Carl Bosch
German chemist and engineer, Nobel laureate, pioneer of high-pressure chemistry.
Carl Bosch (1874–1940) was a German chemist and engineer, Nobel laureate, and pioneer of high-pressure industrial chemistry. This breakthrough made possible the mass production of synthetic fertilizers and explosives. Bosch also played a key role in the founding of IG Farben, at one point the world's largest chemical company.
- born
- 27 August 1874
- died
- 26 April 1940
- field
- Chemistry, Engineering
- nationality
- German
- known_for
- Haber–Bosch process, high-pressure industrial chemistry, founder of IG Farben
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Carl Bosch was born in Cologne to a successful gas and plumbing supplier. He had to construct plant and equipment that would function under high gas pressures and high temperatures, and found a more practical catalyst than osmium and uranium. The first full-scale Haber–Bosch plant was erected in Oppau, Germany.
Reader's Guide
Today the process consumes more than one percent of humanity's energy production. On average, one-half of the nitrogen in a human body comes from synthetically fixed sources from a Haber–Bosch plant. He helped found IG Farben in 1925 and was its first head. He died in Heidelberg.
Did You Know?
- Carl Bosch's uncle was Robert Bosch, who pioneered the spark plug and founded the multinational company Bosch.
- Bosch transformed Fritz Haber's tabletop demonstration into the Haber–Bosch process, enabling industrial production of vast quantities of synthetic nitrate.
- The first full-scale Haber–Bosch plant was erected in Oppau, Germany.
- Bosch received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1931 together with Friedrich Bergius.
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