Who was the great scientist killed in World War 1?

[bluemoonKY]

When i took chemistry in high school, i remember one time the teacher mentioned a great scientist who made the discoveries for the aspects of chemistry that we were studying. This chemist made some sort of huge breakthroughs in chemistry sometime before November 1918. He might have won a Nobel Prize. My teacher then mentioned that he was killed in World War 1. My teacher said that it was real wasteful that this great chemist was killed. My impression is that this great chemist was killed in action in world war 1 as opposed to being a soldier who died of disease.

Who is the great scientist killed in world war 1 who my teacher was probably talking about?

 

[Borg]

This guy maybe? Henry Moseley

 

[bluemoonKY]

Thank you, Borg. I think you are right that Henry Moseley is was she was talking about.

 

[zoobyshoe]

This, from the wiki article, is interesting:

Because of Moseley's death in World War I, the British governmentinstituted a policy of no longer allowing its prominent and promising scientists to enlist for combat duty in the armed forces of the Crown.[4]

Moseley had, unfortunately, volunteered for the military.

 

[bluemoonKY]

Zoobyshoe, i agree. It was foolishness.

 

[dipole]

I think it's sad that when someone whose name we recognize dies in war - we reflect on how needless and wasteful wars are. When millions of common and unfamiliar names die, we carry on beating the drum like they never existed.

 

[bluemoonKY]

Dipole, that's because Moseley had a lot more potential to improve other humans' lives than most of those other common & unfamiliar names.

 

[rbelli1]

Moseley had, unfortunately, volunteered for the military.

So in light of the British policy of then blocking enlistment of promising scientists he might be said to have saved the lives of many fellow scientists. The sacrifice of one to save many is a significant part of bravery.

BoB

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Dipole, that's because Moseley had a lot more potential to improve other humans' lives than most of those other common & unfamiliar names.

You say that like dying in a French field was the most those soldiers could have achieved in life. Which is absolute nonsense. Out of those millions in sure there are plenty that could have done so much more than die of gunshot and disease before they'd even reached their mid twenties.

 

[256bits]

So in light of the British policy of then blocking enlistment of promising scientists he might be said to have saved the lives of many fellow scientists. The sacrifice of one to save many is a significant part of bravery.

BoB

I guess the nameless sons, brothers, husbands who sacrificed their lives were just not brave enough, since they had impact on only a few lives, only nameless mothers, fathers, children, siblings, loved ones, who could only suffer their loss and grief in silence.

 

[russ_watters]

I guess the nameless sons, brothers, husbands who sacrificed their lives were just not brave enough, since they had impact on only a few lives, only nameless mothers, fathers, children, siblings, loved ones, who could only suffer their loss and grief in silence.

One thing has nothing to do with the other, and your comparison was wrong. What you were replying to was a argument against the idea that his life was wasted (or his choice foolish) and has nothing whatsoever to do with whether other people were also brave. You also miss the mark on the "impact": the statement you were replying to was about impacting lives on the battlefield, not the homefront. Quite obviously others on the battlefield had similar contributions.

I find it distasteful that several people here are fumbling into generic statements/arguments about the horrors of war and ignoring the simple issue of the thread. It's disrespectful to the sacrifice Moseley and millions of others made.