as the pioneer and great discover of many advances in soil and plant chemistry. The site of his, the world's first agricultural experimental station, is today a grand Alsatian grange and outbuilding complex in northeastern France in urgent need of restoration (see photo). As of April 2011, an explanatory panel explaining his work has been erected (see photo) correcting some earlier misunderstanding that his experimental work was conducted at another site in the town of Pechelbronn where he maintained a house. The confusion is understandable as the history of the area is dominated by the petroleum technologies developed in that industry, and to which Boussingault contributed as part of his employment in the region. The shadow cast over his work by this more popular subject has led to his status being neglected beyond a cadre of informed scientists and scientific historians. Scientific discoveries Boussingault re-introduced the quantitative methods first employed by de Saussure and is credited with the following discoveries related to agriculture: the first analysis of crops grown in a rotation the increase in soil nitrogen following the growth of legume crops the theory (later confirmed by Persoz) that the carbohydrate fraction of a food ration is metabolized to fat in herbivores plant growth is proportional to the amount of available assimilatory nitrogen, which in practical terms allows greater plant growth from the simultaneous application of phosphorus and nitrogen definition of the photosynthetic quotient. Modern tribute to Boussingault Sometimes scientists are more remembered for their less significant discoveries. Most popular literature lists Boussingault as a contributor to the petroleum development of Alsace, and as being one of the few outsiders who married into the industrialist Le Bel family to be accepted by them in the long term. The mineral Boussingaultite is named after him. Boussingault's most important work was his contribution to agricultural chemistry. His works and experiments contributed to an understanding of the critical role of nitrogen in plant growth and ecological systems. This understanding made possible further developments in nitrogen harnessing and fertilization, unforeseeable in Boussingault's day. These developments, such as the Haber–Bosch process, eventually resulted in nitrogen fertilizers and related products. Nitrogen fertilizers are a critical component of the modern agricultural industry, and have prevented major food shortages up to the present day. Memoirs Boussingault left several volumes of memoirs, which range in subject matter from his very diverse scientific inquiries to his more colorful personal