The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-10-19
CENTENARY OF
NOBEL'S BIRTH
TO Be H0N0RED
Noted Prize Donor Invented
Dynamite Used in War
and Peace.
on Science
BY DAVID DIETZ
scripps- Howard Science Editor

Next Saturday, Oct 81, the world
Of science viii observe the Tooth
anniversary Of the birth Of Alfred
Bernard Nobel Every one IS ia
mIliar with the Nobel prizes, award
ed annually in the fields Of physics,
chemistry, medicine and literature,
and the promotion Of peace.
But perhaps fewer people are &C
quainted with the career Of Nobel
himself or realize that by the in
venuOn of dynamite he contributed
as much as any other one man TO
make modern life what it is, revo-
lutionizng war and many phases Of
peace-time activity as well.
Offers Peace Prize
It has been said that Nobel was
led TO found a prize for the promo
ton Of peace because of the horror
Of modern warfare with high ex-
plosives.
But 1t IS only fair to say that
while Nobels invention paved the
way for high explosives, dynamite
itself, despite its tremendous con-
centTated power, is not adaptable
to military purposes and has never
been used successfully in warfare.
Dynamite may be called a peace
time explosive. And its peace-time
uses are manifold and important.
Mining, quarrying. construction
projects such as railroad tunnels
and subways, river and harbor i'm
provements, highway construction
and others, require the use of dyna-
mite.
Required in Agriculture
Some Of them would at times be
practically impossible without it's
blasting power. Agriculture also re-
quires dynamite for clearing fields
of stumps and boulders blasting ir-
ngatiOn bitches, and so on.
Nobel was not only the inventor
of dynamite but the first man
successfully to manufacture and
use nitroglycerin as a blasting
agent. Nitroglycerin, the basis of
the high explosive industry, was dis
covered in 1916 by Asciano So
hero, professor of industrial chem
istry at the University of Turin ire
Italy. Sobrero, however, regarded
nitroglyCerin as too dangerous to
experiment with In addition, he
felt that commercial pursuits were
beneath the dignity Of a scientist.
Consequently, it remained for others
to develop its use.
Born in Stockholm
Alfred Bernard Nobel was born at
Stockholm. Sweden, on Oct. 81. 1888
His father was a noted architect.
engineer and inventor When AL
fred was Is. his father sent him to
America to study with John Erics-
son, the famous Swedish American
engineer, who built the Monitor, the
worlds first irOn-clad warShip. In
1854. young Nobel returned to Europe
to join his father in a business
venture in Russia which failed.
In 1861, father and son returned
to Stockholm and there began their
experiments with nitroglycerin. A
French banker was persuaded to
advance 100000 francs and a small
factory was built at HelenebOrg,
near Stockholm. During the next
few years he developed the blasting
cap Of mercury illuminate TO set off
the nitroglycerin.
Transportation Dangerous
However, the transportation of nj
trOglycerin was extremely danger
Gus. Sometimes explosions &C
Cured Experiments to lessen the
danger of transportation led to the
invention of dynamite.
First. he tried packing the cans Of
nitrOglyCerin in various substances
such as SawGuSt.
Finally he found the kieselguhr
was the best. The putty-like sub
stance made by soaking up the ex-
plosive with this earth became
known as dynamite It's manufacture
was begun in 1867
The dynamite industry grew rap
idly. Several new plants were built
in the United States. others in Bo-
hemia. Scotland, France. Spain,
Switzerland, Italy, Portugal and
Hungary.
Subsequently. Nobel invented
blasting gelatin. gelatin-dynamite
and a smokeleSs powder called bal
IStite.