• Submit A Nut
KnowledgeNuts
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Home
  • Facts
  • Finance
  • Misconceptions
  • Differences
  • Bizarre
  • Other
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Facts
  • Finance
  • Misconceptions
  • Differences
  • Bizarre
  • Other
No Result
View All Result
KnowledgeNuts
No Result
View All Result
Home Facts

The Worst Inventor In History

The Worst Inventor In History
241
SHARES
1.9k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
“After about a year’s work in organic lead, I find that my lungs have been affected and that it is necessary to drop all work and get a large supply of fresh air.” —Thomas Midgley

In A Nutshell

Thomas Midgley was a renowned chemist and inventor who held over 100 patents in his lifetime, but he’s most notorious for two chemicals which wreaked untold havoc on the environment: leaded gasoline and Freon, the first CFC. During his lifetime, Midgley was met with great praise, but his legacy has become tarnished since the full effects of his inventions are now understood. Millions have been affected by him, to the point of death, and many more are still suffering to this day.

The Whole Bushel

Related articles

How to Learn AI for Free and Excel in Your Career

How to Learn AI for Free and Excel in Your Career

November 26, 2023
Seasonal Side Hustles: Boosting Your Holiday Budget

How to Sell Holiday Products Like a Pro

November 24, 2023

Born in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania in 1889, Thomas Midgley was the son of an inventor and graduated from Cornell University in 1911 with a degree in mechanical engineering. Four years later, he began working at Dayton Research Laboratories, a subsidiary of General Motors, under the supervision of Charles F. Kettering. Their task: Find a solution to the problem of “knocking” in automobile engines. In 1921, after starting with iodine (because he thought dying the fuel red would cause it to absorb more heat), and then working his way down the periodic table, and finding “most of them had no more effect than spitting in the Great Lakes,” Midgley finally discovered that the addition of tetraethyl lead, or TEL, would successfully eliminate the problem.

General Motors, as well as many other companies around the world, had already been selling an ethanol-gasoline blend to reduce knocking, which burned fairly cleanly and was highly effective. However, ethanol couldn’t be patented and offered no viable profit for GM, so they were on the lookout for new additives to use. Marketing TEL under the name “Ethyl” (because lead was already known to be poisonous), GM expected to rake in massive amounts of money.

ADVERTISEMENT

Later in 1923, GM established the General Motors Chemical Company in order to produce TEL, and Midgley was named vice president. Many leading medical experts, including the US Surgeon General, expressed grave concerns over the potential health problems which would arise from the use of TEL, but their views were swept under the rug by GM, even after workers at their plant began to succumb to lead poisoning. In fact, at a plant they supported jointly with Standard Oil (now known as Exxon Mobil), more than 80 percent of the staff died or suffered severe lead poisoning. (TEL was dubbed “loony gas” by the few survivors because the victims would often go through bouts of insanity.) To assuage public fears, Midgley would often rub TEL on his bare hands, proclaiming: “I’m not taking any chance whatever.”

Article Continued Below

However, public opinion turned against TEL and it seemingly would have been quashed, if not for the utter lack of action from the federal government, which never informed the public of the dangers of TEL or commissioned an independent study on its effects. The Surgeon General did issue a report on TEL, but the findings were inconclusive and pushed to the side of public discourse. It took until 1995, when it was discovered lead additives reacted badly with the newly created catalytic converters, for TEL and its “offspring” to finally be banned in the US.

In 1930, after leaving TEL behind, Midgley was contracted by the Frigidaire division of General Motors to help discover an alternative to ammonia and propane, which were commonly used as refrigerants, but were flammable and highly toxic. In three days’ time, he helped synthesize dichlorodifluoromethane, the first of the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which was named “Freon.” Just as it was with TEL, the health and environmental effects were not made publicly available until years after the fact. In a stroke of what some might call karma, Midgley contracted polio in 1940 and died in 1944, strangled to death by a complicated system of pulleys he invented to help others lift him out of bed. So ended the tale of a man who J.R. McNeill, an environmental historian, described as having “more impact on the atmosphere than any other single organism in Earth’s history.”

Show Me The Proof

The Secret History of Lead
The Priestly Medal – 1941: Thomas Midgley Jr.

Post Views: 1,498
Share96Tweet60
ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

How to Learn AI for Free and Excel in Your Career

How to Learn AI for Free and Excel in Your Career

by Knowledge Nuts
November 26, 2023
0

  Struggling to keep up with the fast-paced world of tech? Artificial intelligence is shaping our future, and mastering it...

Seasonal Side Hustles: Boosting Your Holiday Budget

How to Sell Holiday Products Like a Pro

by Knowledge Nuts
November 24, 2023
0

  Is the holiday season sneaking up on you, leaving you unsure of how to maximize your e-commerce profits? Did...

Family Support

FamilySupportCenter

by Trevor AMG
October 16, 2023
0

Your Role as a Mental Health Advocate For Better Support

Your Role as a Mental Health Advocate For Better Support

by Knowledge Nuts
October 14, 2023
0

  Struggling with mental health issues is a tough journey no one should walk alone. Being a Mental Health Advocate...

Speedy Car Loan Repayment: Your Guide

Speedy Car Loan Repayment: Your Guide

by Knowledge Nuts
October 11, 2023
0

Are you struggling to keep up with your car loan repayments or just looking for ways to pay it off...

Load More
ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

Frugal Meat Mastery: Save Big at Your Local Butcher

Frugal Meat Mastery: Save Big at Your Local Butcher

November 29, 2023
How to Learn AI for Free and Excel in Your Career

Knowing When and How to Make Positive Changes

November 28, 2023
Boost Your Finances: The Tax Impact of Donating Clothes

Boost Your Finances: The Tax Impact of Donating Clothes

November 28, 2023

KnowledgeNuts.com: Your go-to source for insightful information and financial guidance. Explore, learn, and empower your future with us.

Categories
  • Artist
  • Artwork
  • Attitude
  • Bizarre
  • Business
  • Creative Insight
  • Design
  • Differences
  • Facts
  • Finance
  • Forgotten
  • Forgotten Horrors
  • Innovation
  • Inspiration
  • Learning
  • Listicles
  • Market
  • Misconceptions
  • Other
  • Personal Finance Tips
  • Places
  • Thinking
  • Uncategorized
Tags
aid assistance bad credit budget budgeting Business car insurance credit debt disability families family Finance finances Financial Aid food government assistance grants guide healthcare help history holiday holidays home housing income insurance Invest jobs loan loans make money medical Misconceptions Money personal finance quick cash rent savings side hustle side hustles student student aid taxes
Lost your password?
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Mobile Privacy Policy
  • Mobile Terms & Conditions
  • SMS Opt-in

© KnowledgeNuts.com – A Division of Media Comms Networking.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Facts
  • Misconceptions
  • Differences
  • Finance
  • Bizarre

© 2023 KnowledgeNuts.com