1. Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) was a Swedish chemist and inventor. He was involved, with his family, in the development of explosives, and his invention of dynamite, a mixture of nitroglycerine and filler, greatly improved the safety of explosives. He was inclined toward pacifism and concerned about the potential uses of the explosives he had invented. He established a fund to provide annual awards, called Nobel Prizes, in the sciences, literature, and the promotion of international peace. Please visit http://www.nobel.se for more information about Alfred Nobel.
2. Nobel Prize is an award created and paid for by the will of Alfred Nobel, and is given every year for outstanding achievement in one of five fields. By the terms of Nobel’s will, the physics and chemistry prizes are decided by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences; the physiology or medicine prize, by Sweden’s Royal Caroline Medico-Chirurgical Institute; the literature prize by the Swedish Academy; and the peace prize, by a committee of the Norwegian parliament. Each winner is presented a gold medal and a sum that by 1980 was about $200,000. These five awards were first given in 1901. A sixth award, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science, was created and paid for in 1968 by Sveriges Riksbank, the Swedish national bank, and first awarded in 1969. It is decided by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Please visit http://www.nobel.se for further information about the Nobel Prize.
3. The North Pole refers to the northern end of the earth’s axis, latitude 90ºN and longitude 0º, which is distinguished from the north magnetic pole. It was first reached by Robert E. Peary in 1909.
