Alfred nobel officially settled in San Remo in 189 1 year, but this does not mean that he was satisfied with his reputation in his later years from 189 1 year to 1896, or just spent time in sunny Mediterranean resorts. This is not his character. It can be seen from the many letters he sent there that he has been running around endlessly because of his work needs, and even now he can't calm down. He visited the capitals of several European countries and the locations of his factories and companies. Paris accounted for half of his visits, and he stayed there the longest. Although the French government and newspapers persecuted him, he still had many connections with the capital. He tried to avoid being involved in political and business disputes, but if he was involved in these disputes, he had no fear and quickly fought with his mouth and pen. If he thinks there is a problem and threatens to interfere with his research work, he still has the knack of escaping. He used an old notebook and stationery that could be rolled up, a fountain pen designed by himself, which must be a unique new game at that time, and a special suitcase. All this is accompanied by his travel, and shows that even in trains, ships and hotel rooms, he must bury himself in his work.

In the mid-1990s, the episode of political propaganda by the French government and explosives authorities for that kind of far from smokeless explosives has subsided. The era of Babu and Panama scandal is over, and the troublesome lawsuit of linear smokeless explosives is over. The inventor's great career developed smoothly and brought huge income. The new general manager and independent companies and cartels have shared a lot of heavy work on his shoulders, especially now that he has resigned from all board positions. The old man who has a base camp in San Remo has been exhausted by what happened in his life. However, although he feels very tired, he still thinks there are many things waiting for him to finish. Those interesting problems that need to be solved urgently give him the strength to stick to his work. He once said at this time, "I work off and on." Sometimes I feel lonely, and then I go on doing it. I often work like that, but for those things that I think will succeed in the end. I will stick to it from beginning to end. "This is a typical Nobel Prize.

George Ferenbac, whom the inventor trusted, was regarded as a prolific theorist in the Parisian era, and he didn't want to leave his hometown. So Nobel allowed him to get a pension and leave; He hired an Englishman, Hugh Beckett, as the chief chemist of the new laboratory; His laboratory was built in the big garden of Villa San Remo, equipped with the latest German instruments.

1893, he also hired ragnar sohlman, a 23-year-old Swedish explosives chemist (1870-1948), who just returned from a technical post in the United States. Practice has proved that this is an important step. Sohlman is a talented, modest, honest and noble man. He not only became what Nobel himself called "one of my proud people", but also became the main executor of his will. He is one of the people who contributed to the realization of this unusual will to benefit the world. On the road of establishing the Nobel Foundation and winning the prize-winning fund contained in this will, he often made unremitting efforts to overcome many difficulties and obstacles under amazing circumstances. He also devoted his life to the affairs left by Nobel in many aspects.

Nobel built a small dock in San Remo that extended into the sea to test explosives and firearms. He worked there for five years under great pressure. The basic work of several important inventions that Nobel did not complete before his death was completed there. Later, these inventions were successfully tested by others and played a driving role in some major events. Nobel's last discovery in the field of explosives, the so-called "improved smokeless explosive" (1896, the first invention registered in Sweden with patent No.7552), was a mixed smokeless explosive further developed to meet some special purposes, which was manufactured in this laboratory. If we want to explain this invention thoroughly, we must involve the technical details of artillery and interior ballistics; Therefore, it can only be simply said here that its purpose is to "improve the muzzle velocity of the projectile without increasing the maximum pressure inside the weapon; This is achieved by inducing a certain incremental force when the explosive burns, so that when the projectile advances in the gun bore, the pressure can be maintained and the overall ballistic effect can be increased. This advanced explosive consumption comes from two aspects: from the mechanical point of view, it is through the progressive increase of the surface layer of explosive particles during combustion; So chemically speaking, it is made of various layers through a single explosive ball. This variety of layers makes the combustion rate of the inner layer higher, thus increasing the effect in the combustion process. "

The manufacture and testing of the improved explosives began in several Nobel factories, mainly during the period of 1895- 1896, at the Swedish laboratory built by the inventor in Bonn, Biecque, near Bofors. As an inventor, Nobel's interest is not limited to explosives. He has a high degree of imagination, which is a necessary quality for people who really invent genius. He is not only capable, but also eager to put his excellent ideas into practice in the things around him. This includes various disciplines and applied chemistry-electrochemistry, optics, mechanics and artillery, biology and physiology. These are just disciplines in the fields of technology and natural science. Like his father Emanuel, his creativity sometimes even reached the level of fantasy. This is usually done intentionally in an instant. According to his assistant, he sometimes can't draw a clear line between utopian ideas and epoch-making invention ideas. When his knowledge of a subject is relatively shallow, such as the construction of some cannons and some biological and physiological problems, it is of course more difficult for him to distinguish this line. Over time, alfred nobel turned these different ideas into patented inventions. The total number of invention patents applied for cannot be accurately counted; However, when he liquidated his property, the number close to the registration form included no less than 35 1 invention patents he obtained in various countries, which was an amazing number from his mind.

Since the late 1980s, as a direct result of the research on mixed smokeless explosives, Nobel himself has become more and more interested in igniter technology. According to what he repeatedly told Surman and others, this particular aspect aroused his interest, mainly mental problems. At the same time, because of his natural strong aversion to war and violence, he became an increasingly strong opponent of the practical application of these inventions, which is unreasonable. At this time, he once wrote: "Personally, I hope to send all guns, their accessories and everything to hell, which is the right place to show and use them." Nevertheless, in his later years, his theoretical and experimental work still made a lot of progress in this field, such as fuses containing nitroglycerin, silent firing of guns, quenching and welding of metals, stability, rotation and cooling of projectiles, their gas sealing and safety, and rockets for rescue at sea.

In his early years, he had an unforgettable and painful idea inherited from his father, that is, he tried to make substitutes for rubber, gutta percha and leather with raw materials closely related to explosives. He also developed various coatings based on nitrocellulose dissolved in various semi-volatile solutions. In the experimental stage of these inventions, many new solvents for nitrocellulose were found in the laboratory of San Remo and later in the laboratory of Bonn in Biecque, Sweden. They are not only important for mixing with explosives to reduce combustion temperature and corrosion, but also important as coating components of our modern nitrocellulose model. This kind of coating is now famous all over the world through many products such as Imperial Chemical Company and I G Chemical Company. In fact, the early road leading to the production of these things was almost certainly pointed out by Nobel's patented invention.

Nobel's interest in the early manufacture of synthetic rubber, although he failed to make much progress before his death, undoubtedly promoted the manufacture of artificial rubber and artificial leather later. Another use of nitrocellulose that Nobel was originally interested in was to make rayon. From 1893 to 1894, he worked in the laboratory of San Remo with Swedish engineer Streele Nutt and conducted experiments in this field. 1896, he obtained the patent of glass pressure nozzle with extremely fine holes. This kind of nozzle is a necessary tool to extrude nitrocellulose or celluloid solution and then harden it into filamentous fibers. Its preparation method is to use extremely fine platinum wire to penetrate into the glass of the solution, cool it, and then use aqua regia (1) to corrode it. This idea was later developed by many successors. Rayon or silk, which has been known and valued by many trademarks for decades, has now become the best-selling product in the world, with countless forms and new names.

Since the beginning of this century, some large factories in Germany, Britain, Italy and France have started to produce rayon products. Nobel Company was the first enterprise to form a cartel with them, and Nobel once provided design and financial support to some of his companies.

The mixture of (1) concentrated nitric acid and concentrated hydrochloric acid is extremely corrosive and can dissolve gold and some metals that are insoluble in ordinary acids. -Editor's Note Alfred

Nobel has also been engaged in experiments to improve records, telephones, batteries, incandescent lamps and other parts, and tried to produce semi-precious stones or all-precious stones (diamonds, rubies, sapphires, etc. ) and molten bauxite. All these exploratory works have helped inventors with better equipment solve many problems. Alfred nobel once supported many inventors and industrialists. Here, I can only mention a few things. We already know that in 1980s, when his brother Ludwig was in the predicament of Russian oil industry, he provided effective assistance. This kind of help is not only financial, but also the technical improvement of this industry has been studied several times. He was the first to put forward the proposal of laying an oil pipeline from the oil-producing area to the loading port. Several innovations in crude oil refining and distillation, as well as the use of paraffin lighting and other technologies, are also based on his patented inventions and experiments.

1882, he suggested to his brother that "internal combustion engines should be used instead of steam engines on some ships", which seemed to foresee that the products of Nobel Brothers Oil Company could be used as another fuel. 1895, together with Swedish engineer Rudolf Liekvist, he established an electronic chemical company in Bentford. It was the first factory in Sweden to produce electroplating products and chemicals for industry and medicine, and later developed into a large enterprise with several factories in Buhus. Nobel believed in Lilek West's personality. When drafting the will, he appointed Lilek West as one of the executors. Two young Swedish engineers wanted to write industrial history with their inventions, and they got the first financial support from the Nobel Prize. The two engineers are Berger Riyanstrom (1872-1948) and his younger brother Frederic (born in 1875).

When talking about them, Nobel wrote: "I am very happy to work with a person with considerable ability and real humility like Mr. Riyanstrom." The funded design can also be called Svay bicycle, with accelerating shaft and high-power steam boiler. Riyanstrom's many inventions, such as air preheater, steam and gas turbine, turbine locomotive, etc. Later, it was successfully supplied to the world through his Svenska steam turbine factory and other companies. 1890, he called Johansson, a promising young scientist at that time and later became a professor at Caroline Medical College in Stockholm, and asked him to do a blood transfusion test in Sevrain laboratory for six months, which was a new technology that Nobel was very interested in at that time. In his letter to Johnson, he explained that he was considering establishing his own medical experimental research institute, and wrote with consistent foresight: "If this is feasible, many unexpected results will be achieved." The cooperation between Nobel and Johnson prompted him to take out 50,000 kronor from the money left by his mother in the same year and donate it to Caroline Medical College to set up the "Caroline Andre Nobel Experimental Medical Research Fund" to publish the above research results and provide advice for such research. His opinions were taken into account when establishing the Nobel Foundation and drafting its rules, as well as when establishing the Nobel Medical College. It would be strange if the versatile Nobel was not interested in airplanes. 1986, he sponsored the Swedish balloonist Andre's plan to reach the North Pole by steamboat.

The reason why Nobel provided a lot of financial support for this project is worth noting. He wrote: "If Andre reaches his destination, or he just flies halfway, then this achievement will itself be a matter of developing imagination and will produce new ideas and reforms. In this respect, I also want to serve the concept of peace, because every new discovery will always leave a trace in the human mind, so that it may be passed down from generation to generation, thus arousing new cultural ideas in more minds. " But these are not everything. Nobel's characteristic is always standing in front of the times. From Alfred's correspondence with Kloc-0 in the early 1990s, it can be seen that he is also interested in surveying and making maps through aerial photography. Since there were no planes with cameras in the sky at that time, Nobel suggested using balloons or missiles to achieve this goal.

When we read a letter written by Sohlman four months before his death, it seems that we have tasted the taste of modern space exploration: "... I want to send a small balloon with a parachute, a camera and a small clock or timing lead into the sky. At an appropriate height, the balloon will automatically deflate or separate from the parachute, and then, as the parachute gradually descends, the camera will take pictures. " He also clearly foresaw that the future air traffic would not be developed by balloons or spaceships, but by fast aircraft propelled by propellers. 1892, that is, ten years earlier than the Wright brothers' first flight on Kitty Hawk, he wrote: "Flying really excites me, but we should never think that the problem can be solved by balloons. When a bird flies at high speed, it can overcome gravity by gently flapping its wings. This is not caused by magic. What birds can do, so can humans. We must have a high-speed floating raft, a cardinal who can only fly from Paris to San Remo in three hours ... "He also wrote:" Since the invention of electricity and its companion, it only takes a quarter of a second to circle the earth. I hold a contemptuous attitude towards our little earth; For a much smaller entity, that is, an atom, it shows great interest. In a single case, or as an integral part of the living cells of all things in the universe, its form, movement and fate occupy my mind more than their proper position. "

Ragnar Sohlman, alfred nobel's assistant and friend, later commented on his achievements as an inventor outside the explosion science, saying: "When reading alfred nobel's patent invention catalogue intensively, those who have serious prejudice will undoubtedly find sufficient reasons to doubt Noble's technical judgment. In the eyes of serious technical experts and industrialists, many of his ideas are just whimsy. But don't forget that many ideas that modern technologists think so have actually been realized by Nobel and become the most important thing. People should not forget that some of his other ideas have been applied to other directions or fields different from his original intention. As far as his rich ideas are concerned, this talented inventor is not stingy at all, just as nature is cultivating new seeds of life. Generally speaking, only a few people can get suitable soil immediately for germination and growth. Have a plenty of flat skin; Others may fall in fertile places, but time is not auspicious for them. However, these seeds of thought can maintain their vitality for decades or even hundreds of years. When changing conditions appear, they will start to sprout like seeds blown to fertile soil by the wind.

"In addition, historically, the development of technology is based on the efforts and thoughts of different inventors to solve problems, regardless of whether this kind of work can produce direct results in each special case. For this reason, the history of technology and invention has aroused greater interest at present. Like all history, it has also opened up a broad vision of the progress process, thus providing valuable guidance for the present and the future. " Nobel once wrote: "If I have a thousand ideas a year, and only one of them has a good result, then I will be satisfied."