Chemistry: 1918

Haber, Fritz (1868-1934), was a German physical chemist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1918 for developing the Haber, or Haber-Bosch, process of synthesizing ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen.

Even when at school, Haber conducted several chemical experiments. He started teaching physical chemistry in the early 1890's. In 1909, Haber developed a method for the large-scale production of ammonia, which was used in nitrogen fertilizer. This process was adapted by Carl Bosch, a German chemist, and used for commercial purposes.

During World War I (1914-1918), Haber became head of Germany's chemical warfare service, and helped to develop poison gas as a weapon. After the war, when Germany had to pay great sums of money in reparations, Haber attempted to develop a method to extract gold from seawater. His attempts failed. He sought to promote international cooperation between scientists and, in 1930, founded the Japan Institute, whose aims were to promote mutual understanding between Germany and Japan. In the face of increasing anti-Semitism and the rise of Adolf Hitler, Haber, who was Jewish, left Germany in 1933 and accepted a position at Cambridge University in England.

Haber was born in Breslau, Silesia (now Wroclaw, Poland). The area became part of a unified Germany in 1871. Haber worked at the University of Heidelberg, then at the Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland and, briefly, at the University of Jena in Germany. He also taught at the Technische Hochschule in Karlsruhe. He was appointed director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry in Dahlem, near Berlin, in 1911. Haber's written works include Grundriss der technischen Elektrochemie auf theoretischer Grundlage (The Theoretical Basis of Technical Electrochemistry, 1898) and Thermodynamik technischer Gasreaktionen Vorlesungen (The Thermodynamics of Technical Gas Reactions, 1905).