The Alchemy of Air

A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler

By: Thomas Hager

Narrated by: Adam Verner

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

A sweeping history of tragic genius, cutting-edge science, and the discovery that changed billions of lives - including your own.

At the dawn of the 20th century, humanity was facing global disaster. Mass starvation, long predicted for the fast-growing population, was about to become a reality. A call went out to the world's scientists to find a solution. This is the story of the two enormously gifted, fatally flawed men who found it: the brilliant, self-important Fritz Haber and the reclusive, alcoholic Carl Bosch.

Together they discovered a way to make bread out of air, built city-sized factories, controlled world markets, and saved millions of lives. Their invention continues to feed us today; without it, more than two billion people would starve.

But their epochal triumph came at a price we are still paying. The Haber-Bosch process was also used to make the gunpowder and high explosives that killed millions during the two world wars. Both men were vilified during their lives; both, disillusioned and disgraced, died tragically. Today we face the other unintended consequences of their discovery - massive nitrogen pollution and a growing pandemic of obesity.

The Alchemy of Air is the extraordinary, previously untold story of two master scientists who saved the world only to lose everything and of the unforseen results of a discovery that continue to shape our lives in the most fundamental and dramatic of ways.

©2008 Thomas Hager (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This scientific adventure spans two world wars and every cell in your body." ( Discover magazine)

“I know of few other books that provide the general reader with a better portrait of chemistry as the most useful of sciences, and I intend to recommend it to scientists and non-scientists alike.” ( The Journal of Chemical Education)

Another reviewer wrote...

"how did I not know about this?" I felt the exact same way. This is the remarkable story of a life sustaining process of which I would guess almost no one in the general population is immediately aware. Elegantly and poetically told, this book proves to be enthralling as well as educating. It is a real "page turner," that is, you will want to listen from beginning to end. What every science based tale should be!

Amazing story! Perfect audiobook!

I finished listening to this author's first book, Demon Under a Microscope, just yesterday. I immediately went online to see if he had written anything else. I definitely recommend starting with Demon Under a Microscope first, as the stories are somewhat connected. I think you get a better understanding if what life was like at the time of this story.

This is another EXCEPTIONAL story from Thomas Hager. He gives the reader a rare point of view. I listened to both of his books straight through. (Honestly I think Hager could make anything interesting!) Hager is a truly gifted author, who tells each story with a fresh and unusual perspective. I loved the way he presented the main protagonists, with their flaws and disappointments.
Ultimately, this book is about the unintended consequences of the work of two important German scientists, from WWI to WWII, and how things just don't turn out like people intend or expect.

Great narration. Highly recommended!

Surprisingly Satisfying

Where does The Alchemy of Air rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best non-ficiton books.

Any additional comments?

I was expecting to be educated a little but I was entertained by the unfolding storyline and I learned much more than I had anticipated. A phenomenal story that needed to be told - so few people have heard the facts of the discovery that has changed the world. If all knowledge could shared as cleverly as in this book, we wouldn't need schools.

A Fascinating & Engaging Book

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. All those who love reading about science and its impact on our society will enjoy this book a lot. Very well researched book. The best part is the interweaving of the human side and scientific side of the story. Thomas Hager is an exceptional storyteller who brings to context different historical events and their reverberations on our contemporary life.

I always hated Chemistry as a kid and now I feel, if only I had read this book when I was young, my perception of the subject and its relevance would have been way different.

What other book might you compare The Alchemy of Air to and why?

Most Human Human. The books is extremely beautiful series of essays on Computing and Artificial Intelligence. Its another realm of science presented with its larger role in the society and meta-philosophy. The book though gets more exciting towards the latter half.

What about Adam Verner’s performance did you like?

Awesome performance by Adam.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Follies by Geniuses.

The Great History of Nitrate Fertilizers and War.

Where does The Alchemy of Air rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of my BEST Audiobooks.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The main character of the story; Fritz Haber and he basically in my opinion being the originator and mastermind of Modern Chemistry / Chemical warfare and processes used till date.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

A lot and can't say all here, might transcribe the whole book and dont' want to ruin the experience for someone so just buy and enjoy.

Any additional comments?

Another great audiobook by Thomas Hager. I just love stories liike this. I learnt all the fundamental equations and processes in school but never knew a story like this existed behind it. A story of Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, and their collaboration on the Haber-Bosch process for creating fixed nitrogen for the benefit of mankind. I can boldly say that these two were the first great chemists to emerge and Chemistry is really the foundation of all things....without chemistry, nothing really would have existed.
I really appreciate these olden days scientists, their inovative discoveries and all that they did to even make Modern Science a little bit easier. They shall forever be remembered.

History, science, war, & amazing people

The Alchemy of Air is a fasinating story. From the need to feed the increasing population of the world, to chemical warfare... This is an amazing history that has all the elements of a great story. And best of all, it is a true story told extreemly well. If you have an introductory knowledge of chemistry, the information on nitrogen fixation will be in your grasp of understanding. The history has a frame of reference that is easy to follow through the 20th century. The narration is smooth and relaxed and well suited to the story that it just carries you along from start to finish.

The connections made from the past to the present and into the future - thank you

A very good history lesson that sheds light on the present and the future. Good job!

Fascinating piece of surpringlittle known history.

If you could sum up The Alchemy of Air in three words, what would they be?

Fascinating, engaging, informative.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Alchemy of Air?

The history of the Nitrate Wars and the parts played by Chile, Peru and the foreign powers was all new to me.

Any additional comments?

If you are interested in technology and/or the resources debate this is an important insight into one of the most critical inventions in human history. It has everything: strong personalities, secrets, technical innovation, politics, racial prejudice, war, famine, Nazis - the lot. But it is all fact, not fiction, and it describes events that significantly shape the world we currently live in.

I learned about the Haber-Bosch process in school Chemistry but had no idea how absolutely essential it was to shaping the last 120 years.

Adam Verner has an excellent voice, intonation, and pace and is more pleasant than some other American narrators for those who speak a different form of English. :-)

Thoroughly recommended.

lots of info long...

detailed info and history well presented. so much about tbe chemistry of N and concequen es

The most important element on earth

This book is a riviting story of, well, nitrogen. It's also a story of famine and war, since nitrogen's main industrial uses are fertilizer and gunpowder. I'll never read history the same, knowing that Europe, in the 1700's, and China, in the 1960's were both in famine, both relieved by fertilizer. It's amazing to plot the path from ship-to-ship barrages in the Napoleonic wars back to guano deposits in then-Bolivia, and before that, to compost trenches required on every British farm.
Poor Haber is as sad a bit of humanity as you can imagine. His effort to end hunger drove German into two wars, his effort to end all wars created poison gas, and his efforts at insecticide ended up gassing Jews. The only rough part of the book was the sweeping, brief summary of nitrogen in today's world.