Haber Montage Monday, Apr 13 2009
images and technology 11:51 am
I made this montage of Dr. Haber when I was in my “wow, the Haber-Bosch process underlies our entire world” phase. Haber’s life is one of the best parables of the dangers and benefits of science and technology. He invented the Haber-Bosch process, which sustains more than 2 billion people and consumes between 1 and 2% of the global energy budget. Without it, cities could not eat.
He also invented Zyklon B, which was used to kill millions of Jews during the Holocaust, and other chemical weapons which were used during WWI. During the war, his wife — who was also a Ph.D chemist — shot herself in the head with his army pistol, after which he promptly went to the Eastern Front in WWI to oversee gas release against the armies of Russia. His son shot himself shortly after WWII. Ironically, Dr. Haber was of Jewish descent.
Overall, Haber was evil. If he hadn’t died in 1934, and was of Jewish background, Adolf Hitler probably would have loved him to be the #1 mad scientist in his global Nazi empire. Hitler’s Hojo, if you will.
Still, the evil that Haber unleashed is little in comparison to what the builder of a human-indifferent recursively self-improving Artificial Intelligence could do, without even meaning to.
But what about Bosch? In my opinion his contribution(making the process work on an industrial level) was just as important, if not more.
I actually know about Haber mostly because he was mentioned in a mainstay of my childhood, the Arthur C Clarke nonfiction book: THE CHALLENGE OF THE SEA. Haber spent some time after the war trying to find a way to extract heavy metals from sea water economically. (particularly Gold, as many have tried to do).
Obligatory Trey & Matt reference. (Montage… you gotta have a montage; MONTAGE!)
More seriously — the Haber-Bosch process is something more people should be aware of, yet aren’t. I’m interested, Michael, on your take on Vertical Farming.
Don’t be silly. If there was no Haber, 2 billion people would not have lived. Since the nitrogen now inside their bodies would be still in the atmosphere.
Hi Michael, I’m a new reader of your blog. Keep up the great work! By the way, your link to “human indifferent” on this page seems to redirect to a broken page.
“Don’t be silly. If there was no Haber, 2 billion people would not have lived.”
This is wrong. If there was no Haber, somebody else would have most likely found the same process.
Then he is not that evil.
But he did. HE invented the process, which also gave life to about two billion people.
I did not know about the Haber-Bosch process; it is truly amazing to me what some minds can do, be it good or bad; and from this man, there was both; it is man, and his intention, that is the double-edged sword in this world
I agree with anon; if not Haber, then it would have been someone else
Haber is quoted as saying that “death was death, by whatever means it was inflicted;” that spells monster and evil, in my book; there is no excuse for genocide, and no other considerations can make up for it
I often find myself in disagreement with attitudes and assumptions that I find on this blog; beyond that, I always find new, interesting, and challenging material, which is why I will continue to read it
let us agree to disagree
“Haber is quoted as saying that “death was death, by whatever means it was inflicted;” that spells monster and evil, in my book; there is no excuse for genocide, and no other considerations can make up for it”
He was refering to the use of poison gas against the allies.
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