claims were presented by the patent attorneys. Late in the morning Richard
Weidlich, the Hoechst attorney, presented a thorough justification of their
suit to which Bernthsen had managed only a modest, unconvincing reply.
Then suddenly, his principal witness Nernst, whose fundamental contribution to the ammonia synthesis he had just praised, marched into the courtroom ‘arm in arm’ with Haber in a tangible gesture of confidence and unity.
Nernst proceeded to deliver a passionate defence of Haber in which he
described his own work as of ‘scientific interest’ only and of ‘no technical
relevance’. Nernst explained how only Haber–Le Rossignol had created the
‘prerequisites for a technical success by investigating new pressure ranges’ and
anyone who could not see that must be technically ‘blind’. Nernst’s evidence
was devastating. So much so that soon after, Weidlich turned to his assistant
and told him ‘we can go home’.
7 At 3.33 p.m. on 04 March 1912, Bernthsen
telegraphed the BASF management, ‘Hoechst’s nullity suit against our ammonia
pressure patent rejected, and they are to pay costs.’
8 The patent was ‘in the bag’
and little of what the BASF had achieved up until then had been divulged. It
was the perfect outcome and not just for the BASF but for Haber and Robert
as well, for their royalty payments from the BASF depended upon ‘the profits
from any patentable development’. Realising the advanced state of the technical progress of the ammonia synthesis, these two men could now look
forward to substantial earnings over the fifteen years of a patent protection at
the time.
We know too that, sometime after the patent challenges were rejected—the
date is vague—Robert met Nernst at the ‘Auer’. Nernst told him that even he
could not have done the ammonia work better, to which Robert replied, ‘Herr
Geheimrat, es war auch mit Ihre Hilfe …’ (it was also with your help) and
Nernst, he said, ‘swallowed it like butter’,
9 a story Robert also re-told to
Chirnside in 1976.
10 Later, when Nernst was in a ‘good mood’, he invited
Robert to meet Einstein at a dinner given by Nernst at the Automobile Club
in Berlin. ‘As a young man I was glad to meet Einstein’,
9 he said. With success
at the courts, dining at the high table of the European scientific elite, life was
good for Robert and it may not be entirely coincidental that few months later
—December 1912—Emily fell pregnant again.
12.2 Let Me Publish Be Damned!
With ‘matters patent’ now resolved, with Lu35 producing 11 tonnes of
ammonia annually, and construction of the Oppau plant imminent, Haber
felt free to turn to issues of publication. During the time he had left at
226
D. Sheppard
Weidlich, the Hoechst attorney, presented a thorough justification of their
suit to which Bernthsen had managed only a modest, unconvincing reply.
Then suddenly, his principal witness Nernst, whose fundamental contribution to the ammonia synthesis he had just praised, marched into the courtroom ‘arm in arm’ with Haber in a tangible gesture of confidence and unity.
Nernst proceeded to deliver a passionate defence of Haber in which he
described his own work as of ‘scientific interest’ only and of ‘no technical
relevance’. Nernst explained how only Haber–Le Rossignol had created the
‘prerequisites for a technical success by investigating new pressure ranges’ and
anyone who could not see that must be technically ‘blind’. Nernst’s evidence
was devastating. So much so that soon after, Weidlich turned to his assistant
and told him ‘we can go home’.
7 At 3.33 p.m. on 04 March 1912, Bernthsen
telegraphed the BASF management, ‘Hoechst’s nullity suit against our ammonia
pressure patent rejected, and they are to pay costs.’
8 The patent was ‘in the bag’
and little of what the BASF had achieved up until then had been divulged. It
was the perfect outcome and not just for the BASF but for Haber and Robert
as well, for their royalty payments from the BASF depended upon ‘the profits
from any patentable development’. Realising the advanced state of the technical progress of the ammonia synthesis, these two men could now look
forward to substantial earnings over the fifteen years of a patent protection at
the time.
We know too that, sometime after the patent challenges were rejected—the
date is vague—Robert met Nernst at the ‘Auer’. Nernst told him that even he
could not have done the ammonia work better, to which Robert replied, ‘Herr
Geheimrat, es war auch mit Ihre Hilfe …’ (it was also with your help) and
Nernst, he said, ‘swallowed it like butter’,
9 a story Robert also re-told to
Chirnside in 1976.
10 Later, when Nernst was in a ‘good mood’, he invited
Robert to meet Einstein at a dinner given by Nernst at the Automobile Club
in Berlin. ‘As a young man I was glad to meet Einstein’,
9 he said. With success
at the courts, dining at the high table of the European scientific elite, life was
good for Robert and it may not be entirely coincidental that few months later
—December 1912—Emily fell pregnant again.
12.2 Let Me Publish Be Damned!
With ‘matters patent’ now resolved, with Lu35 producing 11 tonnes of
ammonia annually, and construction of the Oppau plant imminent, Haber
felt free to turn to issues of publication. During the time he had left at
226
D. Sheppard