Chapter 5

Chapter 5 

Summary- Kean starts the chapter with a brief history of chemical warfare in Greece. Spartans had tried to lay siege to Athens with smoke, but failed and were later defeated. In 1899, all scientifically advanced nations, except for the United States, signed the Hauge Convention. This banned the use of chemical weapons of war. Despite the United States' seemingly cynical behavior regarding the covenant, every nation that signed would break their word, most notably in World War I.
      Kean tells the story of Fritz Haber, who sought to cheaply create ammonia (NH3) to be used by Germany in the creation of nitrogen explosives. Kean laments the "sad truth" that, historically, many geniuses pour their intellectual ability into creating weapons of destruction instead of developing ways to improve the world for its betterment. He would stop using bromine after a failed attempt in Russia, when all of the German explosives were frozen over and made useless. He opted for chlorine because it was far more dangerous and worse for their enemies.
      After the close of the war, and Germany's defeat, he won a Nobel Prize in chemistry. He was later exiled when the Nazis came to power in Germany for being Jewish. In an ironic twist of fate, a pesticide he developed would be tinkered with and then used to gas millions of Jews, some of whom were Haber's own relatives. The elements tungsten and niobium, named after Greek figures who represent greed and jealousy, would be at the center of several Congolese conflicts.
      I liked that Kean continues to mesmerize the reader with some masterfully executed storytelling, keeping the chapter interesting through and through. Another thing I liked, or rather something I had not noticed before, was the display of elements above each chapter as a sort of foreshadowing that told the reader what elements to expect to see in the chapter. I also liked Kean's blunt tone regarding the wars and conflicts and his acceptance of the "sad truth" about promising scientists.
     I learned that a lot of smart people in history to bad things. I also learned that third-world countries with rare or valuable elements are frequently  exploited by more advanced countries with more access to monetary redources. If I had a bae to tell something to, I would tell them that chemical warfare dates back very far, into classical times, and that we, as people, must be better and use our knowledge for the betterment of mankind as a whole.