The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World But Fueled the Rise of Hitler

By Thomas Hager

Book Overview

A sweeping history of tragic genius, cutting-edge science, and the Haber-Bosch discovery that changed billions of lives--including your own.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, humanity was facing global disaster: Mass starvation was about to become a reality. A call went out to the world' s scientists to find a solution.

This is the story of the two men who found it: brilliant, self-important Fritz Haber and reclusive, alcoholic Carl Bosch. Together they discovered a way to make bread out of air, built city-sized factories, and saved millions of lives.

But their epochal triumph came at a price we are still paying. The Haber-Bosch process was also used to make the gunpowder and explosives that killed millions during the two world wars. Both men were vilified during their lives; both, disillusioned and disgraced, died tragically.

The Alchemy of Air is the extraordinary, previously untold story of a discovery that changed the way we grow food and the way we make war-and that promises to continue shaping our lives in fundamental and dramatic ways.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307351793
• ISBN13: 9780307351791
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

On Par with the Best Thillers; Excellent Book on Synthetic Nitrogen

History is full of excellent stories. The problem, usually, is that some of the books detailing them are poorly written or edited, reducing the audience to a handful of readers. That fate does not befall The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, A Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler, by Thomas Hager. Written extremely well, Hager makes the story of the discovery and dual use of synthetic nitrogen accessible, enlightening, and very enjoyable, The problem I have with this excellent book, and it is quite minor, is the lack of pictures of the principle characters and, maybe, some maps. However, this is one of the best books I have read in 2009. Contents: Introduction: Creatures of the Air I: The Ends of the Earth II: The Philosopher's Stone III: Syn Source Notes Bibliography Acknowledgements Index During his 1892 speech as the incoming president of the British Academy of Sciences, Sir William Crookes warned of a coming global food shortage. More people were leaving farms for the industrialized cities, reducing the number of farmers and the amount of new, available farm land was dwindling while the global population was rising. For the industrialized countries, it would mean mass starvation. His solution? The creation of synthetic fertilizer in massive amounts; as the earth was farmed, it lost vital nutrients such that subsequent crops were not as plentiful as the first ones cultivated. Even the rotation of crops did not replenish the soil fast enough. From this speech, Hager relates the interesting story of fertilizer, the many scientists that worked on a solution, and the final, incredible answer; Haber-Bosch. In 1905, Fritz Haber, a German chemist, discovered a process to remove nitrogen from the air and convert it into ammonia. Carl Bosch, a German chemist with amazing engineering skills, took Haber's desktop machine and transformed it into an industrial powerhouse that created tons of ammonia from air, saving the world from starvation. Both earned the Nobel Prize for their efforts. Along the way, Bosch eventually led the giant German chemical company, BASF and made millions. Haber achieved success as one of the world's leading scientists as a director at Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes. The irony of nitrogen; it can be used to feed millions or it is a key ingredient in weapons. The latter haunted Bosch as he looked to Hitler's government for financial assistance to increase production of his huge factory and to fund research into synthetic gasoline and rubber. Haber was hampered by anti-Semitism in his beloved homeland and tried his best to assimilate, only to leave the country, and his prestigious directorship as the Nazi's rose to power. Both men, while reaching the pinnacle of scientific achievement struggled in their private lives, which makes this story more than just about synthetic nitrogen. Hager does an excellent job of making this story accessible to the reader, regar

Excellent Book

Hager does an excellent job of relating the true story of how a significant scientific discovery helped change the world. An excellent book for anyone who would like to know more about the importance of science in war and in peace. Relevant to current times also. The average person will learn a lot from this book. I am looking forward to reading other books by Hager.

Lively and Quite Captivating

In prose that is at once friendly, clear, accessible and very engaging, the author recounts humanity's efforts towards increasing crop yields through the use of fertilizers, i.e., nitrates. In order to paint as complete a picture as possible, the author describes the discovery and uses of the first fertilizers found in nature (other than standard farm manure), i.e., saltpetre and guano. Their sources, qualities, collection methods and concentrations around the world are discussed in detail along with the related international politics and occasional military conflicts. But the book's main theme is the manufacture of artificial fertilizer through the extraction of nitrogen from the air to produce ammonia (and nitrates). From Fritz Haber's momentous discovery of the chemical process to do this, to Carl Bosch's considerable efforts in transforming Haber's tabletop apparatus into a huge and efficient industrial complex to continuously produce tons of ammonia, the author has left no stone unturned. Of course, an alternate use for nitrates is the manufacture of explosives; this played an important role in both world wars and is also very well documented in this book. In addition to having done such a superb job in covering the technical, political and financial aspects of this important industry, the author also shines in his relating of the all-important human aspects. In particular, highlights in the lives of Haber and of Bosch are carefully examined and very well presented. Finally, the negative side of too much fertilizer use on the earth's ecosystem is presented in the final chapter. This excellent book can be enjoyed by anyone, particularly those who have a passion for the history of technological development in the first half of the twentieth century.

Couldn't put it down

This is a fabulous true tale exceptionally well told by Thomas Hager. History changing events in Latin America and Europe are made palpable, interesting, and are told in a way that makes you care very intensely about the protagonists involved. Especially fascinating is the telling of the history of contesting in Peru and Chile over the raw materials for nitrogen fertilizer. Get this book now and I guarantee you won't put it down and will learn much about world history and how it could have been quite different. I can't say enough good things. Just get the book now. Gee, it almost sounds like I know the author, or stand to gain somehow. I don't and just want to share this book with the world. John Lavender

Bosch, Haber and Fixation of Nitrogen

The author has written a well researched and readable account of the early 20th century work of Carl Bosch and Fritz Haber, who set in place modern nitrogen fixation methods. The author has done a good job of simplifying the technical details for the average reader. As an academic chemist, I feel compelled to quibble a little with some of the details, none of which should bother most readers. The author states(chapter 12) that nitric acid could not be made from ammonia, but could be made from cyanamide( this is in 1914). He goes on to say that Bosch built a factory to produce sodium nitrate from ammonia. This is confusing on several grounds. The presently used production of nitric acid proceeds through the catalytic oxidation of ammonia. The book mentions Bosch having a catalyst.Synthetic sodium nitrate would be produced from nitric acid. As for cyanamide, it is a source of ammonia- therefore it is hard to understand how nitric acid could be prepared from cyanamide, but not from ammonia, as the author suggests. The book has a very extensive bibliography, and perhaps I can solve all these questions by recourse to the original sources. None of this makes much difference for the main points of the book. I have read quite a bit on this general area, and this is one of the best books I have found on Haber and Bosch, and I found it interesting and provocative. I found one puzzling entry in the bibliography which may have been included in error : a biography of Whistler, which as far as I can tell is not referenced anywhere else in the book.