The Omnivore’s Dilemma Part 3 of 10: The Story of Fritz Haber
November 19, 2009 by dr. lam
Who? Fritz Haber won the 1920 Nobel Prize and without his invention of nitrogen-impregnated fertilizer we would not have modern agriculture as we know it. Further without his fertilizer system, we would not be able to feed the world the way we currently do, and it is estimated that 2 out of 5 people on this planet would not be around without Haber’s invention.
Why have we not heard of Haber? Most likely because Haber had a very ignominious life that is not particular cause for celebration. Haber’s invention of bonding nitrogen to the soil was used during World War I on behalf of Germany’s war effort when nitrates used for explosives were both in short supply and cut off by the British. Haber’s synthetic nitrates helped Germany prolong the war campaign, and Haber served relentlessly on behalf of his motherland, even creating the infamous Zyklon B gas that would later be used by Hitler in the concentration camps. His wife, a fellow chemist, sickened by her husband’s promotion of the war effort, killed herself with her husband’s army pistol. In the 1930s, Haber, a German Jew, who later converted to Christianity, was compelled to flee his native land with the rise of the Third Reich and died a broken man in an obscure Basel hotel in 1934.
Although Haber’s process defines the modern fertilization process that has literally supported our population boom, Pollan calls what we have gained from his knowledge a true “Faustian bargain.” In order to get the nitrogen and hydrogen to meld with the soil, we need a ton of non-renewable fossil fuel to accomplish that end, as compared with the free energy of nitrogen that certain bacteria living at the base of legumes would otherwise create in small quantities. In addition, fertilizers can obviously pose health risks and further pollute the land and the water supply when there is spillage and oversupply of it. In short, fertilizers support our human growth and appeal to our big-scale industry of farming but has darker, untoward consequences of which we must also be cognizant.
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Interesting, I just today talked with an 89 year old guy from World War II about those concentration camps and he mentioned that gas. Horrific!!! I don’t understand that if Haber was a Jew how he could get involved in promotion of World War II???
Anyhow, Dr. Lam, great point about us all needing to be cognizant of all the fertilizer that is being used. I don’t think there’s too much we can do about it though. I’m eager to learn more!!! I always wash my fruits and veggies really well. Hopefully that does something…lol