Great Britain and Ireland, (later of course, the Royal Institute/Society of
Chemistry). Additionally, in November 1921 the 1920 Nobel Prize for
Chemistry was awarded to Walther Nernst, a prize that the work of Haber
and Le Rossignol was widely acknowledged as helping justify. By 1921
Nernst had gathered 90 nominations in Physics and Chemistry.
55 Like
Haber, Nernst’s involvement in the war also brought criticism as yet another
German scientist received the highest award. But the tenor of doubt seemed
to fade away from the nominations received after 1916. The successful
synthesis of artificial ammonia supported by the experimentation and the
theoretical calculations performed by Haber and Le Rossignol using Nernst’s
approximation formula (Chaps. 5 and 6), was considered by many at the time
to be a robust verification of the heat theorem.
56 But in the records of the
Nobel committee, this theorem alone was not the main reason for his award
—indeed the draft of the award citation was modified at the very last minute
to delete the remark ‘with special emphasis on his heat theorem’
57
—possibly
because of its use in the history of ammonia synthesis and the subsequent
controversy surrounding that technology. Rather it was offered
58 to Nernst by
the committee in a wider less contentious sense, ‘as recognition of the
exceptional merit of your work on thermochemistry’, and as van’t Hoff,
Ostwald and Arrhenius had already received the prize, with this latest award
all four founding fathers of physical chemistry had been recognised and
indeed Haber and Le Rossignol had surely played their part. Nernst made his
acceptance speech on 12 December 1921
59 and whatever the opinion of the
Nobel committee he made it clear from the outset that it would ‘best fulfill
my obligation to give a lecture relating to my prize-winning publications, if I
discussed my heat theorem …’. Even so, there was no mention of Haber and
Le Rossignol in his speech and like Haber, Nernst also kept his money
(134,100 SEK
50
) in a Swedish bank.
57
15.5 More Matters Financial
After the Nobel awards, and especially over the years from 1923–1924,
Haber’s financial arrangements with the BASF became even more complex.
Accurately tracing the amounts involved and any subsequent payment(s) to
Robert becomes impossible as there is only fragmentary evidence available.
However, during these years when Haber was paid in essentially worthless
paper Marks (Sect. 15.4), Szöllössi-Janze
60 describes traces of a further
financial settlement between himself and the BASF, but nobody knows of its
exact conditions. Some talk about a very generous settlement to protect
344
D. Sheppard
Chemistry). Additionally, in November 1921 the 1920 Nobel Prize for
Chemistry was awarded to Walther Nernst, a prize that the work of Haber
and Le Rossignol was widely acknowledged as helping justify. By 1921
Nernst had gathered 90 nominations in Physics and Chemistry.
55 Like
Haber, Nernst’s involvement in the war also brought criticism as yet another
German scientist received the highest award. But the tenor of doubt seemed
to fade away from the nominations received after 1916. The successful
synthesis of artificial ammonia supported by the experimentation and the
theoretical calculations performed by Haber and Le Rossignol using Nernst’s
approximation formula (Chaps. 5 and 6), was considered by many at the time
to be a robust verification of the heat theorem.
56 But in the records of the
Nobel committee, this theorem alone was not the main reason for his award
—indeed the draft of the award citation was modified at the very last minute
to delete the remark ‘with special emphasis on his heat theorem’
57
—possibly
because of its use in the history of ammonia synthesis and the subsequent
controversy surrounding that technology. Rather it was offered
58 to Nernst by
the committee in a wider less contentious sense, ‘as recognition of the
exceptional merit of your work on thermochemistry’, and as van’t Hoff,
Ostwald and Arrhenius had already received the prize, with this latest award
all four founding fathers of physical chemistry had been recognised and
indeed Haber and Le Rossignol had surely played their part. Nernst made his
acceptance speech on 12 December 1921
59 and whatever the opinion of the
Nobel committee he made it clear from the outset that it would ‘best fulfill
my obligation to give a lecture relating to my prize-winning publications, if I
discussed my heat theorem …’. Even so, there was no mention of Haber and
Le Rossignol in his speech and like Haber, Nernst also kept his money
(134,100 SEK
50
) in a Swedish bank.
57
15.5 More Matters Financial
After the Nobel awards, and especially over the years from 1923–1924,
Haber’s financial arrangements with the BASF became even more complex.
Accurately tracing the amounts involved and any subsequent payment(s) to
Robert becomes impossible as there is only fragmentary evidence available.
However, during these years when Haber was paid in essentially worthless
paper Marks (Sect. 15.4), Szöllössi-Janze
60 describes traces of a further
financial settlement between himself and the BASF, but nobody knows of its
exact conditions. Some talk about a very generous settlement to protect
344
D. Sheppard