Phosphorus: Glow, Fire, and the Fertilizer Frontier

From Henning Brand’s urine distillation in 1669 to Robert Boyle’s practical chemistry, this episode traces phosphorus’s wild history and surprising versatility. We’ll explore its four allotropes—white, red, violet, and black—and why phosphorus sits at the heart of life, industry, and the global food system. Along the way we uncover the element’s intimate ties to DNA, its darkly dramatic uses, and the looming peak phosphorus challenge shaping research and policy today.

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