Fritz Haber was born in Breslau (today Wrocław, Poland) in 1868. He grew up in a prominent Jewish family involved in the chemical and dye trade, and received his education at one of the city’s normal Gymnasia. Near the end of his schooling, he became interested in mathematics and the physical sciences, and although chemistry was still only a small part of the curriculum, it was this subject that caught Haber’s attention, and he embarked on a path in higher education that “deviated strongly from the normal pattern”.
Fritz Haber was born in Breslau (today Wrocław, Poland) in 1868 (Coates 1937), (Stoltzenberg 1994, chapters 2, 3, 4), (Szöllösi-Janze 1998b, chapters 1, 3), (Sheppard 2020, Chapter 2) (Figs. 10.1 and 10.2). He grew up in a prominent Jewish family involved in the chemical and dye trade, and received his education at one of the city’s normal Gymnasia. Near the end of his schooling, he became interested in mathematics and the physical sciences, and although chemistry was still only a small part of the curriculum, it was this subject that caught Haber’s attention, and he embarked on a path in higher education that “deviated strongly from the normal pattern (Schlenk 1934).”Footnote 1 In 1886, he completed his Abitur and began studying chemistry, first at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin, then at the University of Heidelberg, and then again in Berlin at the Technical University of Charlottenburg; in 1889, he began his one year military service in Breslau. The plan thereafter was to begin studying organic chemistry at the Friedrich Wilhelm University as preparation for a career in the coal tar dye industry. However, as Haber resumed his studies, he was not convinced of his choice. He conducted research in organic chemistry and received his Ph.D. in 1891, but his future was still uncertain. Haber spent time in industry and then in academics before joining his father’s dye and chemical business. Only after that did he make the decisive turn back toward an academic career and begin working in organic chemistry at the University of Jena in 1892. It was also there that he converted to Christianity. However, Haber remained unsatisfied by the challenges of his ordinary laboratory tasks; it was his introduction to the emerging discipline of physical chemistry that intrigued him. Despite his inquiry, Haber was not invited to join Ostwald’s institute in Leipzig so he instead went to the Technical University of Karlsruhe in 1894 to work with Hans Bunte and Carl Engler, who was closely involved with the coal tar dye industry. He remained there for 17 years—it was a decision that would have lasting consequences.
Fig. 10.1
Breslau in 1891, the home town of Fritz Haber. By David Vandermeulen from Fritz Haber: L’Esprit du Temps (Vandermeulen 2005); Ⓒ David Vandermeulen/Guy Delcourt Productions
Prof. Fritz Haber in 1909, probably in a lecture hall at the Technical University of Karlsruhe. Source: Archive of the Max Planck Society, Berlin-Dahlem, Jaenicke Collection, Picture Number I/4
As assistant to Bunte in the department of Chemical Fuel and Technology, Haber worked mainly on organic chemical problems, and in 1896 he published his Habilitationsschrift on the thermal dissociation of hydrocarbons (Haber 1896). As Privatdozent, and with the help of his friend Hans Luggin, Haber began work on electrochemical systems and finally entered the field of physical chemistry in both experiment and theory. In 1898, he published a book on the subject and in the same year became professor extraordinarius (Haber 1898). Three years later, Haber married Clara Immerwahr, who had written her dissertation in chemistry under Richard Abegg in 1900; she was the first woman at the University of Breslau to receive her Ph.D (von Leitner 1993, pp. 51–68), (Friedrich and Hoffmann 2017b) (Figs. 10.3 and 10.4).
Fig. 10.3
Clara Haber, née Immerwahr, undated. Source: Archive of the Max Planck Society, Berlin-Dahlem, Jaenicke and Krassa Collections, Picture Number V/3
Portrait of Clara Haber, née Immerwahr by David Vandermeulen from Fritz Haber: L’Esprit du Temps (Vandermeulen 2005); Ⓒ David Vandermeulen/Guy Delcourt Productions
Why, at this time in his career, did Haber decide to take up the problem of ammonia synthesis? He was a unique chemist of varied interests, who overcame the divide between organic and physical chemistry, in part due to his ability to understand the required mathematics (Haber 1905b),Footnote 2 (Engler et al. 1909), (Ostwald 1927, pp. 111–113), (Haberditzl 1960; Planck 1946), (Szöllösi-Janze 1998b, p. 94). This would later provide the key to his success, but was also important to his motivation.
Authors of both academic and popular literature have remarked that Haber chose to work on the equilibrium of ammonia for financial gain (as an advisor to industrial partners) or that he viewed the N2-H2-NH3 system as a fundamental physical problem. While these factors are correct, they are often of vague origin and Haber’s actions are imbedded in a turn-of-the-century attitude about the need for a synthetic source of nitrogen (Coates 1937, pp. 1650–1651), (Mittasch 1951, p. 64), (Wendel 1962, pp. 23–27), (Goran 1967, pp. 42–45), (Szöllösi-Janze 1998b, p. 159), (Charles 2005, pp. ix-vx, 81–85), (Erisman et al. 2008; Hager 2008). Fixed nitrogen could be used to manufacture explosives and a synthetic source would be crucial if sea routes transporting nitrates from South America to Europe were disrupted by hostile powers (Ostwald 1903; Tamaru 1991). It was also necessary for fertilizer production to guard humanity against impending famine, a sentiment embodied by William Crookes’ 1898 appeal in which he also called attention to the economic potential of a synthetic nitrogen source (Crookes 1917, pp. 2–3, 37–38). What part did this goal play in Haber’s motivation?
An example of this ambiguity is found in Haber’s own 1920 Nobel lecture (Haber 1920, pp. 1–2):
A narrow professional interest in the preparation of ammonia from the elements was based on the achievement of a simple result by means of special equipment. A more widespread interest was due to the fact that the synthesis of ammonia from its elements, if carried out on a large scale, would be a useful, at present perhaps the most useful, way of satisfying important national economic needs. Such practical uses were not the principal purpose of my investigations. I was never in doubt that my laboratory work would produce no more than a scientific confirmation of basic principles and a criterion of experimental aids, and that much would need to be added to any success of mine to ensure economic success on an industrial scale. On the other hand I would hardly have concentrated so much on this problem had I not been convinced of the economic necessity of chemical progress in this field, and had I not shared to the full Fichte’s conviction that while the immediate object of science lies in its own development, its ultimate aim must be bound up in the moulding influence which it exerts at the right time upon life in general and the whole human arrangement of things around us.
Since the middle of the last century it has become known that a supply of nitrogen is a basic necessity for the development of food crops; it was also recognized, however, that plants cannot absorb the elementary nitrogen which is the main constituent of the atmosphere, but need the nitrogen to be combined with oxygen in the form of nitrate in order to be able to assimilate it. This combination with oxygen can start with combination with hydrogen to form ammonia since ammonium nitrogen changes to saltpetre nitrogen in the soil.
While Haber mentioned several reasons why he took up ammonia synthesis, they are obscured by the context of a need for a synthetic source of fixed nitrogen as his speech continues. Perhaps Haber simply did not recall his initial motivation–this situation would not be unique (Fleck 1980, pp. 95, 100–102, 111), (Rudwick 1985, p. 7), (Holmes 1991, pp. 307–343), (Blum et al. 2017; Graßhoff 1994, 1998). However, by considering Haber’s work and correspondence at the turn of the twentieth century, we can establish a finer understanding of how he came to take on the task.
During his early years in Karlsruhe, Haber had varied organic and physicochemical interests “of a downright baffling variety”Footnote 3 and yet he was still able to investigate the subjects in great detail (Jaenicke 1958b; Schlenk 1934), (Sheppard 2020, pp. 53–54). They included combustion, electrolysis, heats of reactions, and pulverization. He also maintained close ties to industry. These interests remained when he took up ammonia synthesis in 1904, as is evident in the publications which appeared soon after. Some had direct bearing on ammonia synthesis, for example his work on the free energies of chemical reactions (Haber 1905b, Chapters 1–3) and electric arcs (Haber and Moser 1905c; Haber and Bruner 1904g; Haber and Richardt 1904h), while electrochemistry (Haber and Schwenke 1904i; Haber and Tołłoczko 1904j), the state of technological innovation, and education were also high priorities (Haber 1902b,c, 1903a,b,d). Haber, the trained experimentalist, had a life-long ambition to move toward ever more abstract and theoretical studies and away from his experimental roots. “In my early years,” wrote the autodidact Haber retrospectively in 1911 (Haber 1911),
I had no understanding of physical chemistry or physics and so I was forced to learn these things on the side during other work in later years as I moved from engineering to technology and from there to theory…Footnote 4
This attitude can also be seen in Haber’s relationship with Einstein (Renn 2006, pp. 73–78). It was a development that began during the time physical chemistry was emerging as a distinct discipline: the strong connections to organic chemistry that appear in Haber’s early work gave way to more esoteric topics as he moved toward the new field (Jaenicke 1958a), (Coates 1937, p. 1643), (Girnus 1987).
In 1904, for example, Haber published “Über die kleinen Konzentrationen” (On small concentrations) (Haber 1904f) (see also Haber (1904e)), in which he attempted to reconcile experimental observations with physical laws. It is an important illustration not only of Haber’s progress as a physical chemist (the problem occupied many of the field’s top researchers) but also of how far some of his interests lay from ammonia synthesis. The paper was based on the observation that the theories of Jacobus Henricus van’t Hoff, Svante Arrhenius, and Wilhelm Ostwald for applying thermodynamics to solutions—the basis of physical chemistry (Ertl 2015)—became more precise the more the solution tended toward “infinite” dilution. In the limiting case, the dissociation of the molecules in the solution was complete and fully described by theory (Arrhenius 1887; van’t Hoff 1887), (Windisch 1892, pp. 476–522), (Ostwald 1927, pp. 16–31), (Partington 1964, pp. 637–662, 663–681). For Haber, however, measurements of the densities of ions in these dilute solutions posed a serious problem with respect to the speed of light. In a well-known system of dilute silver salts, the concentration of the silver ions, determined from voltage measurements, was so small Ostwald came to the conclusion that only two free silvers atoms existed in every cubic centimeter of solution. If one took such a cubic centimeter and divided it into three parts, at least one would contain no silver ions at all—but only if the ion remained dissociated forever. According to Ostwald, such an assumption would be “completely inappropriate.” He continued (Ostwald 1893),
Rather, we must interpret the result in such a way, that in general every silver atom exists only temporarily in an ionic state and that its lifetime in that state is only [a] fraction…of the lifetime in the state of the [silver] complex.Footnote 5
According to Haber, this explanation was the only way to present the results in an atomistic way. The problem emerged when he examined the ratio of the decay time to the generation time of the silver complex in equilibrium using a model based on the kinetics in Ostwald’s assumption. The answer was that the complex was generated 9×1021 times faster than it decayed. Consideration of several realistic decay times led Haber to the conclusion that the generation time was on the order of 10−24 s. However, this made no more sense than having only two silver ions per cubic centimeter of solution. The formation of a complex, Haber argued, was due to the rearrangement of electric charge and required the movement of matter. But light propagated across atomic dimensions in 10−18 s—a million times slower than the formation of the silver complex. And so, Haber wrote,
it is not apparent how such a change should be able to take place more quickly than electrical changes otherwise proceed…[which is] at the speed of light…Footnote 6
The measurements of the ion densities in other dilute solutions were even more egregious. Haber did not propose a solution, except that the measured potentials used to determine the ion concentrations were perhaps only operands (Rechengrößen) and did not correspond to actual concentrations in solution.
By 1904, the topic of dilute solutions had become a discussion in the literature between Haber, Guido Bodländer, Heinrich Danneel, and Richard Abegg (Abegg 1904b; Bodländer 1904a; Bodländer and Eberlein 1904b; Danneel 1904). “It is not my intention,” Haber wrote to Ostwald on the topic, “to assert anything for or against the atomistic or energetic view with these considerations.”Footnote 7 Later the same year, he expressed further thoughts in continuing communication with Abegg (Haber 1904b). The pertinence of the discussion of the atomistic-versus-energetic-view is notable considering Einstein published his theoretical treatment of Brownian motion the next year and Jean Perrin’s experimental confirmation came in 1909 (Einstein 1905; Perrin 1909).
A similar example of Haber’s extensive interest in reaction rates and dilute solutions can be found in another 1904 paper, “On the Electrochemical Determination of the Susceptibility of Glass,” as well as in correspondence with Ostwald (Haber 1904a,d; Haber and Schwenke 1904i), and in ongoing discussions with Abegg on the latter’s related theory of valency (Abegg and Bodländer 1899; Abegg 1904a; Haber 1906). He must have been in the middle of these considerations when he received a letter from the Margulies brothers of the Österreichische Chemische Werke in Vienna requesting his advice on the catalytic synthesis of ammonia (apparently they also visited Haber personally in Karlsruhe (Jaenicke 1958b)). As is well known, this communication started him on the path to ammonium synthesis from the elements. In 1903, Haber wrote to Wilhelm Ostwald about the issues raised by the Margulies, asking whether the senior scientist would like to take on the task himself (Haber 1903c) (Fig. 10.5). It is informative to quote the entire letter.
Hoch geehrter Herr Geheimrat [Ostwald]!
Fig. 10.5
The letter Fritz Haber sent to Wilhelm Ostwald on June 29, 1903 in which Haber told of the Margulies brothers’ interest in industrial catalytic ammonia production and asked whether Ostwald would be interested in a cooperation with them (Haber 1903c). Source: Archiv der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, NL W. Ostwald, Nr. 1037
An Austrian company has recently written to me repeatedly to hear my opinion on whether it would be worth their while to catalytically produce ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen on a large scale. I answered by calling their attention to the low costs of producing ammonia as a byproduct of coking plants. This advice did not decrease the company’s inclination toward producing ammonia via the above mentioned process. A foreign colleague approached me at a conference in Berlin and said that you, hoch geehrter Herr Geheimrat, have studied this question and have worked out a technically useful method. Therefore, please let me know whether it would suit you if I make the necessary arrangements for the Austrian company to contact you. I am also driven by the thought that you may find it desirable that a financially strong and reputable company take over the technical implementation. At the same time, nothing could be as valuable for this company as to have you as a consultant. I would like to add, however, that I, in the event that you do choose to take up this venture, cannot vouch for the technical implementation. Neither is my relationship to the Austrian company close enough to have any influence, nor do I wish to hide the fact that industrial undertakings inside Austrian territory are often planned but seldom realized–even by the most reputable and powerful companies.Footnote 8
Mit vorzüglicher Hochachtung bin ich Ihr Ergebener
Haber
While Haber must have been considered knowledgeable enough on the matter of catalytic ammonia synthesis for the company to contact him, he was not familiar with the current state of research in 1903. If Ostwald had worked out a usable solution, Haber might have expected to hear about it from Ostwald himself, or, if he had been convinced of the magnitude of such a discovery, to have read about it in the literature. Either way, he did not seem particularly interested in the undertaking. This is not to say he had no understanding of the role of fixed nitrogen in fertilizer and explosives, but in 1903 his interest lay foremost in the industrial side of the operation. For Haber, a technical solution depended on the interplay between market forces and the constraints placed on the system by nature–knowledge recently made accessible through physicochemical concepts. He did not see it as a technical development that must be desperately pursued and hastily implemented. Furthermore, as would remain the case for several years, Haber considered ammonium sulfate from coking plants and the electric arc to be more viable options of producing fixed nitrogen than direct synthesis from the elements. Three reports from Haber’s 1902 tour of industrial facilities in North America entitled “Über Hochschulunterricht und elektrochemische Technik in den Vereinigten Staaten” (On higher education and electrochemical technology in the United States) illustrate this view (Haber 1903a,b,d).
The busy New York harbor impressed Haber immediately upon his arrival, and the economic activity and chemical industry he saw there remained the source of his enthusiasm for the remainder of the trip (Fig. 10.6). He supplied detailed lists of numbers for production capacities as well as actual output and costs for a wide array of companies. At times, he also weighed the successful implementation of new industrial processes against adverse environmental effects on neighboring communities.Footnote 9 While ammonia itself received little attention, Haber’s interest in the electric arc process was evident as he delved into an overview of its use in North America. One company among the many situated at Niagara Falls captured his attention in particular. “None of the Niagara Companies,” he wrote
has been of greater interest in the world than the Atmospheric Products Co., which has undertaken the task of oxidizing atmospheric nitrogen to nitric acid. As important as this company is, I cannot deny that its stage of development, compared to what was discussed in the journals, was a bit of a disappointment. I expected to find an operation and was confronted with an experimental apparatus, which is of course of very great interest but does not yet, in my opinion, allow a reliable prediction of technical outcome.Footnote 10
Fig. 10.6
Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge as Fritz Haber entered the New York Harbor in 1903. By David Vandermeulen from Fritz Haber: L’Esprit du Temps (Vandermeulen 2005); Ⓒ David Vandermeulen/Guy Delcourt Productions
Haber remarked on the idiosyncrasies of the company’s electric arc process and compared it to other established methods. In contrast to many of the other sites he visited, here he discussed the application of the local product in addition to economic viability:
The fact that the Atmospheric Products Co. wants to undertake a large scale implementation allows one to conclude that they are confident of profitability with today’s prices for the raw materials [needed for their] current nitric acid production. If…it is true that the wear on their electrodes is quite negligible, the profitability will depend solely on the costs of power and the costs of the production of nitric acid from these dilute nitrous gases. If it were possible [i.e. were to become feasible] to fertilize with a mixture of calcium nitrite and calcium nitrate instead of with Chile saltpeter, the absorption of the dilute nitrous vapor via limestone and the use of this mixture in agriculture would offer the greatest of hopes. For 95% [concentrated] nitric acid costs 24 to 25 marks per 100 kg while that amount of calcium carbonate and calcium nitrate would presumably be cheaper to manufacture […] The main problem is to make the saltpeter mines in the Atacama [Desert in Chile], which are moving toward depletion, obsolete via a process which enables the production of nitric acid from air. After the agricultural sector, which uses by far the largest share of saltpeter production, the explosives industry is the most significant consumer.Footnote 11
Haber was skeptical about the future upscaling and integration of nitric acid production for both the agriculture and explosives industries. Nevertheless, he praised the company:
Making concentrated nitric acid from nitrous vapor and air is an old problem in inorganic engineering which has yet to be solved satisfactorily. The electrochemical success of the Atmospheric Products Co. gives this inorganic-technical ambition increased emphasis. A mature, new industry has, therefore, not yet been developed. Nevertheless, it may not be denied here, that a highly meaningful step has been taken…Footnote 12
Despite the attention given to it here, Haber devoted relatively little space to fixed nitrogen in his three reports on North American industry—rather it was the technical aspects of industry, in general, that interested him. The reports do, however, reflect Haber’s attitude toward a synthetic source of fertilizer: the industry was not yet mature, but, if fully realized, it would provide a great benefit to agriculture. The potential for success depended on market realities rather than a moral imperative.
The reports on North American industry also illustrate another of Haber’s beliefs at the time: the importance of continued industrialization and how Germany could stay at the forefront by remaining open to international communication and relationships. As the title of the reports indicate, his ideas were coupled strongly with the proliferation of chemistry education and research–a subject to which he remained deeply committed in different forms his entire career (Engler et al. 1909; Schlenk 1934), (Coates 1937, pp. 1663–1664, 1671–1672), (König 1954; Krassa 1955), (Stoltzenberg 1994, chapter 12), (Szöllösi-Janze 1998b, chapter 9). By 1903, it had long been a recurring issue in his correspondence. “It is simply so,” he wrote to Richard Abegg in March of 1902 (Haber 1902b),
that analysis is the foundation of education…where else are students to find their interest in [material] things if the professor does not have it? And he cannot have it if he is working according to a completely different philosophy […] Certainly one person may do more of one thing while someone else does more of another. But one thing we must have in common is that the analytical education of the young people be fostered by the inorganic faculty through a particular interest of the teachers themselves, otherwise we will only go backward.Footnote 13
In September of the same year, he wrote to Wilhelm Ostwald, while still in the United States, about the danger of Germany falling behind in the great discipline of its own creation (Haber 1902c).
Physical chemistry here is by all means the leading branch of the subject. In almost all of the universities that I visited…the physicochemists are the young driving force which without any doubt are leaders within the department and for that reason are looked at favorably by their colleagues […] Generally, organic chemistry here means nothing more than gas chemistry, or a university subject in Germany.Footnote 14
The rest of Haber’s correspondence, when not concerning private issues, often dealt with theoretical thermodynamic considerations—both in the realm of dilute solutions and other subjects. Relevant here is Haber’s critique of Hans von Jüptner’s derivations of the free energies of chemical reactions in the Zeitschrift für anorganische Chemie in 1904 because determinations of the free energy were at the heart of Haber’s interest in ammonia synthesis (Haber 1904c; von Jüptner 1904a,b,c,d). However, although Haber and his assistant Gabriel van Oordt were already at work on ammonia at this time, no discussion of it is found in his letters. Nowhere is there evidence that Haber had more of an interest in a synthetic source of ammonia than would be expected from any physical chemist with close ties to industry at the beginning of the twentieth century. If anything, he was of the opinion that ammonia synthesis from the elements was not feasible on an industrial scale. Both in his 1903 report on his trip to North America and in his 1920 Nobel lecture his method of choice was clear: “No better and more economical process for the binding of nitrogen could…be devised if some means could be found for converting electrical energy into…chemical energy [via the electric arc] without waste (Haber 1920).”
Based on the information presented here and in the following chapters it will become evident that Haber’s scientific attraction to ammonia synthesis from the elements—which he and others had described as fundamental research—was based on his interest in the free energies of chemical reactions. The equilibrium between ammonia, hydrogen, and nitrogen was an optimal system to test the theoretical work he had done, for example, in his book Thermodynamik technischer Gasreaktionen (Haber 1905b). It was not simply a new application of old concepts, but rather, as quoted above, “a scientific confirmation of basic principles”—just the kind of question Haber had pursued during his transition toward topics of increasing fundamental significance. Because it was basic research, it was not mandatory to have investigated ammonia equilibrium at all—there were any number of gas systems to choose from, but ammonia was especially interesting. Haber’s task was not only to qualitatively solve the old “riddle of ammonia synthesis,” that is, that ammonia could be easily catalytically dissociated but not generated (see Part I, Chap. 4). Instead, he could apply the new principles of physical chemistry to demonstrate precisely why ammonia generation had alluded researchers for so long. Furthermore, there were many studies already available in the literature containing important thermal data on the ammonia system. Apart from the science, a financial aspect was also present: the industrialist Margulies brothers incentivized Haber’s choice with financial compensation and funding for research as is often the case today (Ertl 2018). These factors become especially conspicuous when considering Haber had no pronounced moral impulse at the time to target the synthesis of fixed nitrogen in any form. When he started the work, he also began studies of the multistep process and the electric arc, although he was not convinced these could be made economical either (Haber 1905b, pp. 189–190). If the Margulies brothers had offered him financial incentives to investigate another chemical system, he may very well have accepted that task instead–but they did not. They asked him to consider the ammonia system because nitrogen fixation had economic potential for industry. At this point in his career, having been made a full professor five years earlier, Haber had the required security in his career to take a risk he thought had little chance of success apart from increased basic scientific knowledge.
Notes
1.
“…vom üblichen Schema stark abwich.”
2.
Haber’s 1905 book Thermodynamics of Technical Gas Reactions was published in English in 1908 (Haber 1908d).
3.
“Von geradezu rätselhafter Vielseitigkeit…”
4.
“…in meinen jungen Jahren [habe] ich weder von der physikalischen Chemie noch von der Physik eine Kenntnis gehabt und so habe ich, indem ich mich von der Technik zur Technologie und von dieser zur Theorie gewandt habe, immer neben anderer Arbeit die Dinge in reiferen Jahren zulernen müssen…”.
5.
“…ganz unangemessen. Vielmehr müssen wir das Ergebnis so auffassen, dass im allgemeinen jedes Silberatom vorübergehend in den Ionenzustand gelangt, dass aber seine Existenzdauer in diesem Zustande nur [ein] Bruchteil…von seiner Existenzdauer im Zustand des Komplexes…ist.”
6.
“…es ist nicht zu erkennen, wie eine solche Veränderung rascher sollte geschehen können als elektrische Veränderungen sonst irgendwie vor sich gehen…mit der Lichtgeschwindigkeit…”.
7.
“Es ist nicht meine Absicht mit diesen Betrachtungen etwas für oder wider die atomistische oder die energetische Betrachtungsweise vorzubringen…”.
8.
“Eine Österreichische Firme hat mir wiederholt in neuerer Zeit geschrieben, um meine Meinung darüber zu hören, ob es sich für sie empfiehlt Stickstoff und Wasserstoff im großen katalytisch zu Ammoniak zu vereinigen. Darauf habe ich mit einem Hinweis auf die niedrigen Kosten der Ammoniakgewinnung im Nebenprodukt [der] Kokerei-Betriebe geantwortet. Dieser Hinweis hat die Neigung der Firma nicht vermindert die Ammoniakbereitung auf dem erwähnten Weg zu verfolgen. Nun hat mir ein ausländischer Kollege beim Kongress in Berlin erzählt, daß Sie, hoch geehrter Herr Geheimrat, diese Frage studiert und bis zur Ausarbeitung eines technisch gangbaren Weges gefördert hätten. Ich bitte Sie deshalb mich wissen zu lassen, ob es Ihnen angenehm ist, wenn ich die Österreichische Firma veranlasse, sich an Sie zu wenden. Es leitet auch dabei der Gedanke, daß es Ihnen vielleicht erwünscht ist, wenn eine kapitalkräftige und ehrenwerte Firma die technische Durchführung in die Hand nimmt, während dieser Firma nichts wertvoller sein könnte, als Sie zum Berater zu haben. Ich möchte aber hinzufügen, daß ich, gesetzt den Fall, daß Sie auf die Sache eintreten, für die schließliche Durchführung nicht gut sagen kann, da ich weder dem österreichischen Hause nahe genug stehe, um einen entscheidenden Einfluß zu üben noch verhehlen möchte, daß industrielle Unternehmungen auf österreichischem Boden auch von den solidesten und stärksten Firmen oft geplant und ziemlich selten realisiert werden.”
9.
While visiting a sodium hydroxide and chlorine site near Niagara Falls, Haber wrote (Haber 1903b), “that it was confirmed to me by an American paper industrialist that the chlorinated lime [bleaching powder] fulfills all expectations […] However, the chlorinated lime works of the company are also cause for concern. The complaints of the inhabitants in the city, the dead trees in the area, the white powder on the roofs of the building [where the chlorinated lime is produced] reveal the sensitive losses [of the chemical]. But these shortcomings cannot detract from findings about the electrolytic method and its value.” German: “Dass der Chlorkalk nun allen Ansprüchen genügt, ist mir von einem amerikanischen Papierindustriellen bestätigt worden […] Immerhin giebt der Chlorkalkbetrieb der Firma noch immer zu Bedenken Anlass. Die Klagen der Einwohner in der Stadt, die abgestorbenen Bäume in der Umgebung, die weiss bestaubten Dächer des Chlorkalkhauses verraten empfindliche Chlorkalkverluste. Aber diese Mängel können das Urteil über das elektrolytische Verfahren und seinen Wert nicht beeinträchtigen.”
10.
“Keines der Niagara-Unternehmungen hat in der Welt mehr Interesse gefunden, als das der Atmospheric Products Co., welche den atmosphärischen Stickstoff zu Salpetersaure zu oxydieren unternimmt. So wichtig dieses Unternehmen ist, so kann ich nicht leugnen, dass seine Entwicklungsphase nach dem, was darüber durch die Blätter gegangen ist, mich ein wenig enttäuscht hat. Ich erwartete einen Betrieb zu finden und traf einen Versuchsapparat, welcher freilich von sehr grossem Interesse ist, nach meinem Urteil aber den technischen Ausgang noch nicht sicher voraussehen lässt.”
11.
“Der Umstand, dass die Atmospheric Products Co. eine Ausführung im grossen Maassstabe unternehmen will, lässt schliessen, dass sie bei den heutigen Preisen [der Rohstoffe] der derzeitigen Salpetersäureproduktion, eine Rentabilität fur gesichert hält. Wenn es sich…weiter bestätigt, dass die Abnutzung der Elektroden eine durchaus verschwindende ist, so hängt die Wirtschaftlichkeit in der That lediglich an den Kosten der Kraft und an den Kosten der Aufarbeitung dieser dünnen nitrosen Gase zu starker Salpetersaure ab. Wenn es möglich wäre, mit einem Gemenge von Calciumnitrit und Calciumnitrat statt mit Chilisalpeter [sic] zu düngen, so würde die Absorption der dünnen nitrosen Dämpfe mit Kalk und die Verwendung dieser Masse in der Landwirtschaft die grössten Hoffnungen bieten. Denn die Salpetersäure kostet in der Gestalt des 95 prozentigen Chilisalpeters 24 bis 25 Mk. pro 100 kg, während jenes Gemenge von Calciumnitrat und Calciumnitrit voraussichtlich billiger herzustellen wäre […] Das grosse Problem liegt darin, die der Erschöpfung entgegengehenden Salpeterlager in [der] Atacama [Wüste in Chile] durch ein Verfahren entbehrlich zu machen, welches Salpetersäure aus der Luft zu gewinnen ermöglicht. Nächst der Landwirtschaft, die weitaus den grössten Teil der Salpetererzeugung aufnimmt, ist die Sprengstoffindustrie der bedeutendste Konsument.”
12.
“Aus nitrosen Dämpfen mit Luft konzentrierte Salpetersäure zu machen, ist ein altes und bisher nie voll befriedigend gelöstes Problem der anorganischen Technik. Der elektrochemische Erfolg der Atmospheric Products Co. verleiht diesem anorganisch-technischen Desideratum vermehrten Nachdruck. Eine fertige neue Industrie liegt also noch nicht vor. Immerhin darf nicht verkannt werden, dass hier ein hoch bedeutsamer Schritt geschehen ist…”.
13.
“Es ist doch nun einmal so, daß Analysen des Unterrichts Fundament sind…wo soll das Interesse an diesen [stofflichen] Dingen beim Student herkommen, wenn der Professor es nicht hat und der kann’s nicht haben, wenn er ganz anderer geistiger Arbeitsrichtung folgt […] Gewiss soll der eine mehr dies, der andere mehr jenes treiben. Aber gemeinsam muß bleiben, daß die analytische Bildung der jungen Leute von den anorganischen Lehrstellen aus durch ein besonderes Interesse der Lehrenden gefördert wird, sonst gehen wir immer wieder zurück.”
14.
“Die physicalische Chemie ist hier schlechterdings der führende Zweig der Faches. In fast allen Universtäten, die ich besucht habe…sind physicochemiker diejenigen jüngeren Kräfte, die ganz unzweifelhaft wissenschaftlich innerhalb der Facultät führen und dafür auch von den anderen Fachgenossen angesehen werden […] Generell bedeutet organische Chemie hier nicht mehr als Gaschemie, als Lehrfach in Deutschland.”
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Johnson, B. (2022). Fritz Haber’s Work and Thought as He Began Work on Ammonia Synthesis.
In: Making Ammonia. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85532-1_10
