"Othello" written by William Shakespeare play explores themes of jealousy, manipulation, betrayal

AIfred Bernhard Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, and industrialist. He invented dynamite. He was born on October 21,1833 in Stockholm, Sweden. He was the third son of Immanuel Nobel and Andriette Ahlsell Nobel. In 1842, he went with his family to Saint Petersburg, where his father started a 'torpedo' works. Alfred studied chemistry with Professor Nikolay Nikolaevich Zinin. When Alfred was 18, he went to the United States to study chemistry for four years and worked for a short period under John Ericsson. In 1859, he left his father's business for good and devoted himself to the study of explosives.

Alfred Nobel emphasised the peaceful uses of dynamite. His invention of dynamite was a matter of interesting chance. One day, he was preparing some nitroglycerine in his laboratory. This explosive could explode at the slightest jerk Suddenly, a small fraction of this fluid fell out of the flask into a box of fine earth powder below. Nobel observed that the fuid did not explode. It turned into a paste like form on getting soaked into the earth powder. He picked up a litle of this paste and carefully shaped it into a tiny ball. He moved out of the laboratory with it. When he set it off, it made a powerful explosion. Thus, Nobel found out a safe way to handle nitroglycerine. He named it 'dynamite'.

Nobel carried out various other experiments in the same field. He invented gelignite, a mixture of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine. It was a more powerful explosive than dynamite. Then, he invented ballistite, similar to gelignite. It was produced in response to the military demand for a smokeless, slow burning projectile propellant.

Throughout his ife, Nobel made improvements in all his inventions. He patented them and left them to his companies, He had very little formal contact with the companies. With Nobel's inventions, a worldwide industry was established.

Nabel's view of mankind and nations wag pessimistic. He was well aware of the misuse of  dynamite for destructive purposes. But he never thought that the destructive powers ot his inventions would encourage war and entail a holocaust.

Nobel had great interest in literature. In his youth, he had written poetry in English. He gained proficiency in six languages, namely Swedish, French, Russian, English, German and Italian. By nature, he was reserved and shy. He hated personal publicity. He loved travelling and travelled ceaselessly to many countries.

The dynamite found many uses all over the world. Nobel accumulated an enormous amount of money from the royalty of his inventions. In 1890, he presented his will, whereby he left $9,000,000, the interest earned on which was to be distributed yearly among those who would have benefited mankind the most. The benefits could be in different fields like science, literature and work for peace.

Alfred Nobel established a trust which promoted the çause of peace, science and literature. It also promoted research in various branches of science. The trust gives international awards called 'Nobel Prizes" for excellent work done in different areas.

The foundations of the Nobel Prize were laid in 1895 when Alfred Nobel wrote his last will, leaving much of his wealth for its institution in five disciplines namely physics, chemistry, medicine or physiology, literature and peace. The first Nobel Prizes were given in 1901. In 1969, the sixth Nobel Prize, known as the 'Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science' was instituted by the Swedish National Bank. It is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

The award of the prizes in chemistry and physics is decided by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The Royal Caroline Institute in sweden decides the award of the prize in physiology or medicine. The prize in literature is decided by Swedish Academy and the prize  in peace by the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament. The value of each prize is about 100.000 US dollars, Today, the Nobel Prize is the most prestigious international award.

Nobel lived in Hamburg from 1865 to 1873. Then, he lived in Paris till 1891. He remained a bachelor throughout his life. He spent the last years of his life in San Remo, Italy. He died on December 10, 1896 at the age of 63. He was buried in Stockholm.R