Open the Handbook of Nobel Prize Winners in Chemistry and you will find that no awards were awarded in 1916 and 1917 during World War I, but the first award after World War I in 1918 was awarded by the German chemist Fritz Ha Bo obtained. As soon as the smoke of World War I cleared, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry jury immediately awarded the prize to the inventor of synthetic ammonia, which shows the importance of this invention.
Ammonia is a basic chemical raw material. Its synthesis can not only produce a large amount of nitrogen fertilizer, increase the production of grain or other crops, but also be used in other industries. For this, Harper deserves to go down in history. Unfortunately, he also pioneered large-scale chemical warfare, causing thousands of people to die painfully or be disabled for life. Due to his severe destruction of human civilization, Fritz Harry was almost tried by the Allies as a war devil. .
Haber was born on December 9, 1868, in the home of a wealthy businessman in Breslau, a border city in Germany. After graduating from high school, he studied organic chemistry at the Preparatory Department of the Technical University of Karlsruhe. After graduating from university, because the papers he published had unique insights, which caused a sensation in the German chemistry community, the German Royal Academy of Sciences granted him an unusual doctorate in chemistry. He was only 23 years old at the time. From 1894, he taught at the Technical University of Karlsruhe.
Before the invention of synthetic ammonia, the nitrogen fertilizer required for crops mainly came from human and animal manure, peanut cake, bean cake, etc. With the development of agriculture and industry, countries are increasingly hoping to use nitrogen in the air to produce nitrogen compounds on a large scale and cheaply. To this end, scientists from many countries have conducted unremitting exploration and research. However, this effort that started in the mid-18th century had not yet achieved its goal after a century and a half until the beginning of the 20th century.
Haber's large-scale experiments with ammonia synthesis began in 1904. In 1906, Haber used osmium as a catalyst at a high temperature of 600°C and a pressure of 2000 atmospheres, and successfully used hydrogen generated by electrolysis of water and nitrogen in the atmosphere as raw materials to obtain an ammonia concentration of 6 to 8. Reported in 1909. This was a turning point for a practical craft solution. In 1909, Haber successfully solved the problem of low conversion rate of ammonia and nitrogen mixture by recycling raw gas.
Haber's scientific research results greatly shocked the European chemical community. The discerning German Baden Aniline Soda Ash Company (BASF) was the first to arrive and paid Haber a reservation fee of US$2,500 and promised to purchase it later. All scientific research results. In 1909, Haber's patent for the above-mentioned improved production process was purchased by BASF, and it was stated that no matter how the production process is improved or the selling price of synthetic ammonia drops, for every ton of ammonia sold by BASF, Haber will share 10 marks, which will never change. . Since then, researchers such as Carl Bosch of the company have improved the catalyst, equipment durability, synthesis tower air inlet heating device, air outlet cooling heat exchanger, etc., after many attempts (including After the catalyst failed (more than 20,000 tests), a factory with a daily output of 30 tons of ammonia was finally built in 1914. Since then, synthetic ammonia has entered the stage of large-scale industrial production.
The artificial synthesis of ammonia opened an important chapter in the history of human chemistry. Its significance is not only to turn nitrogen in the atmosphere into an inexhaustible and cheap source of nitrogen fertilizer, thereby greatly reducing the dependence of agricultural production on "nature"; it also greatly promotes the development of related technologies, such as high pressure , ultra-high pressure technology, high temperature, ultra-high temperature technology, catalysis theory and practice, coal chemical industry, petrochemical technology, etc. From this point on, Haber ushered in a new era of chemistry.
Like all new inventions of the time, ammonia was considered for use in warfare and military applications. As early as 1911, when Haber became famous for his invention of synthetic ammonia, Kaiser Wilhelm II took a fancy to his talent and considered how to use him to serve his regime.
On July 28, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian government declared war on Serbia. When World War I broke out, Haber quickly became a fanatical nationalist. He used synthetic ammonia technology to produce fertilizers, thereby solving Germany's famine problem; he oxidized ammonia to produce munitions nitric acid and yellow explosives, which solved the German army's arms problem.
As some military experts pointed out after the war: If Germany did not have Haber, the war would have ended long ago because he provided Germany with sufficient food and arms.
In September 1914, the German army and the British and French forces faced off in the town of Ypres in Belgium near the border between France and Belgium. Because neither side had enough heavy weapons to break through the other's fortifications, the two sides remained in a stalemate for several months. This stalemate was not conducive to the German army and forced the German army to find ways to break the deadlock. Haber's method of releasing chlorine gas from cylinders became the best choice for the German commander. This chemical warfare opened a breakthrough of more than seven kilometers for the coalition forces and poisoned 15,000 coalition forces, 5,000 of whom died and 500 were captured. Harper, who witnessed the tragedy on the plane, shouted with joy.
However, not all Germans support chemical warfare. Harper's wife, Clara Harper, was one of them. Out of humanitarianism and hatred of imperialist wars, she repeatedly begged Harper to stop researching chemical weapons, but he ignored them. In May 1915, he continued to launch three consecutive poison gas attacks on the Russian troops with poor protective equipment near Bolimauf, more than 60 kilometers west of Warsaw, causing 2,500 Russian casualties. Facing the inhumane chemical warfare, Haber's beloved wife committed suicide in anger, but Haber still did not wake up to this. On December 9, 1915, the German troops commanded by Haber conducted the first photochemical warfare against the British troops in the Ypres area, causing more than 1,000 British troops to be poisoned; on July 12, 1917, he directed the German troops to attack the British troops there. Conducted the first mustard gas attack, poisoning 14,000 British troops within 10 days. Throughout World War I, almost every major chemical warfare carried out by the German army was related to Haber's development, guidance, and command, so people called him the "Father of Chemical Warfare."
In World War I, about 1.3 million people were injured by chemical warfare, of which 90,000 died. About 60% of the survivors had to leave the army due to disability. Therefore, Haber and the chemical warfare he conducted were strongly condemned by peace-loving people around the world. Under this condemnation, Haber finally realized the crime he had committed, and his heart was very painful. In 1917, he resigned from all positions at the Chemical Arsenal. On November 11, 1918, the war also ended with Germany's surrender.
In 1919, the Swedish Academy of Sciences considered that the synthetic ammonia invented by Haber had played a huge role in global economic development. After careful study, it officially decided to award Haber the only Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918. . But as soon as the news came out, it immediately caused an uproar around the world. Some scientists accused this decision of tarnishing the scientific community. Not only did Haber not deserve the highest award in the scientific community, but he should also be tried for war crimes and sent to hell. Some scientists believe that although he was once exploited by imperialism, science is always subject to politics. Many inventions in the history of science can be used to benefit mankind or to destroy human civilization; Haber's invention of synthetic ammonia can be used to synthesize ammonia. Got it.
To be honest, chemical warfare is also a method of attacking the enemy. In this sense, it has the same effect as bacterial warfare, atomic bombs, guns, etc. However, people classify guns and artillery into one category, and support or have no objection to the use of guns to kill people; they classify chemical warfare, bacterial warfare, atomic bombs, etc. into another category, and oppose their use in war, and some even Prohibited by treaty. So, what is the difference between these two types of weapons? It turns out that the former category of weapons basically only mechanically kills combatants or destroys combat equipment and causes no or very little other harm. The latter type of weapons not only kill combatants and equipment, but also seriously injure civilians and their property who are not directly involved in the war; they can cause sequelae to the victims, and some will pass the harm on to the next generation; they can cause serious and sometimes lasting consequences. Environmental pollution, ecological damage, disease epidemics, etc. Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that Haber, who was a chemical genius who carried out chemical warfare, became a war devil under the condemnation of people, and his tragedy was inevitable.
In 1933, Hitler ascended to the throne of German Chancellor, and the Nazis began to persecute and massacre Jews across the country. Harper was also called "Harber the Prisoner" and was expelled.
He was very angry about this, and at the same time he had a premonition of impending doom. So he moved to Switzerland to escape the disaster, and was later invited by the University of Cambridge in England to give lectures. In early 1934, he was invited to serve as the director of the Siv Institute of Physics and Chemistry in Palestine, which was composed of famous anti-Hitler Jewish scientists. Unfortunately, he suffered a heart attack on his way to take office and died on January 29, 1934.
The tragedy that Haber, a chemical genius and war devil, has been denounced by people was caused by himself. The innocent souls who died in chemical warfare and the living victims will never forgive him. The tragedy of dying in a foreign country amid displacement and loneliness was not his fault. This was a microcosm of the fate of millions of Jews or other races persecuted by Hitler's Nazism.