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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.
"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"
| 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. |
ISBN: 9780262693134
ISBN-10: 0262693135
Series: The MIT Press
Audience:
Professional
For Ages: 18+ years old
Format:
Paperback
Language:
English
Number Of Pages: 358
Published: 7th May 2004
Publisher: MIT Press Ltd
Country of Publication: US
Dimensions (cm): 22.8 x 17.5
x 1.7
Weight (kg): 0.45
