to his appointment as Privatdozent
25 at the Institute at the age of just 27. At
long last Haber had success, and the best kind of success too, success through
his own efforts. Thrilled, he sent a copy of the dissertation to Ostwald who
reviewed it positively in print but failed to respond with an invitation to his
laboratory. If that was Haber’s intention it was the third time Ostwald had
rejected him and understandably so too. By this time physical chemistry had
become an established discipline and talented scientists from all over the
world were fighting for places with Ostwald, Nernst and Arrhenius. This
‘establishment’ regarded Haber as mediocre.
2.7 Hans Luggin and Electrochemistry
Haber determined that he was going to have to make his own way in physical
chemistry and his use of bond dissociation energies was his attempt to
modernise orthodox organic chemistry by placing it on a firm theoretical
basis. ‘Haber’s Rule’ had exceptions and it was only a broad generalisation,
but it was one based on rigour and it permitted a degree of inference. In later
years Haber was to admit that his poor grasp of the mathematical concepts
limited his initial understanding and application of physical chemistry but
this was about to change with the arrival at Karlsruhe in 1896 of a young able
Austrian chemist named Hans Luggin. Luggin came straight from one of the
most dynamic centres of European physical chemistry, the laboratory of
Svante Arrhenius in Stockholm. He and Haber became firm friends and
Luggin provided Haber with the stimulation of the ‘shock of the new’,
becoming his guide to his reading in physical chemistry and casting doubt on
the notion that he was entirely self taught. Luggin’s main interests were in
chemical thermodynamics and electrochemistry and he and Haber discussed
the concepts involved endlessly.
Soon after Luggin’s arrival, Haber began work as an electrochemist, his first
major project being an examination of the electrolytic reduction of ‘nitrobenzene’, (C 6 H 5 NO 2 ).
1 Haber’s choice of nitrobenzene stemmed from his
background in organic chemistry and it was natural for him to begin on
familiar ground. But there was a second reason. Recent studies had shown
that the reduction led to a number of products, the nature and relative
proportions of which appeared to depend on a number of factors such as pH,
current density, current duration and the nature of the metal used as an
electrode, none of which were remotely understood. Furthermore, reduction
was supposed to be effected by ‘nascent’
26 hydrogen but there seemed to be
great variation in the reducing power of the hydrogen leading to the different
2 Fritz Haber and Karlsruhe
49
25 at the Institute at the age of just 27. At
long last Haber had success, and the best kind of success too, success through
his own efforts. Thrilled, he sent a copy of the dissertation to Ostwald who
reviewed it positively in print but failed to respond with an invitation to his
laboratory. If that was Haber’s intention it was the third time Ostwald had
rejected him and understandably so too. By this time physical chemistry had
become an established discipline and talented scientists from all over the
world were fighting for places with Ostwald, Nernst and Arrhenius. This
‘establishment’ regarded Haber as mediocre.
2.7 Hans Luggin and Electrochemistry
Haber determined that he was going to have to make his own way in physical
chemistry and his use of bond dissociation energies was his attempt to
modernise orthodox organic chemistry by placing it on a firm theoretical
basis. ‘Haber’s Rule’ had exceptions and it was only a broad generalisation,
but it was one based on rigour and it permitted a degree of inference. In later
years Haber was to admit that his poor grasp of the mathematical concepts
limited his initial understanding and application of physical chemistry but
this was about to change with the arrival at Karlsruhe in 1896 of a young able
Austrian chemist named Hans Luggin. Luggin came straight from one of the
most dynamic centres of European physical chemistry, the laboratory of
Svante Arrhenius in Stockholm. He and Haber became firm friends and
Luggin provided Haber with the stimulation of the ‘shock of the new’,
becoming his guide to his reading in physical chemistry and casting doubt on
the notion that he was entirely self taught. Luggin’s main interests were in
chemical thermodynamics and electrochemistry and he and Haber discussed
the concepts involved endlessly.
Soon after Luggin’s arrival, Haber began work as an electrochemist, his first
major project being an examination of the electrolytic reduction of ‘nitrobenzene’, (C 6 H 5 NO 2 ).
1 Haber’s choice of nitrobenzene stemmed from his
background in organic chemistry and it was natural for him to begin on
familiar ground. But there was a second reason. Recent studies had shown
that the reduction led to a number of products, the nature and relative
proportions of which appeared to depend on a number of factors such as pH,
current density, current duration and the nature of the metal used as an
electrode, none of which were remotely understood. Furthermore, reduction
was supposed to be effected by ‘nascent’
26 hydrogen but there seemed to be
great variation in the reducing power of the hydrogen leading to the different
2 Fritz Haber and Karlsruhe
49