In this chapter, Kean discuss the effects of chemical warfare throughout history such as in WW1 where we begin to see chemical advancements on the battle field. He then talks about how bromine was experimented secretly on. Bromine, being a halogen, has 7 electrons in its outer energy level but is always trying to complete it with 8. Bromine is known for irritating the eyes and nose and in 1910 they created a very potent bromine-based lacrimator. The Parisians first used it against their own people in 1912 and then against German troops in 1914. The Germans didn't realized they were being attacked until later and when they did they issued German gas research units to catch up on the chemical warfare technology. This is where Kean introduces Fritz Haber who became famous by making nitrogen into an industrial product. He heated nitrogen, raised the air pressure, and added osmium, creating ammonia, NH3. This was used as a fertilizer for farming which ended up feeding most of the worlds population. However, it was also used against humans when Haber went with the German army to help build nitrogen explosives. As a Jewish convert to Lutheranism he worked for the German gas division. However, his personal family and friends did not like it. Kean then explains how the Germans manipulated the Hague Pact into allowing them to create shells that delivered shrapnel and gas. They then created a xylyl bromide filled shell that they called the weisskreuz, or "white cross". However, it was a failure, so he decided to work with chlorine, the cousin of bromine. It is a lot more aggressive and with it they developed gelbkruez also known as mustard gas. They used it against the French but still lost the war and after, Haber won the Nobel Prize in chemistry but, ironically, he was later charged as an international war criminal. Later a German chemical company started experimenting with Zyklon A, which was created by Haber before the war. However when the Nazi's took over they threw him out and began to gas Jews with the later Zyklon B. He died in 1934, while seeking refuge.
In the next part of this chapter talks about the need and use of molybdenum and tungsten. The Germans needed molybdenum for their weapons since it was stronger that iron and would melt at a much higher temperature. They would mix molybdenum with iron to prevent the steel from falling apart. The Germans wanted it so much they would torture the owner of the mine on the Bartlett Mountain of Colorado, Otis King, to give it to them. They sent a man named Max Schott to buy the mine for $40,000. At the time, the United states hadn't entered the war until 1917, but by then it was too late and Schott would ship moly (molybdenum) to Germany until it became bankrupt in 1919. Moly became obsolete by WW2 but the Germans sought a new metal even stronger than moly, tungsten. However, the only source to get tungsten was in "neutral" Portugal. The dictator, Antonio Salazar, had nearly monopolized on the metal by 90%. So Germany made it certain that tungsten was taken from Portugal to Germany. However, the United States wanted Britain to do something about this so they persuaded Britain to drop their neutrality. By then Salazar had played both sides very well and became rich in the process. He increased his price for tungsten from $1,100 per ton to $20,000, making $170 million. He then issued a full embargo against the Nazi's once he saw they were loosing the war.
The author then concludes by introducing 2 important elements, tantalum and niobium. Named after Tantalus and Niobe in Greek mythology, they played a huge factor in the war in the Congo. Nine countries and 200 tribes warred against each other over unsettled grudges, the mining of theses mettles for cellular companies prolonged the fight. At that point cell phone makers began to tantalum and niobium from Australia and although there was an official truce in 2003 the fighting never really stopped. Kean then ends this chapter by expressing how although the periodic table can inspire great moments it can also play on human's worst flaws.
I thought this chapter was interesting since it talked about was and how the periodic table plays into it. Its also interesting to me personally, since I am studying World War 2 in academic decathlon and in the subject of science it talks about the creation of mustard gas and other chemicals during the war. There's is hardly anything I didn't like about this chapter and I would definitely tell some of my friends in academic decathlon about my findings in this book.
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