For my little nephew in the hope that he will inherit a world of peace Ali For Zélie my peaceful daughter except when we want her to sleep at night Mickaël Jean Henry DUNANT John Boyd ORR 1901 Fridtjof NANSEN 1949 Martin Luther KING Jr. Jane ADDAMS 1922 1964 Mother TERESA 1931 1979
ALFRED NOBEL invented a substance that helped countries go to war but he is best remembered for his amazing contribution to world peace How did this happen As an ambitious young man from Sweden Alfred moved to Paris in the 1840s to study chemical engineering There he met an Italian chemist who had invented a liquid called nitroglycerin that exploded when it got hot Experiments with this dangerous liquid had killed and injured several people Alfred was determined to make it safe to use He did lots of experiments until he found a way to turn the liquid into a solid form that could be blown up safely He called his invention dynamite Dynamite sold like hot cakes It could blast through rock and was used in building projects all over the world Alfred built over ninety factories in twenty countries and became a very rich man But all his newfound wealth didn't make him happy He realized that his invention was also being used as a weapon of war and this worried him a great deal But then he had an idea When Alfred died he left behind a set of instructions in his will The money he had made would be given out as prizes each year to the person who had achieved something of greatest benefit to mankind The prizes would be in Physics Chemistry Medicine Literature and Peace It is this final prize that has inspired this book Turn the page to discover some of the amazing men and women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and the inspirational peace ideas they have left behind Alfred Nobel was born in 1833 and died in 1896 The first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in 1901
