Inducted 2006

Karl Bosch transformed global agriculture by advancing the Haber process for producing ammonia, making it commercially practical to produce large quantities of the compound. The Haber-Bosch process remains an industry standard for the mass production of ammonia used for manufacturing fertilizer.

Invention Impact

Using principles from Fritz Haber’s discovery, Bosch devised a method for separating large quantities of hydrogen from a hydrogen-carbon monoxide mixture. In 1909, under Bosch's leadership, BASF acquired the patent rights for Fritz Haber's ammonia process and began developing the equipment and refining the process needed for mass production.

Two years later, BASF started producing commercial quantities of ammonia. During World War I, BASF expanded its production facilities, and by 1918 Germany was generating more than 200,000 tons of synthetic ammonia annually for use in fertilizers and explosives.

Inventor Bio

Bosch was born in Cologne, Germany. He studied chemical engineering at the Technical University in Charlottenburg, Germany
before receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Leipzig in 1898. Bosch won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1931 for his integral part in establishing the ammonia industry.