Italian chemist who first made nitroglycerin in 1847
Plate 068
1867
Sweden and Germany
No photograph is shown for this exhibition. The museum displays an image only where it can show the object honestly.
About this date
Alfred Nobel patented dynamite in 1867, after developing it in Sweden and Germany.
About credit
Nobel did not discover nitroglycerin, but he made a safe way to handle it.
Chapter II
The world before
Life before Dynamite
Nitroglycerin was extremely unstable and killed many, including Nobel’s younger brother Emil in 1864. Gunpowder was weak for large engineering.
II
The human achievement
How it came about
Nobel found that diatomaceous earth absorbed nitroglycerin into a paste that was far safer. He also invented the detonator cap to set it off reliably. His will in 1895 left most of his fortune to found annual prizes.
III
Understanding the invention
How it works
Dynamite, explained in two steps.
01
Step 01 of 02
Stabilising a liquid
Soaking the liquid in a porous solid prevents sudden detonation by shock.
Stabilising a liquid
A separate trigger
IV
The transformation
What changed for humanity
Engineering
The Gotthard and other major tunnels were driven using dynamite.
War
High explosives made weapons far more destructive.
It made tunnelling, mining and canal building faster, and funded the Nobel Prizes.
V
Before and after
Life before and after Dynamite
Before
Hand tools and black powder.
After
Drilling and blasting.
On larger screens, drag the divider (or use the arrow keys) to give more room to the world before or after.
VI
Its legacy
What came after
MHI 068
Dynamite
Beyond the collection
The Nobel Prizes
Funded by Nobel’s estate.
Beyond the collection
Modern explosives
Have largely replaced dynamite in mining.
VII
Human stories
The people and the moments
An early obituary
In 1888 a French newspaper mistakenly published an obituary of Nobel, labelling him a “merchant of death.” Many people believe this prompted his will.
Where accounts differ, this museum follows the documented record and says so.