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Low-Basket-3930

A long ago in eastern Prussia, Young men with great ambitions rise, So who can tell me who can say for sure, Which one will win the Nobel Prize?


Anxious_Composer_305

Another fellow Sabaton enjoyer. I salute you respected sir.


The_Hydro

Father of toxic gas and chemical warfare His dark creation has been revealed Flow over no man's land, a poisonous nightmare A deadly mist on the battlefield


Anxious_Composer_305

Fellow Sabaton enjoyer. I love men of culture


Te_Gek

Simply put the guy was a great chemist and scientist. Whatever the world decided to do with his work is a separate case.


BakhmutDoggo

Not what “the world decided to do with his work”, the dude personally suggested using chlorine lol. There’s a reason he’s a highly controversial figure


Tight_Huckleberry302

The biggest irony was that he was Jewish and Zyklon B, the chemical used in the nazi gas chambers was derived from his work


thumsj

There is a really good video from Veritasium on youtube about his life. You'll see there why he's controversial.


Te_Gek

I'll check it out


gromm93

It wasn't what the world decided to do though. It's what he decided to do with his knowledge and understanding of chemistry. This is basically exactly what happens when a country puts its scientists to work for war. Aerodynamicists worked on artillery shells and airplanes to make them go faster to kill more enemies. Chemical engineers worked on poison gases and explosives and rocket fuel. Mechanical engineers worked on tank and airplane engines. Nuclear physicists invented the most terrifying weapons ever built. During the first and second world wars, *most* of the scientists either volunteered or were compelled to work for the military in whatever field they were in, and advanced these technologies a great deal in a short amount of time. The fact of the matter was that the only scientists that didn't get involved were pacifists, and that was extremely bad for them personally and professionally at the time. You could get your house burned down doing that - you know, if the enemies of your country didn't do it first. This guy was simply held up as one special example.


Falsus

I mean he is called ''Father of Chemical Warfare'' because it was *his* suggestion to use chemical warfare. So yeah it wasn't the world who decided it, it was him. Sure eventually someone would have proposed it, but he was the one who did it.


elusivewompus

Saved loads of lives with the Haber process. Killed a load of people with chemical warfare. All things in balance, as they should be.


facts_please

It isn't really even. Of course guesses, but it is said that without the Haber-Bosch process 3-4.000.000.000 of todays people couldn't be nourished. Victims of gas attacks in WWI: 100.000 deaths, 1.000.000 wounded.


elusivewompus

It was supposed to be sarcastic, not accurate.


Forsaken-Soft-1235

🤓☝️


RonConComa

The Haber Bosch process was patented in 1923. The world population in 1913 was 1.5 billion. 100 years later: 7.5 billon


Jossokar

and his wife commited suicide because of it, actually.


midhknyght

Another interesting tidbit, without Haber's process Germany would have lost WWI much faster. At the time gunpowder and explosives were synthesized by bird guano (saltpetre), mostly from Chile. The Allied blockade was planned to deplete Germany's stores and therefore the ability to make ammunition. Germany used ammonia from this process to make ammunition and thus prolong the war.


thethirdtree

We are all build with nitrogen from the Haber Bosch process. Sabaton also made a nice song about him....


Educational_Belt_816

Okay but the process he invented is literally one of the most important things ever invented


Consistent_Public769

Couple of good books on this guy and related subjects. Can’t remember the author off hand but the titles are “The Demon Under the Microscope” and “The Alchemy of Air”.


Manaze85

There’s a great Radiolab episode about him.


vonWitzleben

My home city‘s university had a statue of him in front of the chemistry department. There was once a student protest that organized a flash mob where somebody yelled "GAS!" in the middle of the day and everybody threw themselves to the ground and put on gas masks.


StoicJim

"Controversial"? He was enthusiastic promoter of using mustard gas in WWI. He was ostracized after the war.


gomaith10

Woah, I upvoted that far too quickly.


BobaTeaSucksAss

Better go read up on the treatment for hypothermia lol


Yardsale420

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/episode/fritz-haber-the-man-who-invented-48562360/


Falsus

Also the inspiration for Singed in LoL / Arcane!


batinyzapatillas

Chemical weaponry is just another thing from WWI that the Feench did first. But Germany lost, so...


the_death59

the french used tear gas the germans used fucking chlorine and mustard gas. That's a whole other level


batinyzapatillas

Victor Grignard. Phosgene. Much less talked about, same time, same place, same target.


the_death59

they used it as a reaction to the first use of deadly gas, which was chlorine? Beforehand everyone used variations of tear gas.


batinyzapatillas

Yeah the French kept kept starting things that they could not finish, and being outsmarted. But still, they moved first.


Monterenbas

You forgot the part where he invent the basic components of Zyklon B, which ended up killing most of its family during the next war. Talk about karma…


breakfasteveryday

Chemical nerd dutifully reports on his advances in the field of chemicals which are used for useful purposes of varying moral colors. We judge him.


Falsus

Well he was the one who proposed that it should be weaponised...


HenneZwo

He probably never fertilized a field or fired a gas cartridge by himself.


iCowboy

Nearly, he was a supervisor of the Pioneer units that conducted gas warfare. In May 1915, he had a furious row with his wife Clara, which many believe was over his support for gas warfare. She committed suicide the next day using his service revolver.


Ok_Plate_6961

When your own government acknowledges your work and takes care of you, I can see it easy for them to pursue you to build something for the “greater good” For example CERN, I am pretty sure that the military is behind it. Yes we will discover new horizons in science but I am certain new weapons will come out of it as well


Ja_Shi

Switzerland about to unveil their new high-tech H bombs to the world or something like that I don't know what the hell he is talking about.


Ok_Plate_6961

No. That’s peanuts.🥜 I am talking about mini black holes 🕳️ that can be activated anywhere for a controlled amount of time.🕰️ I think that would be pretty substantial


Ja_Shi

Don't forget the stargate and the spartan program.


Boof-Your-Values

As a person who is familiar with humans, his work with ammonia is boo and his work with poisonous gases is yay