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 The Question:
Was the Nobel who invented the Nobel prize some sort of
explosives expert? What made him decide to start giving awards,
especially the Peace Prize?
The Answer:
Yes, Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) was in fact the inventor of
dynamite and other explosive compounds. Nobel's will established a
trust fund for awards in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology
or medicine, literature, and peace. This will came as a surprise, and
one can only speculate as to his motivations. Perhaps it was meant as
an act of atonement, as Albert Einstein speculated in 1945, or perhaps
Nobel had always seen himself as working for peace, believing that a
balance of powerful weaponry would prevent wars from taking place.
Only he knew for sure.
See also Nobel Prize
Winners, The Nobel
Prize, and Alfred
Bernhard Nobel on our site, and the
biographical information on the official Nobel Prize
site.
—The Editors Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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