The number-one component of any fertilizer is nitrogen, and the first of the two German researchers, Fritz Haber, discovered how to work the dangerous, complex chemistry needed to pull nitrogen out of the atmosphere – where it is abundant but useless for fertilizer – and turn it into a substance that can grow plants.
氮是任何化肥中的首要成份，而两位德国研究者中的第一位弗里兹·哈伯发明了危险复杂的化学方法，从空气中提取氮元素。空气中氮的含量非常丰富，但却无法直接用作肥料——无法转换成能使植物生长的物质。