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Don't forget about the Nobel Peace Prize named after Alfred Nobel: The inventor of dynamite. [1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel https://en.wikipedi
by nebula8804 3y ago
Don't forget about the Nobel Peace Prize named after Alfred Nobel: The inventor of dynamite.
[1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel
From the link:
"There is a well known story about the origin of the Nobel Prize, although historians have been unable to verify it and some dismiss the story as a myth. In 1888, the death of his brother Ludvig supposedly caused several newspapers to publish obituaries of Alfred in error. One French newspaper condemned him for his invention of military explosives—in many versions of the story, dynamite is quoted, although this was mainly used for civilian applications—and this is said to have brought about his decision to leave a better legacy after his death. The obituary stated, Le marchand de la mort est mort ("The merchant of death is dead"), and went on to say, "Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday." Nobel read the obituary and was appalled at the idea that he would be remembered in this way. His decision to posthumously donate the majority of his wealth to found the Nobel Prize has been credited to him wanting to leave behind a better legacy. However, it has been questioned whether or not the obituary in question actually existed."
- philwelch 3y agoTo be fair to Nobel, dynamite has plenty of peaceful engineering applications, and its invention did represent an important innovation. If this story is true, it probably says more about the nature of journalism than the nature of dynamite.