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Period: to
Fritz Haber-German Chemist
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Born to a German Jewish family on December 9, 1868
Location: Breslau, Silesia, Prussia [now Wroclaw, Poland] -
Attended University of Berlin.
Began to study chemistry at University of Berlin.
Image source: https://medium.com/the-mission/the-tragedy-of-fritz-haber-the-monster-who-fed-the-world-ec19a9834f74 -
Military service
Studies were interrupted by one year of mandatory German military service. -
Earned Doctorate, Organic Chemistry
Received his doctorate from the University of Berlin
Image Source: https://medium.com/the-mission/the-tragedy-of-fritz-haber-the-monster-who-fed-the-world-ec19a9834f74 -
Fridericiana Technische Hochschule
Haber was appointed as an assistant in the Department of Chemical and Fuel Technology at the Fridericiana Technische Hochschule in Karlsruhe.(https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fritz-Haber) -
Study of Combustion of Hydrocarbons
Published “Experimental Investigations on the Decomposition and Combustion of Hydrocarbons” -
A DARK GLOBAL PREDICTION
A Dark Global Prediction: British chemist William Crookes warned that the world’s population would soon grow too large for food production unless crop yields were increased through nitrogen fertilizers. Haber published “The Theoretical Basis of Technical Electrochemistry” -
Electrochemical preparation of nitrobenzene
Haber studies of the electrochemical preparation of several important organic compounds such as nitrobenzene.
Image source: https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/sigald/n10950?lang=en®ion=US -
Studying potential method of nitrogen fixation
Published “The Thermodynamics of Technical Gas Reactions.”
His work in this area soon focused on the synthesis of ammonia gas from nitrogen and hydrogen gas and its potential as a method of nitrogen fixation. -
Named Professor
Earned professorship in Department of Chemical and Fuel Technology at Fridericiana Technische Hochschule.
Image source: https://medium.com/the-mission/the-tragedy-of-fritz-haber-the-monster-who-fed-the-world-ec19a9834f74 -
Study of hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell.
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AMMONIA SYNTHESIS
Haber was able to show that the use of high pressures in combination with a suitable catalyst made ammonia synthesis practical.
Image source: https://sites.google.com/a/g.coppellisd.com/nitrogen-cycle/1-nitrogen-fixation/haber%20process.png?attredirects=0 -
HABER-BOSCH PROCESS IS BORN
German chemist Carl Bosch used Haber's synthesis of ammonia for the industrial development of ammonia, called the Haber-Bosch process.
Haber also did pioneering work on the glass electrode.
Image source: https://www.instituteformindfulagriculture.org/writings-1/2016/3/24/the-haber-bosch-process-1 -
The Electrolytic Processes of Organic Chemistry
Work on nitrobenzene led to a second book, “The Electrolytic Processes of Organic Chemistry”, written in collaboration with German chemist Alexander Moser. -
MASS PRODUCTION OF ARTIFICIAL FERTILIZER
Mass production of artificial fertilizer to feed world’s growing population. Haber is named Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry in the Berlin. -
START OF WORLD WAR I
Haber was a German patriot and during WWI (1914-1918) he contributed his significant expertise in chemistry to the war effort. Coupled with process for the oxidation of ammonia to nitric acid, the Haber-Bosch process could be used to synthesize nitrates and other explosives. -
GAS-WARFARE, SUICIDE
Haber to proposes the use of chlorine gas as a chemical weapon, a suggestion first tried at Ypres, France, in April. Haber’s first wife, Clara Immerwahr, committed suicide, possibly in protest of Haber’s involvement in the development of gas-warfare. -
Chief of German Chemical Warfare Service
Gas-warfare agents rapidly increased on both sides of the conflict,
Haber is named chief of Germany’s Chemical Warfare Service. -
END OF WWI
Germany is defeated, WWI ends.
Haber is awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the synthetic fixation of nitrogen.
Haber was severely criticized and even ostracized for his involvement in the gas-warfare program. -
Gold from the Sea?
Unsuccessful experiments in extracting gold from seawater in order to pay Germany’s war debt. -
EXILE
Adolf Hitler takes power in Germany
Haber resigns/fired from his position at the Kaiser Wilhelm Insitute because he is Jewish.
He leaves his beloved Germany.
Image source: https://www.ushmm.org/learn/timeline-of-events/1933-1938 -
Died January 29, 1934
Location: Basel, Switzerland
Image source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fritz-Haber -
WWII CONTRIBUTION FROM THE GRAVE
7 years after his death, a hydrogen-cyanide pesticide that Haber developed was adapted for use in the infamous gas chambers of Nazi concentration camps.
Image source: https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/the-camps/types-of-camps/extermination-camps/ -
References
Barach, P. (2016, August 2). The Tragedy of Fritz Haber: The Monster Who Fed The World. Mission.org. https://medium.com/the-mission/the-tragedy-of-fritz-haber-the-monster-who-fed-the-world-ec19a9834f74 Jensen, W. B. (2021, January 25). Fritz Haber. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fritz-Haber Patton, J. (2021). Medicine in the First World War: Gas in the Great War. University of Kansas Medical Center. http://www.kumc.edu/wwi/medicine/gas-in-the-great-war.html
