Fritz Haber
Fritz Haber in 1918.
Born	December 9, 1868 Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland)
Died	January 29 1934 (aged 65) Basel, Switzerland
Residence	Germany,
Nationality	German
Field	Physical chemistry
Institutions	Swiss Federal Institute of Technology University of Karlsruhe
Alma mater	University of Heidelberg, University of Berlin Technical College of Charlottenburg (today the Technical University of Berlin)
Academic advisor	Robert Bunsen
Known for	Fertilisers, Explosives, Haber process, Haber-Weiss reaction
Notable prizes	Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1918)

Fritz Haber (9 December 1868 – 29 January 1934) was a German chemist, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his development of synthetic ammonia, important for fertilisers and explosives. He is also credited as the "father of chemical warfare" for his work developing and deploying chlorine and other poison gases during World War I. Image File history File links Fritz_Haber. ... is the 343rd day of the year (344th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Wrocław. ... Motto: Miasto spotkaÅ„ (the meeting place) Coordinates: , Country Poland Voivodeship Lower Silesian Powiat city county Gmina WrocÅ‚aw Established 10th century City Rights 1262 Government  - Mayor RafaÅ‚ Dutkiewicz Area  - City 292. ... is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Basel (disambiguation). ... Physical chemistry is the application of physics to macroscopic, microscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems[1]within the field of chemistry traditionally using the principles, practices and concepts of thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mechanics and kinetics. ... ETH Zurich (from its German name Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, ETHZ) is the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, Switzerland. ... The Universität Karlsruhe (TH) (also called Fridericiana / University of Karlsruhe) recently merged with Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe to form the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). ... The Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (German Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; also known as simply University of Heidelberg) was established in the town of Heidelberg in the Rhineland in 1386. ... There is no institution called the University of Berlin, but there are four universities in Berlin, Germany: Humboldt University of Berlin (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) Technical University of Berlin (Technische Universität Berlin) Free University of Berlin (Freie Universität Berlin) Berlin University of the Arts (Universität der... South Side of the main building Main building The Technical University of Berlin (TUB, TU Berlin, German: Technische Universität Berlin) is located in Berlin, Germany. ... Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (31 March 1811 – 16 August 1899) was a German chemist. ... Fertilizers are chemicals given to plants with the intention of promoting growth; they are usually applied either via the soil or by foliar spraying. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... The Haber Process (also known as Haber–Bosch process) is the reaction of nitrogen and hydrogen to produce ammonia. ... The Haber-Weiss reaction generates •OH (hydroxyl radicals) from H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) and superoxide (•O2-). This reaction can occur in cells and is therefore a possible source for oxidative stress. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... List of Nobel Prize laureates in Chemistry from 1901 to the present day. ... is the 343rd day of the year (344th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This is a list of famous chemists: (alphabetical order) Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Emil Abderhalden, (1877–1950), Swiss chemist Richard Abegg, (1869–1910), German... This is a list of Nobel Prize laureates in Chemistry from 1901 to 2006. ... For other uses, see Ammonia (disambiguation). ... Fertilizers are chemicals given to plants with the intention of promoting growth; they are usually applied either via the soil or by foliar spraying. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... Chemical warfare is warfare (and associated military operations) using the toxic properties of chemical substances to kill, injure or incapacitate an enemy. ... General Name, symbol, number chlorine, Cl, 17 Chemical series halogens Group, period, block 17, 3, p Appearance yellowish green Standard atomic weight 35. ... Early detection of chemical agents Sociopolitical climate of chemical warfare While the study of chemicals and their military uses was widespread in China, the use of toxic materials has historically been viewed with mixed emotions and some disdain in the West (especially when the enemy were doing it). ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ...

His wife, Clara Immerwahr, a graduated chemist, opposed his work on poison gas and committed suicide with his service weapon in their garden, possibly in response to his having personally overseen the first successful use of chlorine at the Second Battle of Ypres on April 22, 1915.^[1] Clara Immerwahr (June 21, 1870 – May 2, 1915) was the German born wife of the well known chemist, Fritz Haber, who was most widely known for his development of the Haber-Bosch process, an effective method of synthesizing ammonia. ... Early detection of chemical agents Sociopolitical climate of chemical warfare While the study of chemicals and their military uses was widespread in China, the use of toxic materials has historically been viewed with mixed emotions and some disdain in the West (especially when the enemy were doing it). ... General Name, symbol, number chlorine, Cl, 17 Chemical series halogens Group, period, block 17, 3, p Appearance yellowish green Standard atomic weight 35. ... Combatants Belgium  Canada France Colonial forces United Kingdom British India  German Empire Commanders Horace Smith-Dorrien[1] Henri Gabriel Putz[2] A.-L.-T. de Ceuninck[3] Albrecht of Württemberg[4] Strength 8 infantry divisions[5] 7 infantry divisions Casualties 70,000 dead, wounded, or missing 35,000 dead... is the 112th day of the year (113th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Despite his contributions to the German war effort, Haber was forced to emigrate from Germany during 1933 by the Nazis because of his Jewish ancestry; many of his relatives were killed by the Nazis in concentration camps, gassed by Zyklon B, which he invented. He died during the process of emigration. For information on emigration, see Emigration. ... Nazism in history Nazi ideology Nazism and race Outside Germany Related subjects Lists Politics Portal         Nazism or National Socialism (German: Nationalsozialismus), refers primarily to the ideology and practices of the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers Party, German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) under Adolf Hitler. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... It has been suggested that Internment be merged into this article or section. ... Zyklon B label — Note that “Gift” translates as “poison” Zyklon B was the tradename of a pesticide ultimately used by Nazi Germany in some Holocaust gas chambers. ...

He is sometimes credited, incorrectly, with first synthesizing MDMA.^[2] ecstasy and religious ecstasy MDMA, most commonly known today by the street name ecstasy, is a synthetic entactogen of the phenethylamine family whose primary effect is to stimulate the brain to rapidly secrete large amounts of serotonin, causing a general sense of openness, empathy, energy, euphoria, and well-being. ...

Biography

He was born in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) to Siegfried and Paula Haber. His mother died during childbirth. His father was a well-known merchant in the town. From 1886 until 1891 he studied at the University of Heidelberg under Robert Bunsen, at the University of Berlin in the group of A. W. Hofmann, and at the Technical College of Charlottenburg (today the Technical University of Berlin) under Carl Liebermann. He married Clara Immerwahr during 1901. Their son, Hermann was born in 1902. Before starting his own academic career he worked at his father's chemical business and in the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich with Georg Lunge. Wrocław. ... The Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (German Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; also known as simply University of Heidelberg) was established in the town of Heidelberg in the Rhineland in 1386. ... Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (31 March 1811 – 16 August 1899) was a German chemist. ... There is no institution called the University of Berlin, but there are four universities in Berlin, Germany: Humboldt University of Berlin (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) Technical University of Berlin (Technische Universität Berlin) Free University of Berlin (Freie Universität Berlin) Berlin University of the Arts (Universität der... August Wilhelm von Hofmann (April 8, 1818 – May 5, 1892) was a German chemist. ... South Side of the main building Main building The Technical University of Berlin (TUB, TU Berlin, German: Technische Universität Berlin) is located in Berlin, Germany. ... Clara Immerwahr (June 21, 1870 – May 2, 1915) was the German born wife of the well known chemist, Fritz Haber, who was most widely known for his development of the Haber-Bosch process, an effective method of synthesizing ammonia. ... ETH Zurich (from its German name Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, ETHZ) is the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, Switzerland. ... For other uses of Zurich, see Zurich (disambiguation). ... Georg Lunge Georg Lunge (15 September 1839 - 1923) was a German chemist born in Breslau. ...

Nobel Prize

During his time in Karlsruhe from 1894 until 1911, he and Carl Bosch developed the Haber process, which is the catalytic formation of ammonia from hydrogen and atmospheric nitrogen under conditions of high temperature and high pressure. The Universität Karlsruhe (TH) (also called Fridericiana / University of Karlsruhe) recently merged with Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe to form the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). ... Carl Bosch (August 27, 1874 – April 26, 1940) was a German chemist and engineer. ... The Haber Process (also Haber-Bosch process) is the reaction of nitrogen and hydrogen to produce ammonia. ... In chemistry and biology, catalysis (in Greek meaning to annul) is the acceleration of the rate of a chemical reaction by means of a substance, called a catalyst, that is itself unchanged chemically by the overall reaction. ... For other uses, see Ammonia (disambiguation). ... This article is about the chemistry of hydrogen. ... General Name, symbol, number nitrogen, N, 7 Chemical series nonmetals Group, period, block 15, 2, p Appearance colorless gas Standard atomic weight 14. ...

In 1918 he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this work. The Haber-Bosch process was a milestone in industrial chemistry, because it divorced the production of nitrogen products, such as fertilizer, explosives and chemical feedstocks, from natural deposits, especially sodium nitrate (caliche), of which Chile was a major producer. The sudden availability of cheap nitrogenous fertilizer is credited with averting a Malthusian catastrophe, or population crisis. 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... This is a list of Nobel Prize laureates in Chemistry from 1901 to 2006. ... Spreading manure, an organic fertilizer Fertilizers (also spelled fertilisers) are compounds given to plants to promote growth; they are usually applied either via the soil, for uptake by plant roots, or by foliar feeding, for uptake through leaves. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... Made of Porn and sex things Inhalation respiratory irritation Skin May cause irritation. ... Caliche is a hardened deposit of calcium carbonate. ... Malthusian catastrophe, sometimes known as a Malthusian check, Malthusian crisis, Malthusian dilemma, Malthusian disaster, Malthusian trap, or Malthusian limit is a return to subsistence-level conditions as a result of agricultural (or, in later formulations, economic) production being eventually outstripped by growth in population. ...

He was also active in the research of combustion reactions, the separation of gold from sea water, adsorption effects, and electrochemistry. A large part of his work from 1911 to 1933 was done at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical and Electrochemistry at Berlin-Dahlem. This article is about the chemical reaction combustion. ... GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ... Adsorption is a process that occurs when a gas or liquid solute accumulates on the surface of a solid or, more rarely, a liquid (adsorbent), forming a molecular or atomic film (the adsorbate). ... English chemists John Daniell (left) and Michael Faraday (right), both credited to be founders of electrochemistry as known today. ... Kaiser Wilhelm Institute (in German Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft) was the name of a number of scientific institutes in Germany before World War II. After 1945 they were re-organised and renamed as Max Planck Institutes. ... Location of Dahlem within Berlin (inset) and the borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf The main campus of the Free University of Berlin Botanical Gardens This article refers to the neighborhood in Berlin. ...

World War I

Haber played a major role in the development of chemical warfare in World War I. Part of this work included the development of gas masks with absorbent filters. In addition to leading the teams developing chlorine gas and other deadly gases for use in trench warfare, Haber was on hand personally to aid in its release. A poison gas attack using gas cylinders in World War I. The use of poison gas in World War I was a major military innovation. ... Belgian 1930s era L.702 model civilian mask. ... General Name, symbol, number chlorine, Cl, 17 Chemical series halogens Group, period, block 17, 3, p Appearance yellowish green Standard atomic weight 35. ... Trench warfare is a form of war in which both opposing armies have static lines of defense. ...

Gas warfare in WW I was, in a sense, the war of the chemists, with Haber pitted against French Nobel laureate chemist Victor Grignard. François Auguste Victor Grignard (born in Cherbourg, 6 May 1871, died in Lyon, 13 December 1935) was a Nobel Prize-winning French chemist. ...

His wife, Clara Immerwahr, a graduated chemist, opposed his work on poison gas and committed suicide with his service weapon in their garden, possibly in response to his having personally overseen the first successful use of chlorine at the Second Battle of Ypres on April 22, 1915.^[1] She shot herself in the heart on May 15, and died in the morning. That same morning, Haber left for the Eastern Front to oversee gas release against the Russians. Clara Immerwahr (June 21, 1870 – May 2, 1915) was the German born wife of the well known chemist, Fritz Haber, who was most widely known for his development of the Haber-Bosch process, an effective method of synthesizing ammonia. ... Early detection of chemical agents Sociopolitical climate of chemical warfare While the study of chemicals and their military uses was widespread in China, the use of toxic materials has historically been viewed with mixed emotions and some disdain in the West (especially when the enemy were doing it). ... General Name, symbol, number chlorine, Cl, 17 Chemical series halogens Group, period, block 17, 3, p Appearance yellowish green Standard atomic weight 35. ... Combatants Belgium  Canada France Colonial forces United Kingdom British India  German Empire Commanders Horace Smith-Dorrien[1] Henri Gabriel Putz[2] A.-L.-T. de Ceuninck[3] Albrecht of Württemberg[4] Strength 8 infantry divisions[5] 7 infantry divisions Casualties 70,000 dead, wounded, or missing 35,000 dead... is the 112th day of the year (113th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 135th day of the year (136th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... ‹ The template below (Expand) is being considered for deletion. ...

Haber was a patriotic German who was proud of his service during World War I, for which he was decorated. He was even given the rank of Captain by the Kaiser, rare for a scientist too old to enlist in military service. “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Captain is a rank or title with various meanings. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

In his studies of the effects of poison gas, Haber noted that exposure to a low concentration of a poisonous gas for a long time often had the same effect (death) as exposure to a high concentration for a short time. He formulated a simple mathematical relationship between the gas concentration and the necessary exposure time. This relationship became known as Haber's rule. Habers rule is a mathematical statement of the relationship between the concentration of a poisonous gas and how long the gas must be breathed to produce death, or other toxic effect. ...

Haber defended gas warfare against accusations that it was inhumane, saying that death was death, by whatever means it was inflicted. During the 1920s, scientists working at his institute developed the cyanide gas formulation Zyklon B, which was used as an insecticide, especially as a fumigant in grain stores, and also later, after he left the programme, in the Nazi extermination camps.^[3] R-phrases , , , , . S-phrases , , , , , , , , . Flash point −17. ... Zyklon B label — Note that “Gift” translates as “poison” Zyklon B was the tradename of a pesticide ultimately used by Nazi Germany in some Holocaust gas chambers. ... It has been suggested that ovicide be merged into this article or section. ... Fumigation is a method of pest control that completely fills an area with gaseous pesticides to suffocate or poison the pests within. ... The extermination camps were the facilities set up by Nazi Germany in World War II for the express purpose of killing the Jews of Europe. ...

Post-War

Though he had converted from Judaism in an effort to become more completely accepted, he was forced to emigrate from Germany by the Nazis in 1933 on account of his being Jewish by their definition, as well as by Judaism's definition itself, which defines being Jewish as being the son of a Jewish mother. His great enormous contributions to German industry were not enough to prevent his vilification by the Nazi regime. He moved to Cambridge, England, for a few months, and considered a position in Rehovot, Palestine British Mandate (now Israel), but never settled anywhere permanently. He died of heart failure, aged 65, in a hotel in Basel, on his way to a convalescent retreat in Switzerland. He was cremated. His ashes, together with Clara's ashes, were buried in the Hornli Cemetery, Basel. (Note: A photograph of their gravestone in Hornli Cemetery, Basel can be found in the book written by Stolzenberg.) This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... Nazism in history Nazi ideology Nazism and race Outside Germany Related subjects Lists Politics Portal         Nazism or National Socialism (German: Nationalsozialismus), refers primarily to the ideology and practices of the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers Party, German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) under Adolf Hitler. ... Rehovot (Hebrew רְחוֹבוֹת ) is a city in the Center District of Israel, about 20 km south of Tel Aviv. ... For other uses, see Basel (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Basel (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Basel (disambiguation). ...

Haber's immediate family also left Germany. His second wife, Charlotte, with their two children, settled in England. Haber's son, Hermann, from his first marriage emigrated to the United States during World War II. He committed suicide in 1946. Members of Haber's extended family died in concentration camps, possibly gassed by Zyklon B. A concentration camp is a large detention centre created for political opponents, aliens, specific ethnic or religious groups, civilians of a critical war-zone, or other groups of people, often during a war. ...

Dramatic treatment

A fictional description of Haber's life, and in particular his longtime relationship with Albert Einstein, appears in Vern Thiessen's 2003 play, Einstein's Gift. Thiessen describes Haber as a tragic figure who strives unsuccessfully throughout his life to evade both his Jewish ancestry and the moral implications of his scientific contributions. “Einstein” redirects here. ...

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Hobbes, Nicholas (2003). Essential Militaria. Atlantic Books. ISBN 978-1843542292. 
2. ^ http://www.erowid.org/ask/ask.php?ID=3104
3. ^ M. Szöllösi-Janze (2001). "Pesticides and war: the case of Fritz Haber". European Review 9: 97-108. doi:10.1017/S1062798701000096. 

A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ...

Further reading

• Daniel Charles, Master mind: The Rise and Fall of Fritz Haber, the Nobel Laureate Who Launched the Age of Chemical Warfare (New York: Ecco, 2005), ISBN 0-06-056272-2.
• Dietrich Stoltzenberg, Fritz Haber: Chemist, Nobel Laureate, German, Jew: A Biography (Chemical Heritage Foundation, 2005), ISBN 0-941901-24-6.
• Vaclav Smil, Enriching the Earth: Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Production (2001) ISBN 0-262-19449-X

External links

• Nobel e-Museum - Biography of Fritz Haber
• Photographs of Fritz Haber's life
• A short biography of Fritz Haber, by Bretislav Friedrich
• Biographical Film about Fritz Haber
• Encyclopedia Britannica: Nobel Prizes - Fritz Haber
• "The Synthesis of Ammonia from its Elements", Nobel Lecture, June 2, 1920