Photocopies of some significant humic acid manuscripts in the long history of humic acid research are shown.
1786 Achard, FK
The first report of humic acids
1919 Odén
Coined the term Fulvic acid
1921 Fischer, F & Schrader, H
The first proponents of the lignin origin theory of humic acids
1925 Marcusson, J
A fierce proponent of the polysaccharide origin of humic acids
1934 Hilpert, RS & Littman, E
Proponents of the polysaccharide origin of humic acids
1957 Shapiro, J
Used novel techniques for studying humic acids and found an aliphatic structure (work totally ignored)
1972 Nissenbaum, A & Kaplan, IR
Discovered marine humic acids (that were entirely aliphatic)
1986 Ikan et al
Rediscovered the polysaccharide origin of humic acids
Frimmel and Bauer, 1987
Found fulvic acids in plant leaves (origin without microbial alteration)
