"[[Fritz Haber]] was born in [[Poland]] (at the time, [[Prussia]], part of [[Germany]]) in 1868, and initially worked with his father in the chemical business. After one-too-many failed experiments in the business world he was ousted to academia. There he set to work on tackling the nitrogen problem. "Nitrogen exists in the atmosphere in the form of N2: two nitrogen atoms bonded together. **To get it in a form that can be used by plants, we need to turn it into ammonia (NH3)**. But pulling this off was no mean feat. Most believed it couldn’t be done. [[Fritz Haber]] was not deterred. "**The trick was getting the pressure and temperature just right**. Nitrogen and hydrogen had to be highly pressurised and the temperature ramped up to 400–500°C. They had to be passed over beds of a catalyst, which would break down the incredibly strong triple bonds holding the nitrogen… ([Location 2501](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0C3X6X695&location=2501))" --- **Tags** -- [[quotes]], [[ammonia]], [[fertilisers]], [[hydrogen]], [[nitrogen]], [[chemistry]] **Source** -- [[260103133118 - B - Not the End of the World]]