HIST 23 |
| In the mid 1860s, Frederick Abel and Alfred Nobel suceeded in "taming" two hitherto highly dangerous organic explosives for use as blasting agents. They were guncotton (tamed as "patent safety guncotton") and nitroglycerin (tamed as dynamite).These products-and their progenitors-were soon locked in intense competition in Great Britain. Abel's advice as a government expert in explosives and munitions facilitated the passage of the Nito-glycerine Act of 1869, in which production and transportation of all nitroglycerine products (including dynamite) were severely constrained. For his part, Nobel personally remonstrated against the Act and may may have been a guiding force behind an anti-guncotton, pro-dynamite "mineral interest", which mounted a campaign to repeal the Act in the press and in parliament, especially after a severe and lethal explosion in the factory that produced "patent safety guncotton" in 1871. In this paper, I shall use the narrative of the Abel-Nobel competition between 1868 and 1874 to explore a number of important issues regarding science and technology of explosives, the state and society. These include: the determination and management of risk and safety, the debate over the appropriateness of government scientists holding profitable patents and serving as expert advisors regarding products competitive to their own patents, and the activities of special interest lobbies. |
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Edelstein Award Symposium Honoring Peter Morris
8:30 AM-12:10 PM, Tuesday, 12 September 2006 San Francisco Marriott -- Pacific Room H, Oral
Division of the History of Chemistry |