersbusinesssufferedlossesandhadtobeclosed.In1837,ImmanuelNobeldecidedtotrybusinesssomewhereelseandleftforFinlandandRussia.
TheFamilyMovestoRussia
Afteratime,ImmanuelNobelsbusinessinSt.Petersburgstarteddoingwell.Hehadopenedamechanical[機(jī)械的]workshopthatprovidedequipmentfortheRussianarmy.WithhissuccessinRussia,ImmanuelwasnowabletomovehisfamilytoSt.Petersburg.
In1842,whenAlfredwasnineyearsold,hismotherandbrothers(RobertandLudvig)movedtoSt.Petersburg.Thefollowingyear,Alfredsyoungerbrother,Emil,wasborn.ThefourNobelbrothersweregivenafirst-classeducationwiththehelpofprivatetutors[家庭教師].Theirlessonsincludednaturalsciences,languagesandliterature[文學(xué)].Attheageof17,AlfredcouldspeakandwriteinSwedish,Russian,F(xiàn)rench,EnglishandGerman.
AlfredTravelsAbroad
Alfredwasmostinterestedinliterature,chemistryandphysics.HisfatherwantedhissonstofollowinhisfootstepsandwasnotpleasedwithAlfredsinterestinpoetry.Hedecidedtosendtheyoungmanabroadtostudyandbecomeachemicalengineer.
InParis,Alfredworkedintheprivatelaboratoryofafamouschemist.TherehemetayoungItalianchemist,AscanioSobrero.Threeyearsearlier,Sobrerohadinventednitroglycerine[硝化甘油],ahighlyexplosiveliquid.Theliquidwasconsideredtoodangeroustobeofpracticaluse.
Alfredbecameveryinterestedinnitroglycerineandhowitcouldbeusedinconstructionwork.WhenhereturnedbacktoRussia,heworkedtogetherwithhisfathertodevelopnitroglycerineasacommercially[商業(yè)上]andtechnicallyusefulexplosive.