Why read The Alchemy of Air?

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

Book description

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…

Explore

Topics

Germany

Genres

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

2 authors picked The Alchemy of Air as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Michael Grunwald

Author

This amazing narrative history of the invention of synthetic fertilizer is arguably a bit off topic, except that the subtitle could have ended: …That Fed the World, But Now Generates 10 Percent of Agricultural Emissions.

Nitrogen fertilizer was probably the most important invention of the 20th century, even more so than TV or the bomb; half the 8 billion people on Earth wouldn’t be here without it.

But the Haber-Bosch chemical process that literally converts fossil fuels into nutrition has created all kinds of environmental problems, including not only greenhouse gases but nitrate pollution that has created a dead zone…

From Michael's list on how our food affects our environment.

Kathryn Harkup

Author

A thought-provoking book about ammonia, a molecule made easily in nature but with great difficulty by humans.

Fritz Haber was the chemist who found a way to make ammonia artificially, but he was a complicated and controversial figure. The industrial production of ammonia has fed billions through its use in fertiliser, and killed millions through its use for making explosives.

From Kathryn's list on chemistry that aren’t chemistry.