Professor Emeritus Dale Ensor will present a seminar titled “Alfred Nobel: Chemist, Inventor, Businessman, and Founder of the Nobel Prizes” at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, Aug 27 in SLH 126. The presentation is for both technical and lay persons. Questions: acarroll@tntech.edu
Abstract: Alfred Nobel is best known as the founder of the Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace. He was a very prolific inventor with 355 patents, a chemist, and a businessman that created an industrial empire in the late 19th century. He was fluent in Swedish, Russian, French, English, and German with an interest in literature and poetry. Alfred’s discovery that nitroglycerine could be stabilized using the diatomaceous earth, kieselguhr, and patented as dynamite changed the construction industry. He once described his greatest weaknesses as having neither wife or children, lacking a sunny disposition, and having only a commonplace life. This presentation will focus on the chemistry and inventions of Alfred Nobel as well as the personal stories that provide us with an insight into his life and the reason for his gift to the world.