-Caveat Lector- ----- Original Message ----- From: Science-Week <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 1999 2:20 PM Subject: ScienceWeek - Complimentary Copy Attached, with our compliments, is a copy of the current issue of ScienceWeek. Claire Haller Managing Editor SCIENCE-WEEK [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scienceweek.com -------------- Enclosure number 1 ---------------- SCIENCE-WEEK A Weekly Email Digest of the News of Science A journal devoted to the improvement of communication between the scientific disciplines, and between scientists, science educators, and science policy makers. August 20, 1999 -- Vol. 3 Number 34 ----------------------------------------------- It is impossible to dissociate language from science or science from language, because every natural science always involves three things: the sequence of phenomena on which the science is based; the abstract concepts which call these phenomena to mind; and the words in which the concepts are expressed. To call forth a concept, a word is needed; to portray a phenomenon, a concept is needed. All three mirror one and same reality. Words are thus required to preserve and transmit ideas, so that it is clear that the advancement of a science and the improvement of its technical vocabulary go hand in hand. No matter how certain we are of the phenomena, no matter how adequately our concepts reflect them, we cannot help perpetuating wrong ideas unless we have a precise terminology in which to express ourselves. -- Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) ----------------------------------------------- Contents of This Issue: 1. On Ammonia and the Population Explosion 2. On the Natural Occurrences of Diamond 3. On Rotating Superfluid Helium-3 4. Polarized Starlight and Amino Acid Homochirality 5. Cell Biology: Protein Sorting and Golgi Compartments 6. On Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research In Focus: On Horizontal Gene Transfer ----------------------------------------------------------- 1. ON AMMONIA AND THE POPULATION EXPLOSION Ammonia [NH(sub3)], a nitrogen hydride, is a colorless gas with a rather interesting human history that ranges from its discovery by the remarkable chemist Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) to the first large-scale synthetic production and use of ammonia in synthetic fertilizers and explosives in the 20th century. The human requirement for synthetic fertilizers and explosives is an instance of irony in the application of science, since the major use of synthetic fertilizers is in the production of crops to feed people, and the major use of explosives is in the production of weapons to kill people. Nitrogen compounds are essential to fertilizers and explosives, but in the early 20th century the best large-scale source of such compounds was in the nitrate deposits of Chile [*Note #1], which at that time was quite remote from Europe. Another possible source of nitrogen compounds, only theoretical at the time, was Earth's atmosphere, since the atmosphere is mostly nitrogen gas and therefore constitutes an inexhaustible supply. If atmospheric nitrogen could be converted to ammonia, the ammonia could be used in the synthesis of various nitrogen compounds, including fertilizers and explosives. Fritz Haber (1868-1934) and Carl Bosch (1874-1940) are credited with the discovery of the Haber-Bosch process for the synthesis of ammonia from its elements, a discovery that literally altered the course of 20th century history. The basis of the process is the combining of nitrogen and hydrogen at high pressure over a catalyst. Haber, who first demonstrated the synthesis in 1909, received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1918; Bosch, who engineered the application of the method to the large-scale production of ammonia, received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1931 [*Note #2]. ... ... Vaclav Smil (University of Manitoba, CA) presents an historical essay on the Haber-Bosch discovery, the author making the following points: 1) The author poses the question: What is the most important invention of the 20th century? The usual answers include airplanes, nuclear energy, space flight, television, and computers, but none of these are critical to human well-being. The synthesis of ammonia from its elements, however, is critical: the world's population could not have grown from 1.6 billion in 1900 to the 6 billion of today without the Haber-Bosch process. 2) The synthesis of ammonia belongs to that special group of discoveries -- including Edison's light bulb and the Wright brothers' flight -- for which we can pinpoint the date of the decisive breakthrough. The archives of Badische Anilin-Und Soda- Fabrik (BASF) contain a letter from Haber, at that time Professor of Physical Chemistry at Technische Hochschule in Karlsruhe, to the company directors, a letter in which Haber recounts how the previous day the first demonstration to company scientists of the synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen was made: "All parts of the apparatus were tight and functioned well, so it was easy to conclude that the experiment could be repeated." 3) Although a number of company officials lacked confidence in the application of Haber's method because of the high pressure (over 100 atmospheres) required, Carl Bosch, who managed the BASF nitrogen-fixation research, was apparently confident: "I believe it can go. I know exactly the capability of the steel industry. It should be risked." It was Bosch who was responsible for the development of the proper steel housing necessary for large-scale ammonia production. 4) The present world output of ammonia amounts to approximately 130 million metric tons per year, and 80 percent of this goes into fertilizers, of which urea is the most important. The ammonia is absolutely essential to sustain today's population: rich countries might fertilize much less by cutting excessive food production and by eating fewer animals, but even the most assiduous recycling of organic wastes and the widest planting of *nitrogen-fixating legumes could not supply enough nitrogen for land-scarce, poor and populous nations. For several decades now, virtually all the fixed nitrogen added to the fields of China, Egypt, and Indonesia has come from synthetic fertilizers. 5) The author concludes: "Without this [the Haber-Bosch process], almost two-fifths of the world's population would not be here -- and our dependence will only increase as the global count moves from 6 to 9 or 10 billion people." ----------- Vaclav Smil: Detonator of the population explosion. (Nature 29 Jul 99 400:415) QY: Vaclav Smil, Dept. of Geography, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, CA. ----------- Text Notes: ... ... *Note #1: During World War I (1914-1918) access to the Chilean nitrate deposits by Germany was almost impossible, with imports of nitrates blocked by the British navy. The German military needed explosives, which required nitrates, which required a source of usable nitrogen. This was the main impetus for the development of the large-scale production of ammonia by Bosch and BASF. Many historians believe that if Germany had had to depend only on Chilean nitrates for explosives, World War I would have ended in 1916, with several million lives saved. ... ... *Note #2: The personal story of Fritz Haber is interesting. Haber became a prominent chemist following his discovery of the synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen. He was extremely patriotic, and during the war he devoted great efforts to the development of gas warfare, directing the first warfare use of chlorine gas in 1915, and of mustard gas in 1917. In the history of war, the beginning of gas warfare is dated as April 22, 1915, "the day at Ypres when Haber's gas blowing process surprised and overpowered the enemy lines for the first time." Because of his work in gas warfare, there were many protests when Haber was awarded the Nobel Prize after the war ended. Following the war, and the huge reparations demanded from Germany by the Allies, Haber worked to isolate gold from seawater in order to pay the reparations. The yield was too small and research failed. In 1933, when the Nazis came to power in Germany, Haber's patriotic services in ammonia synthesis for explosives, gas warfare, and the attempted isolation of gold from seawater were dismissed as irrelevant because Haber was a Jew, and Haber was forced to give up his post and flee Germany. He went first to England, then decided to go to Palestine, but he died in Switzerland on his way south. Carl Bosch had a different fate: Bosch, who was not a Jew, remained in Germany as a prominent scientist. In 1933, Bosch actually cautioned Hitler against the policy of dismissing non-Aryan scientists, pointing out to Hitler the severe damage which this policy threatened to inflict on the pursuit of chemistry and physics in Germany. Hitler's response: "Then we'll just get along without physics and chemistry for a hundred years!" In 1935, as the Nazi era continued, Bosch succeeded Max Planck as head of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society (now called the Max Planck Society). ... ... *nitrogen-fixating legumes: In leguminous plants such as beans and peas, the symbiotic bacteria Rhizobium form characteristic root nodules, the bacteria supplying the plant with usable nitrate obtained from atmospheric nitrogen, while the bacteria obtain carbohydrates from the plant. In general, the term "nitrogen-fixation" refers to any fixation of nitrogenous compounds from atmospheric nitrogen. In nature, this is achieved by the normal metabolism of specialized soil bacteria (e.g., Rhizobium), and also by the electric discharges of lightening in the atmosphere. The Haber-Bosch process is industrial nitrogen- fixation. ------------------- Summary & Notes by SCIENCE-WEEK [http://scienceweek.com] 20Aug99 <snip> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= NOTICES =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= CHANGE OF EMAIL ADDRESS: If at any time you need to change the Email address at which you receive SW, please send the information to [[EMAIL PROTECTED]], and the change will be made and confirmed the same day. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= SCIENCE-WEEK SUBSCRIPTIONS: The subscription rate for ScienceWeek (52 issues per year delivered via Email only) is US$20 for 1 year (US$36 for 2 years; US$12 for 6 months). 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