Rossignol’s life, its focus—Le Rossignol as engineer—meant that many
aspects of his humanity were left unexplored. This biography provides a first
comprehensive contribution to the literature regarding Le Rossignol. His
story is the ‘missing link’ in the history of the discovery of nitrogen ‘fixation’,
a history which has undoubtedly been dominated by Fritz Haber. The
omission has long been recognised by historians, but in writing this book, I
have found it impossible to ‘decant’ Haber from Le Rossignol’s life, the two
men were partners and friends, and so aspects of their lives are often interwoven throughout.
Written in three parts, Part I covers the years from 1884 to 1909 and
contains eight chapters. The first two describe the early lives of the two men,
drawing parallels and contrasts relevant to the development of their professional and personal friendships—the latter lasting almost 30 years. Another
chapter explains Germany’s commitment to, and her dependence upon, the
nitrate trade, whose perceived demise at the time provided the reason d’être
for the creation of a ‘fixation’ technology. Yet another chapter describes the
qualifications, experiences and interests Le Rossignol gathered before travelling to Karlsruhe. These in turn provide some insight as to why he was so well
regarded by Haber, and so well placed to provide a solution to the problem of
‘fixation’. The remaining four chapters are dedicated to the chemistry these
men performed together, and the contracts Haber entered into with both
BASF and Le Rossignol. With regard to the chemistry, I have re-visited their
original papers of the period, and explained the work they performed together, revealing the boundaries between each man’s contribution, so there can
be no future misunderstanding of the ‘division of work’ these men undertook
in partnership. The last chapter of the four explains the engineering Le
Rossignol performed at Karlsruhe and his subsequent move to Osram in
Berlin. Part I contains much archive material never published before. Some
of the chapters are technical but they are supported by Appendices explaining
thermodynamic theory if readers are so inclined to understand the latter
rather than simply accept it.
Part II covers the years from 1909 to 1918 and contains a further six
chapters. The first four of these describe Le Rossignol’s move to Berlin and
the nature of the work he did there. They continue with Haber’s arrival at the
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin in 1911, the industrialisation of Le
Rossignol’s engineering by Carl Bosch, the ‘patent wars’ between BASF and
rival firms upon which Haber’s royalties depended, and the prelude to the
First World War. These are relatively short chapters. The remaining chapters
describe the wartime experiences of the two men, once again drawing
attention to those aspects of Haber’s life that were to impinge upon Le
Rossignol. For example, Haber’s membership of the ‘Nitrate Commission’
x
Preface
aspects of his humanity were left unexplored. This biography provides a first
comprehensive contribution to the literature regarding Le Rossignol. His
story is the ‘missing link’ in the history of the discovery of nitrogen ‘fixation’,
a history which has undoubtedly been dominated by Fritz Haber. The
omission has long been recognised by historians, but in writing this book, I
have found it impossible to ‘decant’ Haber from Le Rossignol’s life, the two
men were partners and friends, and so aspects of their lives are often interwoven throughout.
Written in three parts, Part I covers the years from 1884 to 1909 and
contains eight chapters. The first two describe the early lives of the two men,
drawing parallels and contrasts relevant to the development of their professional and personal friendships—the latter lasting almost 30 years. Another
chapter explains Germany’s commitment to, and her dependence upon, the
nitrate trade, whose perceived demise at the time provided the reason d’être
for the creation of a ‘fixation’ technology. Yet another chapter describes the
qualifications, experiences and interests Le Rossignol gathered before travelling to Karlsruhe. These in turn provide some insight as to why he was so well
regarded by Haber, and so well placed to provide a solution to the problem of
‘fixation’. The remaining four chapters are dedicated to the chemistry these
men performed together, and the contracts Haber entered into with both
BASF and Le Rossignol. With regard to the chemistry, I have re-visited their
original papers of the period, and explained the work they performed together, revealing the boundaries between each man’s contribution, so there can
be no future misunderstanding of the ‘division of work’ these men undertook
in partnership. The last chapter of the four explains the engineering Le
Rossignol performed at Karlsruhe and his subsequent move to Osram in
Berlin. Part I contains much archive material never published before. Some
of the chapters are technical but they are supported by Appendices explaining
thermodynamic theory if readers are so inclined to understand the latter
rather than simply accept it.
Part II covers the years from 1909 to 1918 and contains a further six
chapters. The first four of these describe Le Rossignol’s move to Berlin and
the nature of the work he did there. They continue with Haber’s arrival at the
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin in 1911, the industrialisation of Le
Rossignol’s engineering by Carl Bosch, the ‘patent wars’ between BASF and
rival firms upon which Haber’s royalties depended, and the prelude to the
First World War. These are relatively short chapters. The remaining chapters
describe the wartime experiences of the two men, once again drawing
attention to those aspects of Haber’s life that were to impinge upon Le
Rossignol. For example, Haber’s membership of the ‘Nitrate Commission’
x
Preface