Heinz Haber

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Heinz Haber in the picture on the left, in conversation with Wernher von Braun (1954)
Parental home of the space pioneers Fritz and Heinz Haber in Mannheim, Bassermannstrasse 55, in the Unteren Luisenpark, photo from 2010

Heinz Haber (born May 15, 1913 in Mannheim , † February 13, 1990 in Hamburg ) was a German physicist , writer and television presenter .

Life

Heinz Haber was born in 1913 as the son of the German factory director Karl Haber, Süddeutsche Zucker AG, today Südzucker , and is the younger brother of the space engineer Fritz Haber . Her parents' house is at the Lower Luisenpark Mannheim .

Heinz Haber studied in Leipzig , Heidelberg and Berlin from 1932 , where he received his doctorate in physics in 1939. At the beginning of the Second World War he served in the Air Force , but returned to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical and Electrochemistry (now the Fritz Haber Institute ) in 1942 after being wounded . In 1944 he completed his habilitation at the Friedrich Wilhelms University with a thesis on the torus , a mathematical object from topology . After 1945 he taught as a lecturer in Heidelberg.

At the end of the Second World War, German scientists and technicians were recruited with their knowledge and skills with Operation Overcast . Then in 1946 these prisoners of war were transferred to the USA as part of Operation Paperclip . Heinz Haber worked there until 1952 at the School of Aviation Medicine at Randolph Air Force Base , Texas. Under the direction of Hubertus Strughold , aerospace medicine was founded here in 1948 , with the participation of other German scientists, including his brother Fritz . You worked as a consultant for Litton Industries , which developed a vacuum chamber for simulating space conditions and the first space suit on behalf of the US Air Force . The theoretical foundations for parabolic flight to create weightlessness also come from her pen.

In 1950 Heinz Haber became an assistant professor at Air University, two years later moved to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as an associate physicist at the Institute of Transportation and Traffic Engineering and in 1956 as chief science consultant to Walt Disney . Haber moderated the television documentary Our friend the atom ( Our Friend the Atom ) , which produces at the request of the US government by Disney in 1956 and in the television series Disneyland was aired, in order to improve the image of nuclear energy. He also wrote the book of the same name for the film, which was illustrated with Disney pictures. Haber's vivid depiction of the course of a nuclear chain reaction with the help of mousetraps and table tennis balls became an often imitated "classic".

On a business trip to Germany, he met his second wife Irmgard Koch in the late 1950s. Shortly afterwards he returned to Europe and settled in Seefeld in Tyrol . Haber has worked as a science journalist for ARD since 1958 and produced more than 350 television reports. In the 1960s and 1970s Haber worked for German television and produced various popular science television series, including Professor Haber Experiments, The Mathematical Cabinet, Our Blue Planet, Is Our Blue Planet Die ? , Professor Haber reports , What is man looking for in space (13 episodes, 1968) and What is what with Professor Haber . In addition to his work as a "television professor", Haber wrote 30 non-fiction books on scientific subjects, including several bestsellers. He was the co-founder and editor of the magazine Bild der Wissenschaft and editor of the science magazine X-Magazin . In addition, he had a regular column in the television magazine Hörzu with A Question, Professor , in which he dealt with a specific scientific question in a reasonable brief.

Heinz Haber's first marriage had two children, and the second marriage had a son. His grave is in the Blankenese cemetery (Hamburg). He bequeathed his archive to the Mannheim City Archives .

Awards and honors

In Mannheim-Lindenhof , not far from the main train station, a street was named after Heinz Haber.

Television broadcasts

Beginnings

Haber had a 13-part series entitled What is man looking for in space? moderated. It was broadcast for the first time in 1968 on the ARD evening program and conveyed the basics of space science to a broad audience in a simple manner. In the last episodes of the series, the question of the meaning and use of space travel was taken up. The last episode finally gave an outlook on the future of space exploration.

The show was particularly characterized by a didactic approach to the topic. Complex issues were clearly explained using model tests and trick shots. Film recordings of Haber's visits to the space centers and research facilities of NASA completed the series.

The following topics were dealt with (each number and title of the episode):

  1. The old and the new astronomy
  2. Topography of space flight
  3. Nature is in charge
  4. Vehicle of space travel
  5. planet Earth
  6. In the radiation field of the sun
  7. Cosmos and stars
  8. Our neighbors in space
  9. Exploring the moon
  10. Medical problems
  11. People without weight
  12. Effort and benefit
  13. Artificial weather and climate

The series has been repeated regularly for several years as part of the Space Night program on BR-Fernsehen and ARD-alpha .

Professor Haber reports

In 1979, Heinz Haber started the new series Professor Haber Reports, aimed primarily at young viewers . In contrast to his previous topic-related series (e.g. about the development history of the earth, the moon, space travel, etc.), this time - guided by the audience  mail - “ he wanted to pick out a very specific topic in each episode, which would also be public is often discussed by [...] young people ”. In twelve episodes he wanted to bring children and young people, but also adults, closer to topics such as volcanism, astronomy or the properties of light.

Education about global warming

In the first episode he took up the question that was often asked to him: "When you consider what kind of rainy summers there have been and these snowy winters, many seriously ask: is there perhaps a new ice age?" that one should “never rely on one's own memory - a swallow doesn't make a summer”, he analyzes the facts that were already recognized by climatologists in the 1970s .

Heinz Haber explains that CO 2 only makes up a small percentage of the earth's atmosphere , but plays a very decisive role in the earth's heat balance - due to a property that he does not know himself, “whether I like it wonderfully or whether I should call it diabolical ”: Since CO 2 is able to absorb the long-wave heat radiation emitted by the earth, global warming occurs when the proportion of this gas increases. But this is exactly what has happened since the beginning of the industrial revolution through the burning of large amounts of coal , oil and natural gas . He uses a graph to illustrate this human activity-related increase in carbon dioxide since 1900; In particular, the following values ​​can be read out:

year CO 2 percentage for comparison: CO 2 share measured according to the Keeling curve
1900 290 ppm
1950 300 ppm
2000 380 ppm approx. 369 ppm
2010 410 ppm approx. 388 ppm
2020 440 ppm approx. 411 ppm
2030 480 ppm

Haber assumes that the future energy supply will even increasingly rely on fossil fuels , which, in his opinion, is not least wanted by opponents of nuclear power . The consequences of this for the annual mean temperature are an increase in the global mean temperature of 6.0 ° C by 2050. He illustrates this with another graphic, which shows the following values:

year Change in annual mean temperature for comparison: change measured
1975 0.0 ° C −0.01 ° C
2000 2.0 ° C 0.53 ° C
2010 2.8 ° C 0.65 ° C
2020 3.6 ° C 0.9 ° C
2050 6.0 ° C

Heinz Haber emphasizes that at the end of the 1970s there was a consensus among climatologists all over the world that global warming was inevitable if CO 2 emissions increased . The resulting climate change with a narrowing of the temperate zone could only regress by itself in the course of centuries, and as a result of a decline in agricultural production it was questionable how a growing earth population could be fed. In addition, the entire ice mass of the northern hemisphere will have disappeared by 2060.

He closes the program with a prophecy in which he reveals himself to be a supporter of nuclear energy for the second time : “In the next 10 to 15 years our children and grandchildren will talk about it - that will be the main topic. And they will long for the worries we have today about the possible effects of the use of nuclear energy. "

Stories from the future

From 1979 to 1980 ZDF broadcast the series Stories from the Future . The series is based on ideas from Heinz and Irmgard Haber and Dieter Seelmann.

controversy

In 1975, Heinz Haber was criticized because he for the ZDF in commercial television broadcast "Prof. Habers Tele-Werbemagazin ”moderated and thereby blurred the necessary clear line between science and advertising because the advertising was presented in the form of a television magazine . Haber's fee ( Bild-Zeitung spoke of 500,000 DM , which corresponds to about 670,000 € today) as well as the willingness of advertisers to pay 65,000 DM plus advertising costs of around 300,000 DM (based on today's value about 87,000 € or approx . € 400,000).

Publications (selection)

  • About the energy exchange between translation and rotation through impacts , dissertation, Berlin 1939, DNB 570276713 .
  • Das Torusgitter , Habilitation, Berlin 1944. English: The torus grating , Journal Opt. Society America, 40, 153-165, 1950.
  • Possible Methods of Producing the Gravity-Free State for Medical Research , Journal of Aviation Medicine 21, 1950, 395, with Fritz Haber.
  • Where does space begin? Functional concept of the boundaries between atmosphere and space , Jour. of Aviation Medicine 22, 1951, 342, with H. Strughold, K. Buettner, F. Haber.
  • Safety Hazard of Tinted Automobile Windshields at Night , Journal of the Optical Society of America 45 (1955) 413
  • 1955: people, rockets and planets. 312 pp., Illustrated, Blüchert Verlag, Stuttgart 1955, DNB 451749243 .
  • 1956: The possibilities and limits of manned flight. German edition with Eitel-Friedrich Gebauer, JA Barth, Munich, 1956, DNB 453859054 .
  • 1958: Our friend, the atom. With Walt Disney , 164 pages, Droemer, Munich 1958, DNB 451749235 .
  • 1959: Living space. People, stars and atoms. 1959.
  • 1965: Our blue planet. The evolutionary history of the earth. 1965.
  • 1966: The stuff of creation. 1966.
  • 1968: the open sky. A modern astronomy. 1968. ( No. 1 on the Spiegel bestseller list from March 17 to April 13, 1969 )
  • 1969: Our moon. Natural history and exploration of the earth's satellite. 1969. ( Number 1 on the Spiegel bestseller list from August 18 to September 14 and from September 22 to October 5, 1969 )
  • 1970: Brothers in Space. The possibility of life on strange worlds. 1970.
  • 1971: Our weather. Introduction to modern meteorology. 1971.
  • 1973: is our blue planet dying? The natural history of our overpopulated earth. DVA , Munich 1973. Rororo-Sachbuch 1975, ISBN 3-49916924X .
  • 1977: Trapped in space and time. Our senses and the limits of human imagination about the nature of creation. 1977. Rororo non-fiction book, ISBN 3 499 17077 9
  • 1978: One question, Professor. Heinz Haber answers his readers and viewers. 1978.
  • 1981: The earth strikes. Eruption of Mount St. Helens. Contribution by Irmgard Haber. Ullstein-Verlag 1981, ISBN 3-548345182 .
  • 1986: When our planet is angry. Earthquakes and volcanoes. Langen-Müller, 1986. Rowohlt 1988. Ullstein 1993, ISBN 3-548352901 .
  • 1989: ice cellar or greenhouse. Are we destroying our climate? Herbig-Verlag, 1989. Ullstein-Sachbuch, 1992, ISBN 3-548348297 .

literature

  • Hans-Erhard Lessing : Mannheim pioneers . Wellhöfer-Verlag, Mannheim 2007
  • Entry in German Biographical Encyclopedia
  • Manfred Gross : Stars, People and Atoms. For the 100th birthday of Heinz Haber. Brandt publishing office, 2013. Brochure published from May to July 2013 parallel to the exhibition 'Heinz Haber - From Mannheim to the Stars' in the Mannheim Planetarium. Available from Karl-Friedrich-Gymnasium Mannheim, City Archives Mannheim - Institute for City History, Planetarium Mannheim, Freundeskreis Planetarium Mannheim eV
  • Regina Umland : The television professor Heinz Haber 1913–1990. VdS-Journal ( Vereinigung der Sternfreunde ), No. 50, 3/2014, pp. 34–36, ISSN  1615-0880
  • Regina Umland: Heinz Haber - first television professor in Germany. In: Popularization of Astronomy. Edited by Gudrun Wolfschmidt. Proceedings of the conference of the working group on the history of astronomy in the Astronomical Society in Bochum 2016. tredition Verlag, Hamburg 2017.
  • Regina surrounding area: Heinz Haber: physicist, space expert, television presenter. In: Life pictures from Baden-Württemberg XXV. Edited by Rainer Brüning and Regina Keyler on behalf of the Commission for Historical Regional Studies in Baden-Württemberg. W. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2018.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Richard E. Schneider: A (re) building under uncertain signs: The founding history of the Max Planck Society , article from August 15, 2011 on the website of the Federal Agency for Civic Education
  2. ↑ Moon rocks in your trouser pocket , Wissenschaft.de, June 18, 2013, accessed on July 22, 2013.
  3. ↑ Redaktionsbüro Harenberg: Knaurs Prominentenlexikon 1980. The personal data of celebrities from politics, economy, culture and society . With over 400 photos. Droemer Knaur, Munich / Zurich 1979, ISBN 3-426-07604-7 , Haber, Heinz, p. 155 .
  4. ^ Alexander: Haber, Heinz (1913-1990), physicist, astronomer, scientific student. In: kipnis.de. March 6, 2018, accessed March 31, 2019 .
  5. ↑ alpha-retro: 1979 - Professor Haber reports: Is a new ice age coming? In: alpha-retro (series on ARD-alpha ). Retrieved on June 26, 2019 (most of the information cited in the Global Warming Awareness section is only included in the film itself, not in the table of contents).
  6. ↑ Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide. In: NOAA / ESRL's Global Monitoring Division (GMD) . Retrieved June 26, 2019 .
  7. ↑ GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (v4). In: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) . Retrieved June 26, 2019 (air temperature).
  8. ↑ a b These figures were based on the template: Inflation is determined, is rounded to a full 1,000 or 10,000 and relates to January 2020.
  9. ↑ Dieter E.Zimmer: The physicist and author Heinz Haber changed his profession . Advertising professor. In: The time . September 5, 1975 ( zeit.de [accessed on June 26, 2019] page may only be available as an archive version ( memento from December 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive )).
  10. ↑ Haber 1973 (Planet) - 153 pages with 52 illustrations
  11. ↑ Expanded new edition of the paperback “Die Erde zu” published by Ullstein in 1981. DNB 861002695
  12. ^ Haber 1989 (Klima) - his last book, 187 pages with 45 illustrations

Remarks

  1. ↑ The numbers have been read as accurately as possible from the graphic.
  2. ↑ Trend January 2000
  3. ↑ Trend January 2010
  4. ↑ Trend May 2019
  5. ↑ The graph shows a linear course between 1975 and 2050, which corresponds to the function (here is a year between 1975 and 2050 and the associated temperature given in the graph).
  6. ↑ provisional value based on 2017
personal data
SURNAME Haber, Heinz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German astrophysicist
DATE OF BIRTH May 15, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Mannheim
DATE OF DEATH February 13, 1990
Place of death Hamburg