Alfred Nobel's unusual creativity: an analysis

Abstract 

Howard Gardner identified five different kinds of creative activity among eminent creators, namely, solving a well-defined problem, putting forth a general conceptual scheme, creating a product that embodies ideas, stylized innovation of an art form, and a ‘high-stakes’ performance in the socio-political arena. In this paper, I report that Alfred Nobel's creativity can be assigned to two mutually exclusive domains. In the scientific domain, he solved a well-defined problem of his time in the study of explosives, by patenting dynamite, creating blasting gelatin as an ideal explosive and developing a nearly smokeless blasting powder. In the socio-political domain, Nobel designed a ‘unique instrument’ (in the form of annual prizes, which later came to be known as Nobel prizes) to recognize merit among those who contributed to social welfare at the global scale. The influence of Nobel's mentors, Nikolai Zinin, Yuli Trapp, Theophile-Jules Pelouze, Ascanio Sobrero, John Ericcson and Immanuel Nobel in igniting Nobel's scientific creativity also deserves recognition. Personal traits that helped Nobel to sharpen his creativity include his business acumen and talent for information access using his multi-lingual skills.

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