Comments by "Theodore Shulman" (@ColonelFredPuntridge) on "" video.

Even today, our knowledge of HOW exactly the catalyst makes it possible to break the N-N triple bond is not as complete as we would like. In 2007, the Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to Gehard Ertl, for being the leader in studying this but there are still many unanswered parts of the question.
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@billwilliams3580 Well, he did deserve it, for inventing so many techniques for studying the question, and for solving the structures of so many catalytic metal surfaces. The strange thing was that Gabor Somorjai didn't get to share it with him. No one in the surface-science community understood why the committee passed over Gabor, although many who knew him suspected that it might have been because he was such a prick. He was ruthless, and very destructive to those who crossed him.
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