Status Updates From Enriching the Earth: Fritz ...

“eutrophication…deoxygenate water and hence seriously affect or kill aquatic species, particularly the bottom dwellers (shellfish, molluscs).” (192)

pleasantly surprised & relieved that this ain’t so difficult to read. for such an academic subject it’s written well, not too cumbersome w/the chem, it’s a solid balance so far between layman readership & academic scholarship. it details how ammonia was synthesized, the apparatus used, how metals were used as catalysts, how the temp had to be exact, breakthroughs, etc

really fascinating, I keep using this word but it's apt: one sees the history of human civilization thru this lens of agronomy. he mentions Chile, how the seabirds dropped useful, rich guano, and the arid climate kept made the guano that much better, so much so that they exported it for the use of 1) making nitrogen for explosives, 2) fertilizer to sustain agriculture, & food production. Chile, thus, a big exporter.

pretty fascinating, reading all about manure! all that nasty stuff is discussed at depth as the most precious stuff on earth. who can object? it talks about all the stuff that we humans pay no mind or attention to, that we, indeed, turn away from & cover our noses: the wastes of farm animals, the detritus of flora, all the discarded stuff is treasured and highly prized in this reading...

really glad to be reading this...Mr. Nitrogen, I gotchu.

illuminating & genuinely interesting. Author gives a heads up that he got very deep & technical in some parts of the book and that it's okay to pick & choose, but he encourages going through it all. already learning how vital nitrogen (ammonia) is, how the population expansion depends upon it, and how they had to search for & discover the link, the nitrogen gas in the atmosphere, and how to 'grab it'

"...the single most important change affecting the world's population--its expansion from 1.6 billion people in 1900 to today's 6 billion--would not have been possible without the synthesis of ammonia."
Nitrogen, nitrogen, nitrogen, gonna learn all about nitrogen for a few weeks! This book is pretty much for chem & bio students (& agriculture), I'll be in over my head for much of the reading but hey, who cares!