The Alchemy of Air

By Thomas Hager,

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…

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Why read it?

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

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.

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