Can
you tell the difference between these two molecules of urea?
The
urea on the left can be isolated from cattle urine (urea is the principal
nitrogenous waste product of amphibians and mammals). The urea on the right can
be produced via the Wohler process. They are, of course, exactly the same
molecule. Subscribers to organic farming methods, however, believe that the
urea on the left is an acceptable nitrogen source, while the urea on the right
is not.
Once
upon a time, many years ago, people who considered such things believed
that there were substances that could only be synthesized by living organisms.
This dichotomy between living (organic) and non-living (inorganic) is the basis
of today’s chemistry sub disciplines. It was understood that life arose from
and involved “life forces” that were apart from the purely physical and chemical
realm. In other words, all "living organisms are fundamentally different
from non-living entities because they contain some non-physical element or are
governed by different principles than are inanimate things".1 This is the philosophy
of “vitalism.”
In
1828 Friedrich Wohler accidentally made urea in the laboratory.
This marked the breaking of the barrier between “organic” and “inorganic” compounds
(he told his teacher that he had made “urea without requiring a kidney of an
animal, either man or dog.”). He had refuted a core tenant of vitalism. Wohler
wrote that he had witnessed “the great tragedy of science, the slaying of a
beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact.” Vitalism was fiercely debated for the
next 75 years before it was replaced by our modern understanding of chemistry
and biology. Yet this belief system, perhaps unknowingly, is held by many today.
The
man most responsible for the perpetuation of this discredited belief is Rudolf
Steiner (1861-1925). Steiner taught his followers in the early 1920s that urea
synthesized by the Wohler process was “dead.” Such synthetic fertilizers did
not possess critical “vital” forces, thus yielding “dead’ food. Steiner
recommended using only animal manures and crop rotation to fertilize fields. He
taught his followers that the “new” food from synthetic fertilizers was
spiritually and physically deficient and resulted in poor health. From Steiner’s
teachings in the early 1920s arose the modern organic farming movement.
1. Bechtel,W. and R.C. Rirchardson. (1998). Vitalism. In E. Craig (Ed.), RoutledgeEncyclopedia of Philosophy. London: Routledge. Vitalism. Accessed March 28, 2014
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