Haber, Fritz (1868-1934), a German physical chemist, developed a process of synthesizing ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen. He received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1918 for developing the technique, which became known as the Haber process or Haber-Bosch process. Chemical manufacturers still use the Haber process to produce millions of tons of ammonia each year, mostly for use as agricultural fertilizer.
As a youth, Haber showed an early interest in science, but his father wanted him to go into the family business selling dye. In 1886, the younger Haber prevailed and began studying chemistry in Berlin and Heidelberg. He received his Ph.D. degree in chemistry from the Technical School in Charlottenburg (now the Technical University of Berlin at Charlottenburg) in 1891 and later worked in several industrial laboratories in Germany. In 1894, he joined the chemistry department at the Technical School in Karlsruhe, where he developed his process of ammonia synthesis. Haber and Carl Bosch, a German industrial chemist, later adapted the process for large-scale production.
During World War I (1914-1918), Haber became head of Germany’s chemical warfare service, where he 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. Haber sought to promote international cooperation between scientists. For example, he founded the Japan Institute in 1926. The institute kept offices in Berlin and Tokyo to support cultural and scientific exchange 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) on Dec. 9, 1868. 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. His major research took place at the Technical School in Karlsruhe. In 1911, he was appointed director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry in Dahlem, near Berlin. 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). He died on Jan. 29, 1934.
See also Bosch, Carl ; Haber process .
