Nitrogen Fixation: Hundred Years After [antikvár]

Preface The 7th International Congress on Nitrogen Fixation was held in the Hörsäle der Chemie of the University of Cologne from March 13-20, 1988. It was organized by members of the Botanical Institute of the University in cooperation with the staff of the Max-Planck-Institute for Plant Breeding in Köln-Vogelsang (Abtl. Schell) . Earlier congresses ,or symposia in this series were-held in Pullman, Washington, USA .(1 974), Salamanca, Spain (1976), Madison, Wisconsin, (.1 978) , Canberra, Austcalia (1980), Noordwijkerhout, ThfiS-Netherlands (1983) and Cfotvalliä, Oregon, USA (1985). Two special teVenti'.s guided: the organizers to. hold the Congress in Germany tihis'-year. First, exactly 100 y'ea'fs ago, Hell-riegel and Wilfarth.published their classical manuscript in the "Beilageheft des Vereins für die Rübenzuckerindustrie des Deutschen Reiches'",''p. 1-234 , issue November 1888, with the title "Untersuchungen über die Stickstoffnahrung der Gramineen und Leguminosen". Hellriegel and Wilfarth had performed the seminal experiments at the agricultural station of Bernburg/ Saale (today in the GDR) which proved that leguminous plants can utilize not only combined nitrogen in the soils but also atmospheric dinitrogen gas for growth. They showed that these plants cannot utilize dinitrogen gas directly, but are strictly dependent for this function on soil bacteria, which they harbour in nodules on their roots. Two contributions to the Congress, given by A. Quispel from Leiden, The Netherlands, and N. Schilling from Halle, GDR, were devoted to this special event at the opening session on Monday morning. Secondly, this Congress constitutes one of the major scientific events in the celebration of the 600th anniversary of the founding of Cologne University. Thi-s University is the oldest university in Germany founded under the patronage of a city. On May 21st, 1388, Pope Urban VI gave the citizens leave to establish a "Studium Generale". After the dissolution of the original University by the French in 1798, the sentiments of the people of Cologne for their old "alma mater" led to its reestablishment in 1919. Today, Cologne University, with more than 50,000' students, is the third largest in West-Germany and the biggest in the State of North-Rhine-Westfalia. At the opening ceremony, L. Jaenicke provided an expert account of its history which is included as an appendix to this book. The Congress was attended by 650 scientists from 42 different countries. The organizers were particularly pleased to welcome a delegation of 19 of their colleagues from the USSR and 7 from the GDR. The objectives of the Congress were to bring together scientists working in different fields of