Author:Daniel Charles
In January 1934, as Hitler's shadow began to fall across Europe, a short, bald man carrying a German passport arrived at the Hotel Euler in Basle. He seemed haunted and restless, as though he urgently needed to be elsewhere.
Fritz Haber, Nobel laureate in chemistry, confidante of Albert Einstein and German war hero, had arrived in Basle a broken man and, three days later, he died leaving an uncertain legacy. For some, the great German chemist was a benefactor of humanity, winner of a Nobel prize for inventing a way to nourish farmers' fields with nitrogen captured from the air. For others, he was a war criminal who personally supervised the unleashing of chlorine clouds against British, French and Canadian troops in World War I.
Tragedy marked his life. A week after the first gas attack in 1915, Haber's wife took his pistol and shot herself. And in 1933, when Hitler came to power, 'the Jew Haber' was among the first scientists driven out of Germany. Within a year, Haber was dead - denied honour both in his homeland and abroad.
No life reveals the moral paradox of science - its capacity to create and destroy - more clearly than Fritz Haber's. Between Genius and Genocide is a story filled with ambition, patriotism, hubris and tragedy, set amidst huge technological advances, arms races, mounting imperialism and war.
A study of one of the most talented chemists of the 20th century... Charles tells the story with clarity and vigour.
—— Alan Cane , Financial TimesCompelling... Haber's story is a salutary tale for all who insist science is value-free, as Charles makes clear in his gripping and nuanced account... Fate has been kind to Haber in one regard. In Charles, he has a sophisticated biographer whose accessible style belies the depth of scholarship and research which underpins the work... The result is an outstanding work, and one which should be mandatory reading for critics and cheerleaders of science alike.
—— New ScientistHaber's story is an enduring scientific tragedy, one that Charles tells with commendable clarity, style and brevity.
—— Robert McKie , ObserverA deeply thoughtful study of Fritz Haber - a brilliant, fascinating and finally tragic figure - and his equivocal legacy... A book to make one ponder.
—— Oliver SacksThe Black Swan changed my view of how the world works
—— Daniel Kahneman, author of Thinking, Fast and SlowGreat fun... brash, stubborn, entertaining, opinionated, curious, cajoling
—— Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of FreakonomicsThe most prophetic voice of all
—— GQAccessible and enlightening ... It's not Greenberg's way to preach; he's happier letting the facts speak for themselves
—— ObserverRequired reading for anyone who eats seafood ...Greenberg is an unfailingly entertaining writer, and his book arms you with the information you need to make intelligent choices when you are confronted by the ... offerings at the fish counter
—— AtlanticLucid, readable ... a story well told
—— Charles Clover , Sunday TimesAn elegantly composed and strikingly level-headed inquiry into our relationship with the fish we eat and the waters that sustain them
—— Tom Fort , Sunday TelegraphA powerful case for action ... combining on-the-ground and on-the-ocean reporting from the Yukon to Greece, from the waters off New England to the Mekong Delta, along with accounts of some stirring fishing trips, Greenberg makes a powerful argument ... marvellous exploration of that contradiction, a necessary book for anyone interested in what we take from the sea to eat, and how, and why
—— Sam Sifton , ScotsmanOren Harman's outstanding new biography of the American scientist George Price makes the case that Price's theoretical contributions to biology are among the most important of the twentieth century...Price was undoubtedly an opaque figure; Harman has approached his life with sensitivity and intelligence, providing a clearer window into this troubled mind
—— Tom Bailey , TLSMoving biography exploring a geneticst's understanding of human selflessness
—— The TimesAn energetic tale that presents not only the science but the history and politics which produced it
—— Islington Tribune
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