Fritz Haber

Fritz Haber
Fritz Haber, c. 1919
Born(1868-12-09)9 December 1868
Breslau, Province of Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia[1]
Died29 January 1934(1934-01-29) (aged 65)
Basel, Switzerland
NationalityGerman[2][3]
Alma mater
Known for
Spouses
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(m. 1901; died 1915)​
Charlotte Nathan
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(m. 1917; div. 1927)​
Children3
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsPhysical chemistry
Institutions

Fritz Haber (German pronunciation: [ˈfʁɪt͡s ˈhaːbɐ] ⓘ; 9 December 1868 – 29 January 1934) was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of the Haber–Bosch process, a method used in industry to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas. This invention is important for the large-scale synthesis of fertilizers and explosives.[4] It is estimated that a third of annual global food production uses ammonia from the Haber–Bosch process, and that this food supports nearly half the world's population.[5][6] For this work, Haber has been called one of the most important scientists and industrial chemists in human history.[7][8][9] Haber also, along with Max Born, proposed the Born–Haber cycle as a method for evaluating the lattice energy of an ionic solid.

Haber, a known German nationalist, is also considered the "father of chemical warfare" for his years of pioneering work developing and weaponizing chlorine and other poisonous gases during World War I. He first proposed the use of the heavier-than-air chlorine gas as a weapon to break the trench deadlock during the Second Battle of Ypres. His work was later used, without his direct involvement,[10] to develop the Zyklon B pesticide used for the killing of more than 1 million Jews in gas chambers in the greater context of the Holocaust.

After the Nazis' rise to power in 1933, Haber resigned from his position. Already in poor health, he spent time in various countries before Chaim Weizmann invited him to become the director of the Sieff Research Institute (now the Weizmann Institute) in Rehovot, Mandatory Palestine. He accepted the offer but died of heart failure mid-journey in a Basel, Switzerland hotel on 29 January 1934, aged 65.

  1. ^ "Fritz Haber – Biographical". Nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  2. ^ "Fritz Haber". NNDB.com. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  3. ^ Bowlby, Chris (12 April 2011). "Fritz Haber: Jewish chemist whose work led to Zyklon B". BBC News. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  4. ^ "Fritz Haber | Biography & Facts". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  5. ^ Smil, Vaclav (2004). Enriching the Earth: Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Production. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. p. 156. ISBN 9780262693134.
  6. ^ Flavell-While, Claudia. "Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch – Feed the World". www.thechemicalengineer.com. Archived from the original on 19 June 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  7. ^ "The Man Who Killed Millions and Saved Billions". YouTube. Archived from the original on 25 October 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  8. ^ "Seven Billion Humans: The World Fritz Haber Made". 2 November 2011. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Fritz Haber's Experiments in Life and Death". Archived from the original on 16 May 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  10. ^ "No. 2287: Fritz Haber". www.uh.edu. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.