Daniel Rabinovich

Nitrogen Fixation before Haber

Abstract Much has been written about the German chemist Fritz Haber (1868-1934), who embodies at once the best and the worst that chemistry has offered to humankind. He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry a century ago (1918) “for the synthesis of ammonia from its elements,” an industrial process that led to the pervasive use of nitrogen-based fertilizers in agriculture and enabled the unprecedented population growth experienced in the world ever since. On the other hand, Haber is often considered the “father of chemical warfare” for his role in the development and deployment of chlorine and other poisonous gases during World War I. This note, however, is not about Haber’s legacy but pays tribute instead to two resourceful Norwegians who preceded him in the quest for converting atmospheric nitrogen into more reactive, bioavailable forms of the element.