but after a vigorous and incontestable exposition of the evidence, the two men
announced that;
We cannot find that Herr Jost is right when he thinks that our numbers
correspond on the whole with his …
With both Nernst and Jost comprehensively chastised, the position of the
ammonia equilibrium at pressure was now unequivocally decided in favour of
Haber and Le Rossignol and these workers had produced more synthetic
ammonia than anyone else before—despite Nernst’s continued rantings.
6.6 The Legacy of ‘Bestimmung …’
Now revenge is sweet, but ‘Bestimmung ..’ provided something else really
quite surprising—for Haber at least. It wasn’t the fact that he was right about
the position of the equilibrium, nor was it the ease with which he achieved
agreement between theory and practise, but rather it was the ‘comfort’ with
which pressurised gases could be controlled and made to move through an
apparatus with an innovative but otherwise entirely conventional level of
technical engineering. This engineering design was provided of course by
Robert, and Haber was overwhelmed by his ability to plan and build apparatus calling him ‘a true engineer!’
28 Even Kirchenbauer, the department’s
most accomplished mechanic well versed in the construction of an eclectic
range of apparatus, stood in awe of Robert’s skill. But to put things into
context, Robert must have already known that the transport of gas(es) at high
pressure was fairly easily obtainable in engineering terms. After all, the
hydrogen liquefier at UCL was just a ‘Heath Robinson’ device constructed
from beer barrels, a steel tank, brass tubing, a student’s pump, and a compressor used for charging torpedo tubes. Yet this concoction easily circulated
hydrogen gas at 180 atm for many years. To Robert then, 30 atm must have
seemed an entirely achievable pressure and thanks to his time at UCL he
achieved it entirely.
By 1908 the ingredients for something spectacular were coming together at
Karlsruhe. The experimental and theoretical profiles of the ammonia equilibrium had been established beyond doubt and with Robert’s skills the seeds
of a viable technical solution had been sown. But who or what was to provide
the spark that was to ignite these workers to provide the most important
technological development of the 20th century? Well, surprise, surprise … it
was Nernst.
6 Bestimmung Des Ammoniakgleichgewichtes Unter Druck
141
announced that;
We cannot find that Herr Jost is right when he thinks that our numbers
correspond on the whole with his …
With both Nernst and Jost comprehensively chastised, the position of the
ammonia equilibrium at pressure was now unequivocally decided in favour of
Haber and Le Rossignol and these workers had produced more synthetic
ammonia than anyone else before—despite Nernst’s continued rantings.
6.6 The Legacy of ‘Bestimmung …’
Now revenge is sweet, but ‘Bestimmung ..’ provided something else really
quite surprising—for Haber at least. It wasn’t the fact that he was right about
the position of the equilibrium, nor was it the ease with which he achieved
agreement between theory and practise, but rather it was the ‘comfort’ with
which pressurised gases could be controlled and made to move through an
apparatus with an innovative but otherwise entirely conventional level of
technical engineering. This engineering design was provided of course by
Robert, and Haber was overwhelmed by his ability to plan and build apparatus calling him ‘a true engineer!’
28 Even Kirchenbauer, the department’s
most accomplished mechanic well versed in the construction of an eclectic
range of apparatus, stood in awe of Robert’s skill. But to put things into
context, Robert must have already known that the transport of gas(es) at high
pressure was fairly easily obtainable in engineering terms. After all, the
hydrogen liquefier at UCL was just a ‘Heath Robinson’ device constructed
from beer barrels, a steel tank, brass tubing, a student’s pump, and a compressor used for charging torpedo tubes. Yet this concoction easily circulated
hydrogen gas at 180 atm for many years. To Robert then, 30 atm must have
seemed an entirely achievable pressure and thanks to his time at UCL he
achieved it entirely.
By 1908 the ingredients for something spectacular were coming together at
Karlsruhe. The experimental and theoretical profiles of the ammonia equilibrium had been established beyond doubt and with Robert’s skills the seeds
of a viable technical solution had been sown. But who or what was to provide
the spark that was to ignite these workers to provide the most important
technological development of the 20th century? Well, surprise, surprise … it
was Nernst.
6 Bestimmung Des Ammoniakgleichgewichtes Unter Druck
141