“ Alfred, who was only 55 at the time, was shocked to see himself described as “the merchant of death.” He was an inventor, and held 355 different patents — the most famous of which was dynamite. And he was instrumental in steering his company, Bofors, from being a simple iron and steel producer into one of the biggest arms suppliers in Europe.The French obituary held none of its contempt for Alfred back, going on to say, “Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday.” And as he read, Alfred was forced to recognize that yes, in fact, his inventions of detonators, dynamite and a string of ever-more deadly explosives were responsible for an enormous number of deaths.“Merchant of death” was pretty accurate.But was that what he wanted to be remembered as?”
Steve Taylor ● 20d