2nd Constructed Response Name: ______Period: ______
“Alfred Nobel Biography” Total Score: Date: ______
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Scenario: Read the following text and answer the prompts on the back of the page.
"Home is where I work, and I work everywhere." - Alfred Nobel
Alfred Nobel was born the son of a Swedish construction worker in Stockholm, 1833. His father, Immanuel, often built bridges, and so was interested in finding different ways to blast away unwanted rock formations. In the year of Alfred’s birth however, the construction business went bankrupt. Seeing nothing left for him in Sweden, Immanuel and his family moved to St. Petersburg in Russia, where a factory was set up, making mines out of gunpowder, for use by the Russian Army during the Crimean War. The demand for this product was high, the business was booming and Alfred Nobel and the other children received an excellent private education whilst in Russia. His father also insisted that he travel the world during his education, and by the age of seventeen, he was fluent in five different languages.
Having been educated in chemical engineering, Alfred Nobel returned to St. Petersburg to try and develop a safe way of handling the highly volatile liquid nitro-glycerine, which had recently been invented. The family was forced to return to Stockholm though before any real progress was made – the end of the Crimean War also meant the end of the mine making business.
Back in Sweden, an explosion involving nitro-glycerin resulted in the death of his brother, convincing Alfred that a safer alternative must be developed. Eventually, he discovered that by mixing nitro-glycerin with silica, the clay-like product could be molded into cylinder shapes, and was not greatly affected by minor fluctuations in temperature and pressure. In 1867 he patented the product, calling it dynamite. It was five times more powerful than ordinary gunpowder, and so very quickly became a sought after commodity in the world of mining and construction. Dynamite was used the world over, for work such as blasting the Alpine Tunnel on the St. Gotthard rail line and cutting the Corinth Canal in Greece.
Within a few years, Alfred Nobel had increased the production of dynamite from his factories dramatically, and showed his supreme skill as a businessman by being able to sell it all over the world. Although to a certain extent the product sold itself due to its effectiveness, the organization shown in the production and distribution of huge amounts of dynamite are a credit to his entrepreneurial efforts.
Although he worked for the majority of his life developing explosives, Nobel was essentially a pacifist. He was greatly disturbed by the erroneous publication in 1888 of his premature obituary by a French newspaper, condemning him for his invention of dynamite. 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." When, he later drew up a will, he stated that he wished the majority of his nine million dollar fortune to be used to fund awards in different fields of study (Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Physiology, Medicine, and Peace). He stated that the awards should be given to ‘those who have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind’.
It was five years after his death that the first Nobel awards were handed out, in 1901. The Nobel foundation had been set up to organize and structure the awards. Since their inception the Nobel prizes have come to be recognized as the highest honor a person can receive in a particular area of study. In addition, due to the wise investment of the Nobel Foundation, the monetary value of each Nobel prize is over 1.5 million dollars.
Although Alfred Nobel made an important discovery as a scientist, that of dynamite, and used his powers as an industrialist to produce and then sell the product, he is best remembered for his legacy; for, through his will, outstanding artists, scientists and humanitarians alike have been able to push through their invaluable work for the good of humankind.
References:
1. Heseltine, Simon, “Alfred Nobel”, 2002, http://wawa.essortment.com/alfrednobel_rbki.htm, 9/20/07
2. “Alfred Nobel”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel, 9/20/07
3. Nobel Foundation, “The Nobel Prize Amounts”, http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/amounts.html, 9/20/07
Respond to the following prompts:
1 – Describe two parts of the unique background Nobel had that lead to his invention of dynamite?
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2 – What factors influenced Nobel to create the prize that bears his name?
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3 – What does the opening quote tell you about the way Alfred Nobel felt about his job?
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4- Why does reference 2 not have an author and why does it include a date?
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