Fritz Haber -- great or evil?

These two weeks, we have been studying about systems known as chemical equilibria. One of the most important chemical equilibrium reactions in the world is the Haber Process, which is the reaction between nitrogen and hydrogen gas, to form ammonia: N2 + H2 --> NH3.

This is an important process as it produces ammonia, which is an important starting material for the production of fertilizers. With the Haber Process, the world is no longer reliant on natural deposits for nitrogen-containing compounds. Nitrogen, which is the main component of air, can now be harnessed to produce the nitrates and nitrites required to manufacture fertilizers. At the present, 100 million tons of nitrogen fertilizer is being produced yearly through this process and this amount of fertilizer is responsible for feeding one third of the world's population.

So who was the chemist behind this amazing innovation that changed how the world feeds? He is a German chemist, named Fritz Haber. When he was at the University of Karlsruhe from 1894 to 1911, he worked with another chemist, Carl Borsch to develop the Haber Process. In 1918, both scientists won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their innovation.

While the Haber Process aided humanity by enabling mankind to produce fertilizers easily, leading to an increase in food production, the ammonia produced is also highly sought after for the production of explosives. With this technology, Germany was able to easily produce the ammunition required for the first World War, which extended their path to surrender, and prolonged the suffering of the parties involved in the war.

On top of contributing to WWI by providing his country with the means to produce explosives, Fritz Haber also played a major role in developing chemical warfare for the war. He developed chlorine gas to be used to poison the opponent forces and was even present at the war zone to release the gases on the soldiers. When exposed to chlorine gas at a high concentration, the gas will react with the water in one's lungs to form hydrochloric acid. This will cause the sacs in the lungs to break down, causing the lungs to be flooded. In other words, one is drowned internally by the moisture present in one's lungs.

Fritz Haber was proud of his contributions as a chemist to the war, but his wife, who was also a chemist, opposed his work on poison gas. She committed suicide on the day Haber left to oversee the release of poison gas on the Russian to demonstrate her stand.

Despite Haber's contributions to Germany during the first World War, he had to leave Germany in 1933 as he was Jewish. He moved to England and finally passed away due to heart failure in the Middle East.

The Haber Process helped to save the world from wide-spread hunger, but at the same time, provided man with the avenue to produce explosives easily. Such is an example of how Science can sometimes be a double-edged sword.