What about an invention that most experts estimate to be responsible for two of every five humans on earth today? This certainly beats the light bulb or my iPod by a huge margin on the global importance scale. So what is this mystery invention? Try the Haber-Bosch process. This is the process that first produced synthetic nitrogen. Before Fritz Haber's invention, the sheer amount of life on earth could support - - the size of crops and therefore the number of human bodies - - was limited by the amount of nitrogen that bacteria and lightening could fix. Life without your laptop and iPhone - - probably. Life without Fritz Haber, a German Jewish chemist - - improbable.
Why no Fritz Haber global celebration day or his picture on the cover of the John Deere annual report? Why no Fritz Haber High School in Sioux City, Iowa? He won the Noble Prize in 1920 - - but why this veil of obscurity regarding his life-giving achievements. Probably because of his life-taking distinctions.
Herr Haber was the developer and keen overseer of the big three of poison gasses - - ammonia, chlorine, and the infamous Zyklon B (the favorite gas of The Fuhrer for use in the concentration camps). After the first gas attack on April 22, 1915, when his wife a fellow chemist found out about his significant contributions to the gas efforts - - she killed herself with Haber's army pistol. Haber died a broken man in 1934.
This is a good example of the potential duality of the technologist - - savior to 2/5's of the planet and giver of life and on Jeopardy as "War Criminals For $500." Nitrogen itself is not a saint in this either - - see the duality of nitrogen in Jesus meets Judas.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.