Books with author Thomas Hauser

A sweeping history of tragic genius, cutting-edge science, and the Haber-Bosch discovery that changed billions of lives—including your own. At the dawn of the twentieth century, humanity was facing global disaster: Mass starvation was about to become a reality. A call went out to the world’ s scientists to find a solution. This is the story of the two men who found it: brilliant, self-important Fritz Haber and reclusive, alcoholic Carl Bosch. Together they discovered a way to make bread out of air, built city-sized factories, and saved millions of lives. But their epochal triumph came at a price we are still paying. The Haber-Bosch process was also used to make the gunpowder and explosives that killed millions during the two world wars. Both men were vilified during their lives; both, disillusioned and disgraced, died tragically. The Alchemy of Air is the extraordinary, previously untold story of a discovery that changed the way we grow food and the way we make war–and that promises to continue shaping our lives in fundamental and dramatic ways.

A sweeping history of tragic genius, cutting-edge science, and the Haber-Bosch discovery that changed billions of lives—including your own. At the dawn of the twentieth century, humanity was facing global disaster: Mass starvation was about to become a reality. A call went out to the world’ s scientists to find a solution. This is the story of the two men who found it: brilliant, self-important Fritz Haber and reclusive, alcoholic Carl Bosch. Together they discovered a way to make bread out of air, built city-sized factories, and saved millions of lives. But their epochal triumph came at a price we are still paying. The Haber-Bosch process was also used to make the gunpowder and explosives that killed millions during the two world wars. Both men were vilified during their lives; both, disillusioned and disgraced, died tragically. The Alchemy of Air is the extraordinary, previously untold story of a discovery that changed the way we grow food and the way we make war–and that promises to continue shaping our lives in fundamental and dramatic ways.

Linus Pauling (1901-1994), the only person to win two unshared Nobel Prizes, scientist, peace activist, and champion of vitamin C therapy, was a phenomenal figure in American history who leaped the boundaries of physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, and politics. In a balanced, captivating biography, science writer Hager skillfully leads the reader through Pauling's pioneering work in fields ranging from quantum theory to crystallography to immunology. Drawing on scores of interviews with Pauling, his family and his colleagues, and on the two-time Nobel Prize-winner's papers, Hager limns a fiercely competitive, emotionally constricted man, irreverent, audacious, sometimes self-righteous and bullying -- a more complex figure than his public persona of maverick idealist. Drawing on a trove of newly declassified government documents, Hager tells the full story of the FBI's harassment and intimidation of Pauling for his leftist politics. The book ends with a detailed overview of Pauling's research on Vitamin C, a late-life obsession that led many observers to think of him more as a crackpot than a brilliant scientist. “A thorough and thoroughly satisfying biography of a genius” -- The New Yorker "Magisterial.... a delicate balancing act of empathy and critical analysis” -- The Times Literary Supplement. “Remarkable in both bringing to light Pauling’s personality and evaluating his scientific work.” -- Detroit Free Press (4-star review)“Monumental and authoritative” -- Nature"The definitive biography" -- The New Scientist

A sweeping history of tragic genius, cutting-edge science, and the discovery that changed billions of lives—including your own.At the dawn of the twentieth century, humanity was facing global disaster. Mass starvation, long predicted for the fast-growing population, was about to become a reality. A call went out to the world’s scientists to find a solution. This is the story of the two enormously gifted, fatally flawed men who found it: the brilliant, self-important Fritz Haber and the reclusive, alcoholic Carl Bosch. Together they discovered a way to make bread out of air, built city-sized factories, controlled world markets, and saved millions of lives. Their invention continues to feed us today; without it, more than two billion people would starve.But their epochal triumph came at a price we are still paying. The Haber-Bosch process was also used to make the gunpowder and high explosives that killed millions during the two world wars. Both men were vilified during their lives; both, disillusioned and disgraced, died tragically. Today we face the other un­intended consequences of their discovery—massive nitrogen pollution and a growing pandemic of obesity.The Alchemy of Air is the extraordinary, previously untold story of two master scientists who saved the world only to lose everything and of the unforseen results of a discovery that continues to shape our lives in the most fundamental and dramatic of ways.