Overview

The industrial synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen has been of greater fundamental importance to the modern world than the inventions of the aeroplane, nuclear energy, space flight, or television. The expansion of the world's population from 1.6 billion people in 1900 to today's six billion would not have been possible without the synthesis of ammonia. In Enriching the Earth, Vaclav Smil begins with a discussion of nitrogen's unique status in the biosphere, its role in crop production, and traditional means of supplying the nutrient. He then looks at various attempts to expand natural nitrogen flows through mineral and synthetic fertilisers. The core of the book is a detailed narrative of the discovery of ammonia synthesis in 1908 by Fritz Haber - a discovery scientists had sought for over hundred years - and its commercialisation by Carl Bosch and the chemical company BASF. Smil also examines the emergence of the large-scale nitrogen fertiliser industry and analyses the extent of global dependence on the Haber-Bosch process and its biospheric consequences. Finally, he looks at the role of nitrogen in civilisation and, in a sad coda, describes the lives of Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch after the discovery of ammonia synthesis.

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Reviews

I am tremendously impressed with this book. It will make a very significant contribution to the literature on the Haber-Bosch process of nitrogen synthesis, but perhaps even more significant, to putting into perspective the importance of nitrogen fertilizer to humanity. --E. T. York, Chancellor Emeritus, University System of Florida, and Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences, University of Florida

I am tremendously impressed with this book. It will make a verysignificant contribution to the literature on the Haber-Bosch processof nitrogen synthesis, but perhaps even more significant, to puttinginto perspective the importance of nitrogen fertilizer tohumanity. E. T. York, Chancellor Emeritus, University System ofFlorida, and Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Institute ofFood and Agriculture Sciences, University of Florida

Author Information

Vaclav Smil is the author of thirty books on energy, environment, food, and history of technical advances, including (with Kazuhiko Kobayashi) Japan's Dietary Transition and Its Impacts (MIT Press). Until 2011, he was a Distinguished Professor at the University of Manitoba in Canada. In 2010 he was named by Foreign Policy as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers.

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