8.6 The End Game at Karlsruhe
This was an exciting time for Robert to be with Haber, but along with their
solution of the ammonia problem came some ‘loose ends’ to tie up. Being
scientists, their instincts were to communicate their discovery through the
literature and so they quickly wrote up their account ready for publication.
However, because of the commercial secrecy imposed by BASF, this was not
to happen for some time yet. For Robert there was an additional task, for
alongside his work on the ammonia synthesis he had still been working on the
original problem that Haber set him when he came to Karlsruhe viz., the
study of the dissociation of carbon dioxide in the carbon monoxide flame,
and the two men wrote, then quickly published, their paper on the subject.
44
As a final ‘tidying up’ exercise, Robert published a single page paper
45 entitled, ‘A simple precision regulating valve’ in which he described his new conical
high-pressure valve to the German scientific community. In time, it was to
make his name famous across Germany.
With his affairs at Karlsruhe now in order Robert would have been
available to involve himself in the technical development of the ammonia
Fig. 8.6 The partygoers! Haber’s staff in the summer of 1909 outside the TH Karlsruhe.
Robert is seated second from the left and looking particularly pleased with himself.
Courtesy of the Archive der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Berlin-Dahlem
178
D. Sheppard
This was an exciting time for Robert to be with Haber, but along with their
solution of the ammonia problem came some ‘loose ends’ to tie up. Being
scientists, their instincts were to communicate their discovery through the
literature and so they quickly wrote up their account ready for publication.
However, because of the commercial secrecy imposed by BASF, this was not
to happen for some time yet. For Robert there was an additional task, for
alongside his work on the ammonia synthesis he had still been working on the
original problem that Haber set him when he came to Karlsruhe viz., the
study of the dissociation of carbon dioxide in the carbon monoxide flame,
and the two men wrote, then quickly published, their paper on the subject.
44
As a final ‘tidying up’ exercise, Robert published a single page paper
45 entitled, ‘A simple precision regulating valve’ in which he described his new conical
high-pressure valve to the German scientific community. In time, it was to
make his name famous across Germany.
With his affairs at Karlsruhe now in order Robert would have been
available to involve himself in the technical development of the ammonia
Fig. 8.6 The partygoers! Haber’s staff in the summer of 1909 outside the TH Karlsruhe.
Robert is seated second from the left and looking particularly pleased with himself.
Courtesy of the Archive der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Berlin-Dahlem
178
D. Sheppard