The Birthday of Alfred Nobel (1833) – Mathematics of Dynamite

Alfred Nobel invented dynamite (1867) by stabilising nitroglycerin with diatomaceous earth. The mathematics of explosives: chemical kinetics (rate of reaction), shock wave propagation (nonlinear PDEs), and thermodynamics (energy release). Nobel’s fortune funded the Nobel Prizes. The physics prize often honours mathematics (e.g., the Riemann hypothesis might one day win? No, but the Nobel committee does not award pure mathematics – that’s the Fields Medal and Abel Prize). Dynamite’s mathematics also applies to mining, construction, and rocketry.