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Loading... Enriching the Earth: Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Productionby Vaclav Smil
   None No current Talk conversations about this book.  kukulaj | Dec 9, 2014 |  no reviews | add a review
Dr. Smil is the world's authority on nitrogenous fertilizer.The industrial synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen has been of greater fundamental importance to the modern world than the invention of the airplane, 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 fertilizers. The core of the book is a detailed narrative of the discovery of ammonia synthesis by Fritz Haber--a discovery scientists had sought for over one hundred years--and its commercialization by Carl Bosch and the chemical company BASF. Smil also examines the emergence of the large-scale nitrogen fertilizer industry and analyzes the extent of global dependence on the Haber-Bosch process and its biospheric consequences. Finally, it looks at the role of nitrogen in civilization and, in a sad coda, describes the lives of Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch after the discovery of ammonia synthesis. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)631.84Technology Agriculture & related technologies Techniques, apparatus, equipment, materials CompostingLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.4)
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Smil takes the history from the early days of Chemistry in the late 18th Century, up through the 20th Century. The early chemists came to understand nitrogen as a predominant constituent of the atmosphere. Then through the nineteenth century scientists figured out how important nitrogen was in agriculture. By 1900 it was clear that some sort of industrial fixing of nitrogen was going to be invaluable. Haber and Bosch, and their teams, solved the problem. Smil demonstrates very convincingly that around 40% of the present world population survives because of the industrially fixed nitrogen.
Smil discusses the sustainability of the situation. The hydrogen that feeds into the Haber process is produced from fossil fuels. But the fraction of fossil fuels devoted to the Haber process is quite small, so peak oil or greenhouse gas restrictions will not clamp down on fertilizer availability for many decades at least. The toughest problem is that most of the nitrogen that is applied to fields ends up not in our food but running off into streams etc., creating dead zones in estuaries etc.
Another fascinating aspect of this book is the discussion of how ammonia synthesis, and the people involved in it, led the way to the creation of the military - industrial complex, industrial agriculture, and so much of our modern way of life.
Sometimes I hear people talking about chemical industries and people's lives as if they were not very closely connected. If the chemical industries are just a way for big corporations to make huge profits out of polluting the land, water, and air... why do we tolerate this exploitation and abuse? Smil's book provides an excellent balanced and fact-based perspective, showing how, yes, that sort of exploitation and abuse is a part of the equation, but so is providing the essential nutrition that keeps people alive. (