Alfred Nobel: ‘Inventor of Dynamite’ to ‘Being Noble’
If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied.
-Alfred Nobel.
181st birth anniversary of the ‘father of Nobel prizes’, Alfred Nobel (21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896)
What do we call him? A chemist, engineer, innovator, manufacturer, philanthropist or a poet? I think we all love to remember him as the creator of Nobel Prizes, the most esteemed award in the world.
Any discovery has a story to tell and a purpose to discover, Here is how Nobel Prize was created.
From ‘Inventor of Dynamite’ to ‘Being Noble’
Alfred Nobel invented Dynamite in 1860s. Alfred who came up with a brilliant invention of dynamite as an explosive material useful for mining, quarrying or construction saw its major significance in the history of warfare.
When Alfred’s brother died, a French newspaper came up with an erroneous article saying “The merchant of death is dead.” And “Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday.”
Seeing obituary when alive is disappointing. And imagine seeing something like this, portraying you as an evil man. How would you be affected? Every one of us wants to be remembered for our good deeds, so did Alfred Nobel.
To leave behind a better legacy and give something back to the world which gave him so much. He wrote a will. It said that his fortune should be used to create a series of prizes for the ones who have brought a greatest benefit to mankind. And hence Nobel Prize is awarded for the great contribution of people in the field of Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physiology or Medicine, and now Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.
Now, we can believe Alfred Nobel’s words,
“Contentment is the only real wealth.”
Writing about him makes me think “what good am I leaving behind for this world?” Maybe there is much more to give back.
How would you want to be remembered and what good do you want to leave behind?
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He couldn’t have imagine that one day dynamite would have been used so negatively..:-( ..and the last two lines of yours is such thought-provoking…nice account Vidyashree… :-)
Thank you Maniparna :)
Horrible to read our own obituary. Cant even imagine such a scene. Good that he handled that well and also created a noble cause. Good one Vidyashree.
If I imagine reading my obituary then I would pinch myself to know if that was a nightmare or wonder if I turned into a ghost without my knowledge. Alfred Nobel did handle well, not just the situation but also gave us a thought to think about on how to be remembered when we are gone.
Thank you Gowthama for the read :)
The bad thing about Alfred Nobel was that he was not aware about the misuse of Dynamite. Thanks Vidyashree for sharing such a nice post…
If only people knew generally things are made not for destructions, dynamite wouldn’t have made it to war. In fact there wouldn’t be a thing called war. It does fell bad when you discover something for a good cause and after a few days the same thing turns up to be a material of destruction.