Prof. Adolf Gogoll analyzed the contents of Alfred Nobel's bottles
What did Alfred Nobel actually keep in his glass bottles? Prof. Adolf Gogoll, within the Organic Chemistry research programme at the Department of Chemistry - BMC, has helped the Nobel Prize Museum and the Swedish National Heritage Board to analyze the contents of 43 old chemical bottles that come from Alfred Nobel's laboratories. Sara Norrehed, Swedish National Heritage Board, Prof. Adolf Gogoll, Department of Chemistry - BMC and Margrit Wettstein, Nobel Prize Museum. Photo: Dan Lepp
The bottles, with previously unknown contents, are part of equipment from Alfred Nobel's laboratories that were shipped to Stockholm after his death in 1896, and have in recent years been stored at the Nobel Museum in Karlskoga.
(Image removed) Photo: Dan Lepp
The analyzes are now completed and what was found were different kinds of mixtures and traces of chemical reactions, heavy metals, such as lead and chromium, as well as substances used in dynamite production.
(Image removed) Photo: Dan Lepp
The Swedish National Heritage Board and the Nobel Prize Museum turned to Uppsala University for help in analyzing the contents of the bottles, in order to ensure safe storage and exhibition of the bottles. The work has been going on since the spring of 2020 and a final report will be presented in 2021.
More information
- The press release on the Nobel Prize Museum's website. (In Swedish.)
- More about the project on the National Heritage Board's website. (In Swedish.)
- Prof. Adolf Gogoll's memorial page in Organic Chemistry. (Link removed)
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