11. The Bunsen burner had its genesis when Bunsen was working with Gustav
Kirchhoff, a young Prussian physicist, who had the brilliant insight to use a
prism to separate (spectral) light into its constituents. Thus, the fledgling
science of spectroscopy was born. In order to study the spectra, however, a
high temperature, non-luminous flame was necessary. The burner was
quickly dubbed the ‘Bunsen’ burner. The concept to premix the gas and air
prior to combustion in order to yield the necessary high temperature,
non-luminous flame belongs to Bunsen, but credit for the actual design and
manufacture of the burner goes to Peter Desaga, a technician at the
University of Heidelberg.
12. Haber was to be introduced to ‘cacodyl’ himself in 1915, it was in part
responsible for the death of Otto Sakur at the KWI. See Chap. 1 (Sakur) and
Chap. 13 (cacodyl).
13. Even today, Chinese scientists have confirmed that some iron-rich porous
materials can remove arsenic from drinking water in under 2 h(!). See for
example the Royal Society of Chemistry’s, Chemistry World, 8, 3, 21, (2011).
14. Becoming a reserve officer did not mean a full-time military career, but one
had to make oneself available for national duty in time of war. Whatever
career one pursued the officer’s uniform was a mark of social distinction in
Germany and often more valuable in terms of career progress than wealth or
degrees.
15. At this time Haber decided that he wanted a doctorate and not simply the
diploma which would have been granted by the Hochschule. Under the rules
that allowed German science students to move between universities however,
his thesis had to be submitted and defended at the
Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität to achieve his doctorate.
16. 1,3-benzodioxole-5-carboxaldehyde, used in perfumery and in flavourings
such as cherry and vanilla.
17. The term ‘amphetamine’ was not coined until 1938. The British newspaper
‘The Observer’ however on 20 February 2011 claims 3–4. MDMA was first
synthesised by a German chemist, Anton Kollisch of Merck.
18. Cum laude with praise, magna cum lauda with great praise, summa cum lauda
with the highest praise. Haber’s degree was therefore undistinguished.
19. Ironically, this factory was just a short distance from the site of the future
Auschwitz camp where many of Haber’s own family were to die in the 1939–
45 world war.
20. This part of Haber’s life is vague and poorly documented but according to
some accounts when cholera broke out in Hamburg in 1892—eventually
killing 8,600 people—Fritz impetuously bought large amounts of ‘chlorate of
lime’ which at the time was used to treat the disease by being tipped into
water supplies in order to purify them. Unfortunately (for Fritz!} the outbreak
was short lived and the company was left with large amounts of a chemical
that they could not ‘shift’. Siegfried was not pleased.
72
D. Sheppard
Kirchhoff, a young Prussian physicist, who had the brilliant insight to use a
prism to separate (spectral) light into its constituents. Thus, the fledgling
science of spectroscopy was born. In order to study the spectra, however, a
high temperature, non-luminous flame was necessary. The burner was
quickly dubbed the ‘Bunsen’ burner. The concept to premix the gas and air
prior to combustion in order to yield the necessary high temperature,
non-luminous flame belongs to Bunsen, but credit for the actual design and
manufacture of the burner goes to Peter Desaga, a technician at the
University of Heidelberg.
12. Haber was to be introduced to ‘cacodyl’ himself in 1915, it was in part
responsible for the death of Otto Sakur at the KWI. See Chap. 1 (Sakur) and
Chap. 13 (cacodyl).
13. Even today, Chinese scientists have confirmed that some iron-rich porous
materials can remove arsenic from drinking water in under 2 h(!). See for
example the Royal Society of Chemistry’s, Chemistry World, 8, 3, 21, (2011).
14. Becoming a reserve officer did not mean a full-time military career, but one
had to make oneself available for national duty in time of war. Whatever
career one pursued the officer’s uniform was a mark of social distinction in
Germany and often more valuable in terms of career progress than wealth or
degrees.
15. At this time Haber decided that he wanted a doctorate and not simply the
diploma which would have been granted by the Hochschule. Under the rules
that allowed German science students to move between universities however,
his thesis had to be submitted and defended at the
Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität to achieve his doctorate.
16. 1,3-benzodioxole-5-carboxaldehyde, used in perfumery and in flavourings
such as cherry and vanilla.
17. The term ‘amphetamine’ was not coined until 1938. The British newspaper
‘The Observer’ however on 20 February 2011 claims 3–4. MDMA was first
synthesised by a German chemist, Anton Kollisch of Merck.
18. Cum laude with praise, magna cum lauda with great praise, summa cum lauda
with the highest praise. Haber’s degree was therefore undistinguished.
19. Ironically, this factory was just a short distance from the site of the future
Auschwitz camp where many of Haber’s own family were to die in the 1939–
45 world war.
20. This part of Haber’s life is vague and poorly documented but according to
some accounts when cholera broke out in Hamburg in 1892—eventually
killing 8,600 people—Fritz impetuously bought large amounts of ‘chlorate of
lime’ which at the time was used to treat the disease by being tipped into
water supplies in order to purify them. Unfortunately (for Fritz!} the outbreak
was short lived and the company was left with large amounts of a chemical
that they could not ‘shift’. Siegfried was not pleased.
72
D. Sheppard