The World's Greatest Fix: A History of Nitrogen

This book would serve many audiences in a high school library - social studies, science and environmental studies foremost. While this may seem like a title of no great interest, this book is a must for anyone genuinely interested in the future of humans, the population, and the environment. One can only fully comprehend agriculture's challenges if one understands the food production requirements. This book explores early civilizations through today's modern capability and explains why we can now feed so many people. The book contains segments on the agriculture of Egyptian, Mayan, Aztec, Chinese, Roman, and English civilizations and their quest to escape famine by producing adequate food on land. The author makes fairly complex information easy to understand and straightforward for the average adult interested in the topic. The work is well documented, with 150 footnotes from excellent sources. The nitrogen fixation explanation would serve well in a high school science class (either biology or chemistry).