His path on his on way to glory however, is what makes his story interesting and intriguing. Fritz Haber was the inventor of mustard gas. One of the most effective and torturous weapons ever to bestow itself on a battle ground. Mustard gas would liquefy the inside of enemy soldiers lungs and would make the affected soldiers drown to death in their own lung fluids.
Haber is known as the "Father of Chemical Warfare". His discoveries lead us to the question, were his actions ethical in the situation? When I think of the horrors the thousands of soldiers went through, I can't think of a much worse way to go, even in war. I think the deciding line is drawn with the intent behind the actions. In this case, If Haber's only intention was to protect the citizens of Germany, I think his legacy would be quite different. But they were not. Mustard gas was created to inflict pain, to torture. For these reasons, I believe his actions were not ethical, even in the extreme circumstances. He could have created weapons just as effective without the unnecessary torture.
This is not to say that some of what Fritz Haber did was not amazing. He single handedly helped Germany avoid a national food crisis, with his work in plant fertilization, which earned him his Nobel prize in 1918. He was a genius, but used his talents for what I believe are the wrong reasons. His own creation would come back to haunt him in more ways than he could have ever imagined in the second world war. Haber was of Jewish decent. He was driven out of Germany, and his chemical discoveries were used to kill his own family in gas chambers. Slightly ironic?
Until next blog,
Trevor
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