硝酸甘油炸藥（又稱黃色炸藥）的發(fā)明者阿爾弗雷德·諾貝爾（1833-1896）是一位熱愛(ài)和平的發(fā)明家。他痛恨戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)，他發(fā)明炸藥是為了挽救生命，避免人們因使用其他危險(xiǎn)炸藥而死亡。他還認(rèn)為這個(gè)發(fā)明會(huì)令一切戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)結(jié)束——倘若所有國(guó)家都有威力極大的武器，那么各國(guó)會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)是不可能的，任何打仗的國(guó)家必定會(huì)被毀滅?？上屡c愿違，在許多人眼中，硝酸甘油炸藥成為了一種極度危險(xiǎn)的產(chǎn)品。1888年，當(dāng)阿爾弗雷德的哥哥路德維希去世時(shí)，一張法國(guó)報(bào)紙誤以為死的是阿爾弗雷德，在訃聞中稱他是“軍火制造商”（merchant of death）。

終生未娶、亦無(wú)子嗣的諾貝爾不想在歷史上留下如此惡名。他利用巨大的財(cái)富創(chuàng)立了諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)，用來(lái)獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)那些在科學(xué)、文學(xué)和世界和平等領(lǐng)域作出過(guò)卓越貢獻(xiàn)的人。

On October 21st， 1833， a boy was born into a family in Stockholm， Sweden， who was to become a famous scientist， inventor， businessman and founder of the Nobel Prizes award. His father was Immanuel Nobel and his mother was Andriette Ahlsell Nobel. They named their son Alfred.

Immanuel Nobel was an engineer and inventor. He built bridges and buildings and experimented with different ways of blasting[爆炸] rocks. The same year that Alfred was born， his father’s business suffered losses and had to be closed. In 1837， Immanuel Nobel decided to try business somewhere else and left for Finland and Russia.

The Family Moves to Russia

After a time， Immanuel Nobel’s business in St. Petersburg started doing well. He had opened a mechanical[機(jī)械的] workshop that provided equipment for the Russian army. With his success in Russia， Immanuel was now able to move his family to St. Petersburg.

In 1842， when Alfred was nine years old， his mother and brothers （Robert and Ludvig） moved to St. Petersburg. The following year， Alfred’s younger brother， Emil， was born. The four Nobel brothers were given a first-class education with the help of private tutors[家庭教師]. Their lessons included natural sciences， languages and literature[文學(xué)]. At the age of 17， Alfred could speak and write in Swedish， Russian， French， English and German.

Alfred Travels Abroad

Alfred was most interested in literature， chemistry and physics. His father wanted his sons to follow in his footsteps and was not pleased with Alfred’s interest in poetry. He decided to send the young man abroad to study and become a chemical engineer.

In Paris， Alfred worked in the private laboratory of a famous chemist. There he met a young Italian chemist， Ascanio Sobrero. Three years earlier， Sobrero had invented nitroglycerine[硝化甘油]， a highly explosive liquid. The liquid was considered too dangerous to be of practical use.

Alfred became very interested in nitroglycerine and how it could be used in construction work. When he returned back to Russia， he worked together with his father to develop nitroglycerine as a commercially[商業(yè)上] and technically useful explosive.

Moving Back to Sweden

After the Crimean War注 ended， Alfred’s father’s business went badly and he decided to move back to Sweden. After the Nobel family’s return to Sweden in 1863， Alfred concentrated on developing nitroglycerine as an explosive. Sadly， these experiments resulted in accidents that killed several people， including Alfred’s younger brother， Emil. The government decided to ban these experiments within the Stockholm city limits[邊界].

Alfred did not give up and moved his experiments to a barge[駁船] on Lake Malaren. In 1864， he was able to start mass production of nitroglycerine， but he did not stop experimenting with different additives[添加劑] to make the production much safer.

Alfred Invents “Dynamite [硝酸甘油炸藥]”

Alfred found that mixing nitroglycerine with a fine sand， called kieselguhr[硅藻土]， would turn the liquid into paste[糊狀物] which could then be shaped into rods[棍棒，桿]. He discovered this in 1866. The rods could then be inserted into drilling[鉆孔] holes. Alfred got a patent[專利權(quán)] on this material the following year； he named it“dynamite.” He also invented a detonator[雷管] which could be set off by lighting a fuse[引信]. These inventions helped reduce the cost of construction work such as drilling tunnels， blasting rocks， building bridges， etc.

Factories in Different Places

Dynamite and detonating caps[雷管，發(fā)火帽] were in high demand[需求] in the construction industry. Because of this， Alfred was able to erect[建立] factories in 90 different places. He lived in Paris but often traveled to his factories located in more than 20 countries. He was once described as “Europe’s richest vagabond[流浪者].” He also experimented in making synthetic[合成的] rubber and leather and artificial[人造的] silk. By the time of his death in 1896， he had 355 patents.

The Nobel Prizes

Alfred Nobel died in Sanremo， Italy， on December 10th， 1896. In his last will， he wrote that much of his fortune was to be used to give prizes to those who have done their best for humanity[人類] in the field of physics， chemistry， physiology[生理學(xué)] or medicine， literature and peace.

Not everybody was pleased with this. His will was opposed by his relatives and questioned by authorities[當(dāng)局] in various countries. It took four years for his executors[執(zhí)行者] to convince all parties to follow Alfred’s wishes.

In 1901， the first Nobel Prizes were awarded in Stockholm， Sweden， and the Peace Prize in Oslo， Norway.

1833年10月21日，一個(gè)男孩在瑞典斯德哥爾摩的一個(gè)家庭降生。這個(gè)男孩日后成為了著名的科學(xué)家、發(fā)明家、商人以及諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)的創(chuàng)立人。他的父親是艾馬紐·諾貝爾，母親是安德瑞特·阿爾塞爾·諾貝爾，他們?yōu)閮鹤尤∶柛ダ椎隆?/p>

艾馬紐·諾貝爾是一位工程師和發(fā)明家。他修建橋梁和房屋，并試驗(yàn)各種巖體爆破方法。阿爾弗雷德出生的那一年，父親的生意因遭受損失而被迫結(jié)業(yè)。1837年，艾馬紐·諾貝爾決定去其他地方發(fā)展，于是前往芬蘭和俄羅斯。

移居俄羅斯

一段時(shí)間后，艾馬紐·諾貝爾在圣彼得堡的生意逐漸好起來(lái)。他開(kāi)了一家機(jī)械工場(chǎng)，為俄羅斯軍隊(duì)提供裝備。在俄羅斯取得成功后，艾馬紐有能力把家人接到圣彼得堡了。

1842年，阿爾弗雷德時(shí)年9歲，他的母親和哥哥們（羅伯特和路德維希）搬到了圣彼得堡。第二年，阿爾弗雷德的弟弟埃米爾出生了。私人教師為諾貝爾家的四兄弟提供了最優(yōu)秀的教育。他們的課程包括自然科學(xué)、語(yǔ)言和文學(xué)。17歲時(shí)，阿爾弗雷德已經(jīng)可以用瑞典語(yǔ)、俄語(yǔ)、法語(yǔ)、英語(yǔ)和德語(yǔ)進(jìn)行對(duì)話和寫(xiě)作。

海外游歷

阿爾弗雷德對(duì)文學(xué)、化學(xué)和物理最感興趣。他的父親希望兒子們能繼承自己的衣缽，所以不喜歡阿爾弗雷德對(duì)詩(shī)歌的熱情。他決定把這位年輕人送到國(guó)外學(xué)習(xí)，讓他成為一名化學(xué)工程師。

在巴黎期間，阿爾弗雷德在一間由一位著名化學(xué)家開(kāi)辦的私人實(shí)驗(yàn)室里工作。他在那里遇到了年輕的意大利化學(xué)家阿斯卡尼奧·索布雷洛。三年前，索布雷洛發(fā)明了一種極易爆炸的液體——硝化甘油。人們認(rèn)為這種液體危險(xiǎn)性太大，難以投入實(shí)際應(yīng)用。

阿爾弗雷德對(duì)硝化甘油及如何將它應(yīng)用到建筑方面產(chǎn)生了很大興趣?；氐蕉砹_斯后，他和父親一起研究改良硝化甘油，希望讓這種炸藥在商業(yè)和技術(shù)上投入使用。

重返瑞典

克里米亞戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)結(jié)束后，阿爾弗雷德父親的生意一落千丈，決定搬回瑞典。1863年，諾貝爾一家回到瑞典后，阿爾弗雷德致力于把硝化甘油改良為炸藥。不幸的是，這些實(shí)驗(yàn)造成了數(shù)起意外，導(dǎo)致多人死亡，其中包括阿爾弗雷德的弟弟埃米爾。政府決定禁止人們?cè)谒沟赂鐮柲κ袃?nèi)進(jìn)行這類實(shí)驗(yàn)。

阿爾弗雷德沒(méi)有放棄，他把實(shí)驗(yàn)搬到梅拉倫湖的一艘駁船上。1864年，他已經(jīng)可以大批量地生產(chǎn)硝化甘油，但他繼續(xù)進(jìn)行試驗(yàn)，加入各種添加劑，希望令產(chǎn)品更加安全。

發(fā)明“硝酸甘油炸藥”

阿爾弗雷德發(fā)現(xiàn)，將硝化甘油和一種叫硅藻土的細(xì)砂混合后，這種液體會(huì)變成糊狀物，然后可以造成管狀物體。他在1866年發(fā)現(xiàn)了這一點(diǎn)。這些管狀物可以插入到鉆孔中。阿爾弗雷德在第二年獲得了這種材料的專利權(quán)，他為它取名“硝酸甘油炸藥”。他還發(fā)明了一種由引信引爆的雷管。這些發(fā)明降低了開(kāi)鑿隧道、巖體爆破、修建橋梁等建筑工程的成本。

工廠遍歐洲

由于建筑業(yè)對(duì)硝酸甘油炸藥和雷管有很大需求，阿爾弗雷德得以在90個(gè)地方修建工廠。他住在巴黎，但經(jīng)常要到二十多個(gè)國(guó)家視察工廠。他一度被稱為“歐洲最有錢(qián)的流浪漢”。他還試驗(yàn)制作合成橡膠、合成皮革以及人造絲。1896年去世前，他一共獲得了355項(xiàng)專利。

諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)

1896年12月10日，阿爾弗雷德·諾貝爾在意大利的圣雷莫與世長(zhǎng)辭。他在臨終遺囑中寫(xiě)道，其大部分遺產(chǎn)將用于設(shè)立獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)，授予在物理、化學(xué)、生理學(xué)或醫(yī)學(xué)、文學(xué)及和平方面對(duì)人類作出杰出貢獻(xiàn)的人士。

但不是每個(gè)人都滿意這個(gè)安排。他的遺囑遭到親人的反對(duì)，并受到各國(guó)當(dāng)權(quán)者的質(zhì)疑。其遺囑執(zhí)行者用了四年時(shí)間才說(shuō)服各方遵照阿爾弗雷德的遺愿行事。

1901年，第一屆諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)在瑞典的斯德哥爾摩頒發(fā)，和平獎(jiǎng)則在挪威的奧斯陸頒發(fā)。

諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)知多少

諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)在設(shè)立之初只針對(duì)五個(gè)領(lǐng)域：化學(xué)、物理、生理學(xué)或醫(yī)學(xué)、文學(xué)及和平。

1969年，瑞典國(guó)家銀行設(shè)立“瑞典國(guó)家銀行紀(jì)念阿爾弗雷德·諾貝爾經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)獎(jiǎng)”，一般通稱諾貝爾經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)獎(jiǎng)，但實(shí)際上并非諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)。

諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)于每年12月10日——諾貝爾逝世那天舉行正式的頒獎(jiǎng)典禮。但是獎(jiǎng)金獲得者名單通常在當(dāng)年的10月份就由不同的委員會(huì)宣布。

除了和平獎(jiǎng)，各個(gè)獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)只能授予個(gè)人。

每年的各個(gè)獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)最多可以同時(shí)授予三個(gè)人。

如果同一個(gè)獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)的獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)叨嘤谝蝗耍?jiǎng)金將被平分。

每年，每個(gè)獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)都有100至250人被提名。

提名自己的人會(huì)被自動(dòng)取消資格。