Editing Carl Bosch (section)

== Biography ==

=== Early years ===
Carl Bosch was born in [[Cologne]] to a successful gas and plumbing supplier.<ref name="hager">{{Cite book|title = The alchemy of air|last = Hager|first = Thomas|publisher = Harmony Books|year = 2008|isbn = 978-0-307-35178-4|location = New York|oclc = 191318130}}</ref>  His father was Carl Friedrich Alexander Bosch (1843–1904) and his uncle was [[Robert Bosch]], who pioneered the development of the [[spark plug]] and founded the multinational company [[Robert Bosch GmbH|Bosch]]. Carl, trying to decide between a career in metallurgy or chemistry, studied at the ''Königlich [[Technische Hochschule]] in [[Charlottenburg]]'' (now [[Technische Universität Berlin]]) and the [[University of Leipzig]] from 1892 to 1898. {{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

=== Career ===
[[File:I.G. Farbenindustrie AG 1926.jpg|thumb|left|Share of the IG Farbenindustrie AG, issued September 1926; signed by Carl Bosch as chairman]]
[[File:IGFarbenGoetterrat.jpg|thumb|300px|Painting by [[Hermann Groeber]]: ''Der Aufsichtsrat der 1925 gegründeten I.G. Farben AG'', Carl Bosch and [[Carl Duisberg]] (in front sitting), [[Edmund ter Meer]] (third person from right with newspaper)]]
Carl Bosch attended the University of Leipzig, and this is where he studied under [[Johannes Wislicenus]],<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carl-Bosch|title=Carl Bosch {{!}} German chemist|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=9 December 2017|language=en}}</ref> and he obtained his doctorate in 1898 for research in organic chemistry. After he left in 1899 he took an entry-level job at [[BASF]], then Germany's largest chemical and dye firm. From 1909 until 1913 he transformed [[Fritz Haber]]'s tabletop demonstration of a method to fix nitrogen using [[high-pressure chemistry]] through the [[Haber–Bosch process]] to produce synthetic nitrate, a process that has countless industrial applications for making a near-infinite variety of industrial compounds, consumer goods, and commercial products. His primary contribution was to expand the scale of the process, enabling the industrial production of vast quantities of synthetic nitrate. To do this, he had to construct a plant and equipment that would function effectively under high gas pressures and high temperatures. {{citation needed|date=November 2019}} Bosch was also responsible for finding a more practical catalyst than the scarce [[osmium]] and expensive [[uranium]] being used by Haber.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bosch |first1=Carl |title=The development of the chemical high pressure method during the establishment of the new ammonia industry |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/bosch-lecture.pdf |access-date=17 November 2019}}</ref>

There were many more obstacles as well, such as designing large compressors and safe high-pressure furnaces.  A means was needed to provide pure hydrogen gas in quantity as the [[feedstock]]. Also, cheap and safe means had to be developed to clean and process the product [[ammonia]]. The first full-scale Haber–Bosch plant was erected in Oppau, Germany, now part of [[Ludwigshafen]].  With the process complete he was able to synthesize large amounts of ammonia, which was available for the industrial and agricultural fields. In fact, this production has increased the agricultural yields throughout the world.<ref name="hager" /> This work won him the Nobel prize for Chemistry in 1931.<ref name="Nobel Prize Bio" />

After [[World War I]] Bosch extended high-pressure techniques to the production of [[synthetic fuel]] via the [[Bergius process]] and [[methanol]]. In 1925 Bosch helped found [[IG Farben]], and was the first head of the company. From 1935, Bosch was chairman of the board of directors.

He received the [[Siemens-Ring]] in 1924 for his contributions to applied research and his support of basic research. In 1931 he was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] together with [[Friedrich Bergius]] for the introduction of high pressure chemistry. Today the Haber–Bosch process produces 100 million tons of nitrogen fertilizer every year.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title = Carl Bosch (German chemist)|encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Britannica |date = 23 August 2023 |url = http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/74581/Carl-Bosch|access-date = 15 December 2013<!-- archived June 2013 at https://archive.today/20130628202349/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/74581/Carl-Bosch -->}}</ref> After the [[Nazi seizure of power]], Bosch was one of the industrialists selected for membership in [[Hans Frank]]'s [[Academy for German Law]] in October 1933, where he served on the General Economic Council (''Generalrat der Wirtschaft''). In December 1933, Bosch received a contract to expand the production of synthetic oil, a development which was essential to [[Adolf Hitler]]'s future war plans.<ref>{{cite book |last= Klee |first= Ernst |title= Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945 |publisher= Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag |location= Frankfurt-am-Main |year= 2007 |pages=66–67 |isbn= 978-3-596-16048-8}}</ref>