products. To the established scientific community this behaviour was distinctly odd. Haber was keen to interpret the reduction process in terms of
modern theoretical knowledge and this he achieved brilliantly when he
explained the appearance of the various products by introducing, and then
explaining, the importance of the ‘electrode potential’.
Walther Nernst had recently proposed that the potential of a gas electrode
was determined by the ‘concentration’ of the gas in, or on the electrode, and
Haber realised that this potential, varying under the conditions of the various
experiments, determined the reducing power; higher potentials being
equivalent to using more powerful reducing agents. By careful variation of
this potential he was able to imitate the effect of using a series of chemical
reducing agents of increasing activity, leading to the production of an overlapping series of primary reduction products. The work also brilliantly
accounted for the apparent ‘varying activity’ of nascent hydrogen. Luggin too
had some influence in this work, suggesting to Haber the use of a device
(‘Luggin’s capillary’) which permitted the reference electrode to sit in a
separate chamber to the electrode under investigation, allowing its potential
to be established precisely.
27
Despite Haber’s inexperience in physical chemistry,
28 his work on
nitrobenzene was widely acclaimed and his performance at the fifth annual
congress of the German Electrochemical Society in Leipzig in 1898
announced his presence on the national and international scene. Haber’s
military bearing saw him stride to the podium to deliver a dynamic presentation that fixed him in the minds of the audience, (Charles
6 ). Some however
were sceptical of this privatdozent, an unknown with mediocre qualifications
who was prepared to take on the establishment. The following day Professor
Jacques Löb from Bonn seriously criticised his work but Haber defended
himself vigorously and although some felt his grasp of the subject was not as
sure it should have been, his energy, quick wit and enthusiasm saw him
through—earning him some influential friends on the way, (Charles
6 ).
Fritz Haber soon became the ‘new kid on the block’ and his position was
further enhanced by his new revolutionary textbook on electrochemistry;
‘Grundriss der technischen Elektochemie auf theoretischer Grundlage’ (Outline of
Technical Electrochemistry based on Theoretical Foundations, Munich: R.
Oldenburg) published in 1898. Senior staff at Karlsruhe initially discouraged
its publication realising that Haber’s provenance in the subject might lead to
embarrassment but the opposite occurred and its novel synthesis of the
practical and the theoretical established Haber within the German chemical
community earning him promotion at Karlsruhe to Professor Extraordinarius
(auberordentlicher)
29 in 1898 just four years after joining Karlsruhe.
50
D. Sheppard
modern theoretical knowledge and this he achieved brilliantly when he
explained the appearance of the various products by introducing, and then
explaining, the importance of the ‘electrode potential’.
Walther Nernst had recently proposed that the potential of a gas electrode
was determined by the ‘concentration’ of the gas in, or on the electrode, and
Haber realised that this potential, varying under the conditions of the various
experiments, determined the reducing power; higher potentials being
equivalent to using more powerful reducing agents. By careful variation of
this potential he was able to imitate the effect of using a series of chemical
reducing agents of increasing activity, leading to the production of an overlapping series of primary reduction products. The work also brilliantly
accounted for the apparent ‘varying activity’ of nascent hydrogen. Luggin too
had some influence in this work, suggesting to Haber the use of a device
(‘Luggin’s capillary’) which permitted the reference electrode to sit in a
separate chamber to the electrode under investigation, allowing its potential
to be established precisely.
27
Despite Haber’s inexperience in physical chemistry,
28 his work on
nitrobenzene was widely acclaimed and his performance at the fifth annual
congress of the German Electrochemical Society in Leipzig in 1898
announced his presence on the national and international scene. Haber’s
military bearing saw him stride to the podium to deliver a dynamic presentation that fixed him in the minds of the audience, (Charles
6 ). Some however
were sceptical of this privatdozent, an unknown with mediocre qualifications
who was prepared to take on the establishment. The following day Professor
Jacques Löb from Bonn seriously criticised his work but Haber defended
himself vigorously and although some felt his grasp of the subject was not as
sure it should have been, his energy, quick wit and enthusiasm saw him
through—earning him some influential friends on the way, (Charles
6 ).
Fritz Haber soon became the ‘new kid on the block’ and his position was
further enhanced by his new revolutionary textbook on electrochemistry;
‘Grundriss der technischen Elektochemie auf theoretischer Grundlage’ (Outline of
Technical Electrochemistry based on Theoretical Foundations, Munich: R.
Oldenburg) published in 1898. Senior staff at Karlsruhe initially discouraged
its publication realising that Haber’s provenance in the subject might lead to
embarrassment but the opposite occurred and its novel synthesis of the
practical and the theoretical established Haber within the German chemical
community earning him promotion at Karlsruhe to Professor Extraordinarius
(auberordentlicher)
29 in 1898 just four years after joining Karlsruhe.
50
D. Sheppard