Haber-Bosch Process

Available for over a year

Saving lives with thin air - by taking nitrogen from it to make fertiliser, the Haber-Bosch Process has been called the greatest invention of the 20th century - and without it almost half the world's population would not be alive today. Tim Harford tells the story of two German chemists, Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, figured out a way to use nitrogen from the air to make ammonia, which makes fertiliser. It was like alchemy; 'Brot aus Luft', as Germans put it, 'Bread from air'. Haber and Bosch both received a Nobel prize for their invention. But Haber's place in history is controversial - he is also considered the 'father of chemical warfare' for his years of work developing and weaponising chlorine and other poisonous gases during World War One.