Friedrich Bergius was an organic chemist who, as research director of the Goldschmidt Company in Essen, Germany, was able to develop two hydrogenation processes that were widely used in industry. These high-pressure methods enabled both Germany and England to have sufficient supplies of motor fuel during World War II. Bergius also developed high-pressure methods for breaking wood down into edible products, a process that was called "food from wood." For his work with these methods, Bergius was awarded the 1931 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

Friedrich Karl Rudolf Bergius was born October 11, 1884, in Goldschmieden, Germany (now part of Poland). His father, Heinrich Bergius, was the head of a local chemical factory and his mother, Marie Haase Bergius, was the daughter of a classics professor. Both of Bergius's parents valued education, and at a young age Bergius observed the chemical processes in his father's factory. In addition, his father sent him...