The Inventor of Chemical Fertilizer: Justus von Liebig

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Plants grow on their own in the presence of water on Earth. Grains, pulses, vegetables, fruits, and spices useful to humans also grew spontaneously. With the development of human civilization, man began cultivating these useful plants. Plants receive sufficient natural nutrition from the soil, but more water and fertilizer are needed to get a higher yield. The main nutrition for plants comes from organic substances containing nitrogen. The dung, urine, dead bodies of animals, and decaying vegetation mix into the soil and, over time, transform into natural fertilizer. Earthworms and other insects living in the soil play an important role in this process.

Scientists have invented artificial fertilizer to achieve even higher yields and better crops. This invention is a blessing, aimed at providing sufficient grain to a rapidly increasing population. Because of it, the world today receives enough grain. German scientist Liebig's contribution to the discovery of chemical fertilizer is significant. He is called the pioneer (or grandfather) of this field.

Justus Liebig was born on May 12, 1803, in the city of Darmstadt, Germany. Born into an ordinary family, Liebig was interested in chemistry from childhood. At the young age of thirteen, he witnessed the famine conditions in Germany. After getting higher education at Bonn University, he joined various laboratories in Paris. He started his career as a professor at the University of Giessen. He was hardworking and dedicated and became famous in the field of science. Liebig created a five-bulb apparatus for the analysis of organic substances. He made the revolutionary discovery of producing chemical fertilizer from nitrogen. He passed away on April 18, 1873.