Salvation in the Air

Could we pull the solution to climate change out of thin air? An oft-forgotten but hugely important scientific technique from the early 20th century suggests the idea isn’t crazy.

Episode Notes

At the dawn of the 20^th century, chemists dreamed of extracting nitrogen from the air and turning it into a limitless supply of fertilizer. Sceptics thought they were crazy; it was possible in theory, but it was unclear if it could be done in practice. What happened next changed the course of 20^th-century history—and provides inspiration to innovators pursuing a different dream today: sucking carbon dioxide out of the air to avert climate change. Might they not be quite so crazy after all?

Podcast production by Bart Warshaw and Kate Holland.

About the Show

Journey into the past and you’ll discover the secret history of the future. From the world’s first cyberattack in 1834, to 19th-century virtual reality, the Economist’s Tom Standage and Slate’s Seth Stevenson examine the historical precedents that can transform our understanding of modern technology, predicting how it might evolve and highlighting pitfalls to avoid. Discovering how people reacted to past innovations can also teach us about ourselves.

All episodes

Hosts

Tom Standage is deputy editor of the Economist and the author A Brief History of Motion: From the Wheel, to the Car, to What Comes Next, and six previous history books including Writing on the Wall, the New York Times bestsellers A History of the World in 6 Glasses and An Edible History of Humanity, and The Victorian Internet, a history of the telegraph. His writing has also appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian, Wired, and other publications. Standage holds a degree in engineering and computer science from Oxford University. He lives in London.
Seth Stevenson is a frequent contributor to Slate. He is the author of Grounded: A Down to Earth Journey Around the World.

The Secret History of the Future