Enriching the Earth

Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Production

By: Vaclav Smil

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Paperback | 27 February 2004

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358 Pages

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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.

Industry Reviews

"This is a wonderful book, highly readable and replete with referenced data." - John Emsley, Nature; "Broad and imaginative, meticulously argued and fully documented, yet lively and readable, this surprising book...opens a door wide to a dimly lit corner of high-tech, to offer us a new understanding of a major change." - Philip and Phylis Morrison, American Scientist; "A very welcome contribution to the interdisciplinary field of environmental studies." - Juan Ilerbaig, The Quarterly Review of Biology"

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Acknowledgments	p. xi
Transforming the World	p. xiii
Nitrogen in Agriculture: Discovering the Basics	p. 1
Discovering Nitrogen	p. 2
Nitrogen in Crop Production	p. 5
Nitrogen and Legumes	p. 13
Completing the Nitrogen Cycle	p. 16
Traditional Sources of Nitrogen: Preindustrial Agricultures	p. 21
Recycling of Organic Matter	p. 22
Farmyard Manures	p. 25
Cultivation of Legumes	p. 28
Nitrogen Balances in Traditional Farming	p. 31
Limits to Recycling and Legume Cultivation	p. 35
New Sources of the Nutrient: Searching for Fixed Nitrogen	p. 39
Guano	p. 40
Sodium Nitrate	p. 43
By-product Ammonia from Coking	p. 48
Synthesis of Cyanamide	p. 51
Electric Arc Process	p. 53
Plant Nutrients and Future Food Supply	p. 55
A Brilliant Discovery: Fritz Haber's Synthesis of Ammonia	p. 61
Haber's Predecessors	p. 61
Fritz Haber	p. 65
Haber's First Experiments with Ammonia	p. 68
Nernst and Haber	p. 70
BASF and Haber	p. 74
High-Pressure Catalytic Synthesis	p. 77
Creating an Industry: Carl Bosch and BASF	p. 83
Carl Bosch	p. 85
Designing High-Pressure Converters	p. 87
Finding New Catalysts	p. 93
Producing the Feedstocks and Oxidizing Ammonia	p. 97
The First Ammonia Plant at Oppau	p. 99
Ammonia Synthesis for War	p. 103
Evolution of Ammonia Synthesis: Diffusion and Innovation	p. 109
Slow Diffusion of Ammonia Production: 1918-1950	p. 111
Expansion and Changes Since 1950	p. 116
Natural Gas-Based Ammonia Synthesis	p. 118
Single-Train Plants with Centrifugal Compressors	p. 122
Continuing Innovation	p. 127
Synthetic Fertilizers: Varieties and Applications	p. 133
Nitrogen Fertilizers	p. 134
Fertilizer Applications: Global Views	p. 138
Fertilizer Nitrogen in Global Crop Production	p. 143
Regional and National Perspectives	p. 145
The Most Productive Agroecosystems	p. 152
Our Dependence on Nitrogen: Agricultures and Populations	p. 155
How Many People Does Fertilizer Nitrogen Feed?	p. 156
Human Protein Requirements	p. 161
Nitrogen in U.S. Agriculture	p. 164
Nitrogen in Chinese Farming	p. 167
Growing Dependence during the Twenty-first Century	p. 172
Consequences of the Dependence: Human Interference in Nitrogen's Biospheric Cycle	p. 177
Intensifying the Global Cycling of Nitrogen	p. 178
What Happens to Fertilizer Nitrogen	p. 180
Nitrogen Losses in Modern Farming	p. 184
Excess Nitrogen and Human Health	p. 188
Nitrogen and Natural Ecosystems	p. 192
Nitrogen and Civilization: Managing the Nitrogen Cycle	p. 199
What Has Been Accomplished	p. 201
More Efficient Fertilizing	p. 206
Stabilized Populations	p. 211
Rational Diets	p. 214
A Long View	p. 217
Postscript	p. 223
Appendixes	p. 233
Notes	p. 253
Name Index	p. 329
Subject Index	p. 331
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Enriching the Earth

Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Production

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

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How to return your order

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