Every year we hope to know the list of winners of the Nobel Prizes .We are interested in their names and the reasons that have led them to deserve one of the most admired awards granted.We know that the founder of these awards was Alfred Nobel , the inventor of dynamite.Who was this man? Why do I institute them? The reality is that Alfred Nobel invented the awards to feel good about himself.
Alfred Nobel invented the awards to feel good about himself
Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 21, 1833 in a well-off family.The father was an engineer and educated the 3 Nobel brothers with special emphasis on the natural sciences and humanities. Alfred was an engineer, chemist and inventor , but he also wrote poetry and a tragedy.Together with his brothers he founded several industries that took advantage of many of the 355 inventions That patent.Especially fruitful were the factories dedicated to weapons purposes .I invent several explosives among which the most important was dynamite.Apparently Alfred was conscious of the evil that was causing with his inventions, but it wasn't until he saw s or your own notice in a French newspaper , accompanied by an article, which made a very important decision.

The headline of the article read: « The merchant of death has died ».It was a mistake; and the deceased was his brother Ludvig , he would still live 8 more years.This headline made him reflect on the way humanity would remember it, this together with the regrets of conscience because of the damage caused by the products of their armament factories, they took him to write a new testament.He would leave his fortune for the creation of prizes that would exalt those people who carried out actions for «the greatest benefit of humanity» .The will, which was modified several times, said in its latest version that the fields to be awarded would be: physics, chemistry, physiology (medicine) literature and peace.Later, the one of Economic Sciences would be added.
«The totality of what remains of my fortune will be arranged as follows: capital, invested in safe values by my testamentary, will constitute a fund whose interest will be distributed each year in the form of prizes among those who during the previous year have made the greatest benefit to humanity.»
Alfred Nobel died in San Remo, Italy, on December 10, 1896.After some testamentary problems, in 1900 the Nobel Foundation was founded and in 1901 the first prizes were awarded .The inventor of dynamite, to whom regrets did not let rest, managed to remain at peace with himself creating awards that rewarded those who, unlike him, worked for the greatest benefit of humanity.

If you were interested in this article, maybe you want to read Two radioactive women at the Nobel Prizes.
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