effect, his evidence for the existence of atoms, and his monumental E = mc
2
,
took decades to influence the lives of ordinary folk, the vast majority of whom
even today remain utterly ignorant of the ways in which Einstein has marched
into their lives. But within a few years of the publication of %NH 3 @
equil. = 0.012%, (Chap. 2) the most influential technology of the 20th
century was born, carving out the Europe—and indeed the world—we live in
today. The first half of the century may have belonged to physics, the second
half to biology, but the equation that defined the century is, N 2(g) + 3H 2(g)
2NH 3(g) , and it belongs to chemistry. It is for this, above all else that has
passed, that we should remember Fritz Haber.
16.4 11 Carlyle Road Cambridge, May 1934
Fritz Haber died a German-Swiss citizen, and his estate probably avoided the
Reichsfluchtsteuer.
23 Neither were his young children to inherit the rights of a
second class citizenship, for soon both ‘Lutz’ and Eva became British citizens.
28
Haber’s passing was recorded briefly in The Times on Saturday 03 February
1934, and then more fully in an Obituary by Professor
H. E. Armstrong, FRS, on the following Tuesday, who begged leave to ‘pay
unreserved tribute to the service rendered to all nations by our gifted German
colleague …’ Each article recorded Haber’s honourable exit from Germany, his
recent stay at Cambridge, and the importance ‘to civilization’ of his fixation
work (‘with Bosch’). There is little doubt that these articles were read by Robert
and the family, but (quite understandably) neither mentioned ‘the
Englishman, Le Rossignol …’ as had sometimes been the case in the British
Press both before and after the war; for these were eulogies for just one man.
Robert’s prediction that ‘my name will not be remembered for big things’
however, was being fulfilled, but for those who knew the real story, the public
praise of Haber only served to emphasise how important a piece of chemistry
went on at Karlsruhe between 1906–1909. One ‘in-the-know’ of course was
young Peter Walter, now an undergraduate at Cambridge during Haber’s stay
there, reading chemistry as part of his Natural Sciences degree. Although
Cambridge was littered with famous men, Peter must have been immensely
proud of his father, or ‘Daddy’ as Robert was affectionately known. One cannot
help feeling too that, in time, Robert may have thought of meeting Haber once
more at Cambridge, possibly accompanied by Peter, but in the event we know
that it never happened, Robert later recalling in a letter to Jaenicke (Chap. 18);
‘I very much regret that I did not see him during his stay in Cambridge …’.
16 The GEC Laboratories 1930–1939
383
2
,
took decades to influence the lives of ordinary folk, the vast majority of whom
even today remain utterly ignorant of the ways in which Einstein has marched
into their lives. But within a few years of the publication of %NH 3 @
equil. = 0.012%, (Chap. 2) the most influential technology of the 20th
century was born, carving out the Europe—and indeed the world—we live in
today. The first half of the century may have belonged to physics, the second
half to biology, but the equation that defined the century is, N 2(g) + 3H 2(g)
2NH 3(g) , and it belongs to chemistry. It is for this, above all else that has
passed, that we should remember Fritz Haber.
16.4 11 Carlyle Road Cambridge, May 1934
Fritz Haber died a German-Swiss citizen, and his estate probably avoided the
Reichsfluchtsteuer.
23 Neither were his young children to inherit the rights of a
second class citizenship, for soon both ‘Lutz’ and Eva became British citizens.
28
Haber’s passing was recorded briefly in The Times on Saturday 03 February
1934, and then more fully in an Obituary by Professor
H. E. Armstrong, FRS, on the following Tuesday, who begged leave to ‘pay
unreserved tribute to the service rendered to all nations by our gifted German
colleague …’ Each article recorded Haber’s honourable exit from Germany, his
recent stay at Cambridge, and the importance ‘to civilization’ of his fixation
work (‘with Bosch’). There is little doubt that these articles were read by Robert
and the family, but (quite understandably) neither mentioned ‘the
Englishman, Le Rossignol …’ as had sometimes been the case in the British
Press both before and after the war; for these were eulogies for just one man.
Robert’s prediction that ‘my name will not be remembered for big things’
however, was being fulfilled, but for those who knew the real story, the public
praise of Haber only served to emphasise how important a piece of chemistry
went on at Karlsruhe between 1906–1909. One ‘in-the-know’ of course was
young Peter Walter, now an undergraduate at Cambridge during Haber’s stay
there, reading chemistry as part of his Natural Sciences degree. Although
Cambridge was littered with famous men, Peter must have been immensely
proud of his father, or ‘Daddy’ as Robert was affectionately known. One cannot
help feeling too that, in time, Robert may have thought of meeting Haber once
more at Cambridge, possibly accompanied by Peter, but in the event we know
that it never happened, Robert later recalling in a letter to Jaenicke (Chap. 18);
‘I very much regret that I did not see him during his stay in Cambridge …’.
16 The GEC Laboratories 1930–1939
383