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Conclusion: A Legacy of Synthetic Nitrogen

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The Synthetic Nitrogen Industry in World War I

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Abstract

The introductory remarks to this account of the early synthetic nitrogen industry, particularly its critical role in Germany during World War I, opened with allusions to myths surrounding Fritz Haber’s personal role in waging war through his contribution to the manufacture of nitrogen products for explosives and involvement with gas warfare. Haber’s contribution to the war through research into fixed nitrogen is often stated, and repeated, as fact. This is erroneous. He was, essentially, less a villain then an ambitious and arguably amoral servant of his country at war, as well as brilliant chemist and organizer of science in peacetime.

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Correspondence to Anthony S. Travis .

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Travis, A.S. (2015). Conclusion: A Legacy of Synthetic Nitrogen. In: The Synthetic Nitrogen Industry in World War I. SpringerBriefs in Molecular Science(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19357-1_6

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