The Nobel Prize: The Story of Alfred Nobel and the Most Famous Prize in the World

"I would like . . . to help dreamers, they find it hard to get on in life."
-- Alfred Nobel

Alfred Nobel, born in Sweden in 1833, was a brilliant inventor and businessman. Although he held more than 300 patents when he died in 1896, he earned his extensive fortune and worldwide fame through his invention of dynamite and his work on armaments. He never married and was constantly on the move around Europe, visiting his manufacturing plants.

His handwritten one-page last will and testament directed that the majority of his vast fortune be invested and the interest distributed to the most deserving individuals in the fields of medicine, chemistry, physics, literature and peace. Between 1901 and 2009, the five Nobel Prizes and the Prize in Economic Science were awarded 537 times.

This book tells the fascinating story of how a few simple instructions in Nobel's will were transformed into a huge philanthropic organization that holds a unique position in the modern world.

The Nobel Prize covers:

• The life and accomplishments of Alfred Nobel
  
• His will and the establishment of the Nobel Prize Committee
  
• How the Nobel laureates are selected
  
• The establishment of the new award in Economics in 1968
  
• Profiles of U.S. presidents and world leaders who have won the prize
  
• Lists of families and individuals who have won the prize
  
• Profiles on the lives and accomplishments of the most famous laureates
  
• The backgrounds of each of the six prizes: chemistry, physics, medicine, peace, literature and economics

The Nobel Prize brings to life the story of the world's most famous prize.