Iron of course was an old friend of Haber’s, never-the-less he was utterly
surprised by the BASF’s conclusions which seemed to run counter to all that
he had expected. He wrote back immediately congratulating everyone
involved and added with amazement …
Here iron, with which Ostwald first worked and which we then tested hundreds of times in its pure state, now is found to function when impure! It
strikes me again how one should follow every track to its end.
2
With this critically important development following on so closely after the
successful demonstration in the previous summer, Haber began to get
impatient with the BASF regarding the publication of his work. The BASF of
course wanted as little as possible to reach the public regarding progress and
Haber felt frustrated. The suffocating secrecy even extended to Haber’s laboratory at Karlsruhe which had to remain barred to unauthorised entry and
this led to tension within the Institute. January and February therefore saw
much to-ing and fro-ing between Karlsruhe and Ludwigshafen as Haber
repeatedly put his case for some form of public recognition of his work.
The BASF eventually agreed, and a meeting was arranged for 18 March 1910
at the Scientific Union in Karlsruhe. Haber’s talk was to be titled, ‘Making
Nitrogen Usable’, but the BASF of course insisted that the detail of just how
this was achieved remain secret.
10.2 18 February 1910, St. Helier, Jersey
With Haber ‘taking care of business’ at Karlsruhe, Robert was able to concentrate on ‘getting his feet under the desk’ at the ‘Auer’ in Berlin, but he had
hardly done so before the second tragedy of his young life struck, with the
sudden death of his father, Augustin, in St. Helier. In less than five years
Edith had lost her eldest son and her husband, both taken from her by brief,
fatal and unexpected illness. Jurat Le Rossignol had been in attendance at the
State’s Royal Court as recently as the Tuesday before his death, and though it
was apparent that he was not in his usual health no-one dreamt for a moment
that his end was so near. By the afternoon of 18 February, he had passed away
quietly in his sleep at his home in Caesarea Place - family at his side. His
Obituary appeared in the local Jersey Evening Post, The Daily Telegraph, the
Jersey Times and the British Medical Journal for March 1910 (Plate 10.1).
200
D. Sheppard
surprised by the BASF’s conclusions which seemed to run counter to all that
he had expected. He wrote back immediately congratulating everyone
involved and added with amazement …
Here iron, with which Ostwald first worked and which we then tested hundreds of times in its pure state, now is found to function when impure! It
strikes me again how one should follow every track to its end.
2
With this critically important development following on so closely after the
successful demonstration in the previous summer, Haber began to get
impatient with the BASF regarding the publication of his work. The BASF of
course wanted as little as possible to reach the public regarding progress and
Haber felt frustrated. The suffocating secrecy even extended to Haber’s laboratory at Karlsruhe which had to remain barred to unauthorised entry and
this led to tension within the Institute. January and February therefore saw
much to-ing and fro-ing between Karlsruhe and Ludwigshafen as Haber
repeatedly put his case for some form of public recognition of his work.
The BASF eventually agreed, and a meeting was arranged for 18 March 1910
at the Scientific Union in Karlsruhe. Haber’s talk was to be titled, ‘Making
Nitrogen Usable’, but the BASF of course insisted that the detail of just how
this was achieved remain secret.
10.2 18 February 1910, St. Helier, Jersey
With Haber ‘taking care of business’ at Karlsruhe, Robert was able to concentrate on ‘getting his feet under the desk’ at the ‘Auer’ in Berlin, but he had
hardly done so before the second tragedy of his young life struck, with the
sudden death of his father, Augustin, in St. Helier. In less than five years
Edith had lost her eldest son and her husband, both taken from her by brief,
fatal and unexpected illness. Jurat Le Rossignol had been in attendance at the
State’s Royal Court as recently as the Tuesday before his death, and though it
was apparent that he was not in his usual health no-one dreamt for a moment
that his end was so near. By the afternoon of 18 February, he had passed away
quietly in his sleep at his home in Caesarea Place - family at his side. His
Obituary appeared in the local Jersey Evening Post, The Daily Telegraph, the
Jersey Times and the British Medical Journal for March 1910 (Plate 10.1).
200
D. Sheppard