Short answers, pulled from the story.
Elizabeth Fulhame published a book in 1794 that described how certain substances could speed up reactions without being consumed. Her work on oxidation-reduction experiments laid the foundation for what we now call catalysis.
The term catalysis comes from the Greek word kataluein which means to loosen or untie. This concept describes a process where an added substance increases the rate of a chemical reaction while remaining unchanged after the event.
Gottlieb Kirchhoff studied the first organic chemistry reaction using a catalyst in 1811 when he discovered the acid-catalyzed conversion of starch to glucose. This discovery marked a significant milestone in early catalytic research.
Wilhelm Ostwald earned the 1909 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his systematic investigations into acid- and base-catalyzed reactions at Leipzig University. He found that chemical reactions occur at finite rates and used these rates to determine acid and base strengths.
In 2005 alone, catalytic processes generated approximately $900 billion worth of products worldwide. Estimates suggest that 90% of all commercially produced chemical products involve catalysts at some stage during manufacture.