perfected a technology which they subsequently exported by designing, and
then installing their equipment, in broadcasting stations all over the world.
Now one can hardly credit Robert Le Rossignol alone with the perfection
of the cooled anode valve, but equally it is undeniable that once again his
‘fingerprints were all over the technology’, a technology that helped lay the
foundations of the world of telecommunication we live in today. Resolving
the problems of CAT valve construction, its attendant modulation and
cooling system(s) were to be Robert’s greatest technical contribution to the
Wembley Laboratories but his knowledge and experience, crystalised for us in
his 1936 paper, was to see him influencing developments in a range of other
valves in coming years. The techniques he developed, particularly the
glass-to-metal seals, were equally applicable to smaller valves. These became
increasingly important to the Laboratories as the decade progressed and they
in turn were to meet the requirements for power valves in radar and navigation in the 1939–45 war. But by the early 1930s, with Robert now in his
mid-to-late 40 s and firmly established at Wembley, he was not only progressing technical innovation but also beginning to develop in a more
managerial sense. By the end of the decade he was to take charge of the
production of valves for the war effort, the kind of role well known to his
‘dear old professor and friend, Haber’ (Chap. 18) who he may have met again
in London in 1933 (Sect. 16.3). But whereas Robert’s professional career was
blossoming, Haber, by now a tired old man, battling illness, financial worries,
the dispossession of all he held dear, and suffering the tragedy of the German
Jew,
17 was entering his final years. The relationship between these two
friends, broken by the first world war but re-formed during the 1920s, was
about to be broken again, but this time forever.
16.3 Fritz Jacob Haber—Dispossession
and Disillusion
When Robert wrote his appreciation of Haber’s life for the Die
Naturwissenschaften ‘festschrift’ in December 1928, (Chap. 8) Haber’s
Institute was a centre of world class research. But although Haber had
regained much of his energy and enthusiasm after the physical and emotional
devastation of the Great War, the years from 1928 to 1933 were difficult ones
for him; the shame of the failure of his marriage to Charlotte, his financial
worries, his continued poor health and his worries about the future for
Germany all weighed heavily. The Great depression of August 1929 in the
16 The GEC Laboratories 1930–1939
375
then installing their equipment, in broadcasting stations all over the world.
Now one can hardly credit Robert Le Rossignol alone with the perfection
of the cooled anode valve, but equally it is undeniable that once again his
‘fingerprints were all over the technology’, a technology that helped lay the
foundations of the world of telecommunication we live in today. Resolving
the problems of CAT valve construction, its attendant modulation and
cooling system(s) were to be Robert’s greatest technical contribution to the
Wembley Laboratories but his knowledge and experience, crystalised for us in
his 1936 paper, was to see him influencing developments in a range of other
valves in coming years. The techniques he developed, particularly the
glass-to-metal seals, were equally applicable to smaller valves. These became
increasingly important to the Laboratories as the decade progressed and they
in turn were to meet the requirements for power valves in radar and navigation in the 1939–45 war. But by the early 1930s, with Robert now in his
mid-to-late 40 s and firmly established at Wembley, he was not only progressing technical innovation but also beginning to develop in a more
managerial sense. By the end of the decade he was to take charge of the
production of valves for the war effort, the kind of role well known to his
‘dear old professor and friend, Haber’ (Chap. 18) who he may have met again
in London in 1933 (Sect. 16.3). But whereas Robert’s professional career was
blossoming, Haber, by now a tired old man, battling illness, financial worries,
the dispossession of all he held dear, and suffering the tragedy of the German
Jew,
17 was entering his final years. The relationship between these two
friends, broken by the first world war but re-formed during the 1920s, was
about to be broken again, but this time forever.
16.3 Fritz Jacob Haber—Dispossession
and Disillusion
When Robert wrote his appreciation of Haber’s life for the Die
Naturwissenschaften ‘festschrift’ in December 1928, (Chap. 8) Haber’s
Institute was a centre of world class research. But although Haber had
regained much of his energy and enthusiasm after the physical and emotional
devastation of the Great War, the years from 1928 to 1933 were difficult ones
for him; the shame of the failure of his marriage to Charlotte, his financial
worries, his continued poor health and his worries about the future for
Germany all weighed heavily. The Great depression of August 1929 in the
16 The GEC Laboratories 1930–1939
375