Haber, Fritz

[person]

German chemist born in Breslau (1868-1934). Haber began his career in chemistry with investigations on the decomposition and combustion of hydrocarbons. In 1898, he published his textbook Electrochemistry, and followed this with increasing investigations of electrochemical phenomena. Among these experiments, he researched the electrolysis of solid salts, and energy loss by steam engines. In 1918, Haber was awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research on nitrogen fixation from the air, a key component in the development of nitrogen fertilizers.