Ascanio Sobrero, born on this day in 1812, invented nitroglycerin. He just didn’t see any use for it—even though it became, in the hands of Alfred Nobel—yes, that Nobel—the active ingredient in ...

Nitrate medications are notorious for being able to trigger airport bomb detection scanners and to alert explosive-sniffing dogs, a reminder of the origins of this extremely useful medication. Let's ...

Alfred Nobel patented the dynamite 150 years ago on 25 November 1867 Ascanio Sobrero was ashamed of having discovered nitroglycerin, dynamite's main component, years before Nobel He thought it was too ...

A HUNDRED years ago there occurred a striking double even the consequences of which could scarcely have been foreseen, even by the most imaginative visionary of the time: Ascanio Sobrero, professor of ...