Wikinventia — Atlas of discoveries and inventions · Industrial Age

Industrial synthesis of ammonia — Haber-Bosch

1909 AD · Transmission: Global
AgricultureMethodGermanic

Haber and Bosch synthesize ammonia from atmospheric nitrogen at high pressure and temperature. The resulting artificial fertilizers are estimated to sustain the food supply of 40–50% of today's world population. The same process produces explosives — the most lethal and most vital discovery of the 20th century.

InstitutionBASF — Ludwigshafen
Historical regionGerman Empire (present-day Germany)
Primary sourceHaber, F. — Thermodynamics of Technical Gas Reactions (1905); BASF Patent No. 235421 (1909)
Secondary sourceNobel Prize — Chemistry 1918; Smil, V. — Enriching the Earth (2001, MIT Press)
Original languageGerman
View this entry in the interactive atlas → View in graph →