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In a large part thanks to this guy

You mean due to the process discovered by Fritz Haber.

It isn't the case that if he hadn't discovered the process in 1909 that in 2016 the human species would still be without it.

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Sure, just like if Einstein hadn't discovered relativity someone else possibly/probably would have. And maybe in another part of the multiverse someone else did. It's still interesting to trace back the chain of events that lead us to where we are today, and examine the agents of some of the most impactful events, however incidental they may be

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