Nitrogen Fixation at the Millennium

• Other Authors: Leigh, G. Jeffery (edited)
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsvier Science 2002
• Subjects: Nitrogen > Fixation
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.

 The turn of the millennium from the twentieth to the twenty-first century provides an occasion to review our understanding of a biological process, biological nitrogen fixation, that is of prime importance for the continued survival of mankind. This process has provided a basis for maintaining soil fertility since the beginning of organised agriculture, yet its very existence was confirmed only just over a century ago. In the intervening years, an enormous intellectual effort has dispersed much of the mystery surrounding biological nitrogen fixation. Biological fixation is widely exploited in agriculture, as are nitrogen fertilisers prepared for the last hundred years under extreme conditions of temperature and pressure. However, despite all our efforts, the fundamental nature of the reactions involved at the heart of the biological process remain unknown.