Who discovered how to make ammonia?
Ammonia occurs in nature in the form of salt deposits, but is it not common. The discovery of how to make ammonia may not have been the most glamorous discovery of the 20th century, but it has certainly been one of the most useful. Many people would think that the greatest discovery was electricity or the invention of aeroplanes or the computer. Few people would ever mention ammonia. However the discovery by a German chemist, Fritz Haber, on 13th October 1908, of how to make ammonia, allowed the nitrogen that is in the air we breath to be extracted in a useful manner.
At that time scientists knew that nitrogen was an essential nutrient for plants, but even though nitrogen makes up 78% of the earth's atmosphere it was hard to obtain. Haber's discovery made it possible to obtain nitrogen from the atmosphere in the form of ammonia and then use the ammonia to make fertilizer. The part played by Carl Bosch in showing how to make ammonia on an industrial scale should also be remembered. The two chemists shared the Nobel prize for their work on what is now called the Haber-Bosch process.
At that time scientists knew that nitrogen was an essential nutrient for plants, but even though nitrogen makes up 78% of the earth's atmosphere it was hard to obtain. Haber's discovery made it possible to obtain nitrogen from the atmosphere in the form of ammonia and then use the ammonia to make fertilizer. The part played by Carl Bosch in showing how to make ammonia on an industrial scale should also be remembered. The two chemists shared the Nobel prize for their work on what is now called the Haber-Bosch process.