https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/haber-bosch-process
> From 1909 until 1913, Carl Bosch transformed Fritz Haber’s tabletop demonstration of a method to fix nitrogen using high-pressure chemistry into an important industrial process to produce megatons of fertilizer and explosives. His contribution was to make this process work on a large industrial scale. To do this, he constructed a plant and equipment that would function effectively under high-gas pressures and high temperatures. …
> The detailed molecular mechanisms of the catalytic synthesis of ammonia over iron (the Haber Bosch process) was studied and developed by Gerhard Ertl. These great successes in the ammonia industry have changed the history of the world’s food production. According to the statistics from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), fertilizer contributes more than 40% to food production. Thus the catalytic ammonia synthesis technology proposed by Haber and Bosch was one of the most important contributions to human beings. To recognize these contributions, Haber, Bosch, and Ertl, who had provided key input with the developing of the ammonia synthesis industry, were awarded with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
https://www.scienceheroes.com/?view=article&id=441:haber-fertilizer&catid=195
> … During the war Haber worked with the German government to find ways to prolong the life of Germany’s wartime resources and keep them in the war as long as needed. He developed alternatives to traditional antifreeze to keep vehicles running and his ammonia synthesis methods were used to create nitric acid, a key component in explosives and ammunition. But Haber’s extensive knowledge of chemistry made him instrumental in a far darker creation – that of chemical warfare. He initially worked to invent protective chemical devices for troops, but soon switched to developing destructive and fatal chlorine gas to use against the enemy forces. Fritz Haber directed the very first release of chlorine gas on April 22, 1915 in France, killing over 10,000 allied troops. Haber’s wife, fellow chemist Clara Immerwahr shot herself in the heart three weeks later. It is speculated that she was distraught over her husband’s work on poison gas. The morning of her death, Haber left to supervise a gas release on Russian troops.
YogoshKeks on
I had to check if she is real. And she is.
Immer = always, wahr = true
A scientist with that name sounded like she was a really smart witch in Harry Potter.
the_boss_of_toys on
A long ago in eastern Prussia, young men with great ambitions rise
McKnechtfresse on
Its Fritz Haber not Huber stop butchering German names
ProudGrognard on
The Nobel was after the poison gas works, and the name is Haber, as in the chemical process. If she committed suicide because of this, or because of marital neglect and postnuptial depression, is open to debate.
Neutrino2072 on
Science discovers keys, not the doors that can be opened with them
6 Comments
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/haber-bosch-process
> From 1909 until 1913, Carl Bosch transformed Fritz Haber’s tabletop demonstration of a method to fix nitrogen using high-pressure chemistry into an important industrial process to produce megatons of fertilizer and explosives. His contribution was to make this process work on a large industrial scale. To do this, he constructed a plant and equipment that would function effectively under high-gas pressures and high temperatures. …
> The detailed molecular mechanisms of the catalytic synthesis of ammonia over iron (the Haber Bosch process) was studied and developed by Gerhard Ertl. These great successes in the ammonia industry have changed the history of the world’s food production. According to the statistics from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), fertilizer contributes more than 40% to food production. Thus the catalytic ammonia synthesis technology proposed by Haber and Bosch was one of the most important contributions to human beings. To recognize these contributions, Haber, Bosch, and Ertl, who had provided key input with the developing of the ammonia synthesis industry, were awarded with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
https://www.scienceheroes.com/?view=article&id=441:haber-fertilizer&catid=195
> … During the war Haber worked with the German government to find ways to prolong the life of Germany’s wartime resources and keep them in the war as long as needed. He developed alternatives to traditional antifreeze to keep vehicles running and his ammonia synthesis methods were used to create nitric acid, a key component in explosives and ammunition. But Haber’s extensive knowledge of chemistry made him instrumental in a far darker creation – that of chemical warfare. He initially worked to invent protective chemical devices for troops, but soon switched to developing destructive and fatal chlorine gas to use against the enemy forces. Fritz Haber directed the very first release of chlorine gas on April 22, 1915 in France, killing over 10,000 allied troops. Haber’s wife, fellow chemist Clara Immerwahr shot herself in the heart three weeks later. It is speculated that she was distraught over her husband’s work on poison gas. The morning of her death, Haber left to supervise a gas release on Russian troops.
I had to check if she is real. And she is.
Immer = always, wahr = true
A scientist with that name sounded like she was a really smart witch in Harry Potter.
A long ago in eastern Prussia, young men with great ambitions rise
Its Fritz Haber not Huber stop butchering German names
The Nobel was after the poison gas works, and the name is Haber, as in the chemical process. If she committed suicide because of this, or because of marital neglect and postnuptial depression, is open to debate.
Science discovers keys, not the doors that can be opened with them