The GEC Laboratories 1930–1939

Abstract

In September 1930, the RSAS’ Chemistry Committee sent out Nobel Prize nomination forms around the world; to selected professors at universities, to Nobel Laureates in physics and chemistry, to members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and others. These forms, submitted by 01 February 1931, were screened by committee members and a list of preliminary candidates for the 1931 prize was assembled. From March to May 1931, specially appointed experts were asked for their assessment of the candidates’ work, and by September the Committee submitted its recommendations to the Academy. Early in October, Academy members selected the Nobel Laureate(s) in chemistry by a majority vote. Their decision was final and without appeal. The names of the Nobel Laureates were then announced, and thus—strictly according to the rules and with due recognition of its previous failings—the Academy awarded the 1931 Nobel Prize in Chemistry¹ jointly to Carl Bosch and Friedrich Bergius ‘in recognition of their contributions to the invention and development of chemical high-pressure methods.’ At the award ceremony on 10 December 1931, the debt these men owed to the pioneering work ‘of Haber’ at Karlsruhe was mentioned during the speech by Professor W. Palmær, Member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry;²