episode has become something of a mystery, for these were years of commercial secrecy.
A few papers spread over almost 20 years, and four crucial industrial
patents—some submitted jointly by both Haber and Le Rossignol—have
allowed us to form an understanding of the technology they developed during
the period from April 1908 to July 1909. But biographers have uncovered
little regarding the ‘inspiration and the perspiration’ involved in the discovery
of high-pressure fixation e.g., the division of work, the individual contributions and the provenance of the technical innovations they employed.
According to Haber’s biographer Margit Szöllözi-Janze, Haber never tired of
praising the contributions of Le Rossignol and indeed Kirchenbauer, but in
this regard she says; ‘there is hardly any … precise biographical information
available …’.
3 Szöllözi-Janze also maintains that these two men were largely
responsible for the machine Mittasch and Krantz saw that day, but she is
unable to describe in detail the nature of any laboratory work they did
together. However, she maintains that Le Rossignol’s contribution was
‘decisive’.
3
Even so, Le Rossignol has sometimes been treated as a
‘Johnny-come-lately’ in the story of ammonia synthesis, ‘magically’ appearing
on the scene with his gift ‘for solving problems of practical engineering’,
4
constructing the high-pressure apparatus and then ‘disappearing’. But previous chapters have shown that this is simply not true. For three years, Le
Rossignol was at the heart of the ammonia synthesis in both an experimental
and an engineering sense. And even though we have little understanding of
their relationship, he was a much more important figure than Kirchenbauer, a
conjecture we confirm later in Chap. 18. Dietrich Stoltzenberg—himself a
chemist—is another biographer who has accepted that it was Le Rossignol
alone who brought the apparatus to the point where the BASF finally adopted
it,
5 and of course what we do know, is that unlike Le Rossignol, Haber never
entered into any kind of private financial contract with Kirchenbauer, neither
did he submit any patents nor publish any papers with him. Indeed, communication between the two must have been difficult, because Haber could
not understand Kirchenbauer’s Pfälzer dialect
6 and these facts alone surely
stand as testament regarding the relative importance of these two men.
Amazingly too, ever since Jaenicke deposited his ‘treasure trove’ at the MPG
Archives,
6 evidence has existed that confirms this understanding, but it has
lain dormant, and now with the appearance of Chirnside’s transcript of his
conversation with Robert in 1976,
7 we are able to add a little more detail. But
158
D. Sheppard
A few papers spread over almost 20 years, and four crucial industrial
patents—some submitted jointly by both Haber and Le Rossignol—have
allowed us to form an understanding of the technology they developed during
the period from April 1908 to July 1909. But biographers have uncovered
little regarding the ‘inspiration and the perspiration’ involved in the discovery
of high-pressure fixation e.g., the division of work, the individual contributions and the provenance of the technical innovations they employed.
According to Haber’s biographer Margit Szöllözi-Janze, Haber never tired of
praising the contributions of Le Rossignol and indeed Kirchenbauer, but in
this regard she says; ‘there is hardly any … precise biographical information
available …’.
3 Szöllözi-Janze also maintains that these two men were largely
responsible for the machine Mittasch and Krantz saw that day, but she is
unable to describe in detail the nature of any laboratory work they did
together. However, she maintains that Le Rossignol’s contribution was
‘decisive’.
3
Even so, Le Rossignol has sometimes been treated as a
‘Johnny-come-lately’ in the story of ammonia synthesis, ‘magically’ appearing
on the scene with his gift ‘for solving problems of practical engineering’,
4
constructing the high-pressure apparatus and then ‘disappearing’. But previous chapters have shown that this is simply not true. For three years, Le
Rossignol was at the heart of the ammonia synthesis in both an experimental
and an engineering sense. And even though we have little understanding of
their relationship, he was a much more important figure than Kirchenbauer, a
conjecture we confirm later in Chap. 18. Dietrich Stoltzenberg—himself a
chemist—is another biographer who has accepted that it was Le Rossignol
alone who brought the apparatus to the point where the BASF finally adopted
it,
5 and of course what we do know, is that unlike Le Rossignol, Haber never
entered into any kind of private financial contract with Kirchenbauer, neither
did he submit any patents nor publish any papers with him. Indeed, communication between the two must have been difficult, because Haber could
not understand Kirchenbauer’s Pfälzer dialect
6 and these facts alone surely
stand as testament regarding the relative importance of these two men.
Amazingly too, ever since Jaenicke deposited his ‘treasure trove’ at the MPG
Archives,
6 evidence has existed that confirms this understanding, but it has
lain dormant, and now with the appearance of Chirnside’s transcript of his
conversation with Robert in 1976,
7 we are able to add a little more detail. But
158
D. Sheppard