Thomas Midgley, Jr.
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In the end, the greatest gift that Thomas Midgley, Jr. gave to the world might be his own life story. Talking about Midgley and his discoveries is a great way to frame discussions in chemistry and environmental science classes. It is also a great way to start discussions about ethics, scientific caution, and what happens when lab discoveries suddenly become big business. Midgley did not die happy but he did die rich, and he also died believing that his work had produced substantial benefits to humanity. He never imagined that he would soon be identified as the person who caused more damage to the global environment than anyone else in history ever did.
Midgely was a scientist whose discoveries turned on him and created a dubious legacy. I wrote the timeline below and have begun a list of resources that tell Midgley's life story and discuss two of the scientific issues raised by it: tetra-ethyl lead and its effect on engine performance and the environment, and Chlorofourocarbons (CFCs) and their effect on the ozone layer. Feel free to add your comments and more links. --Brade 12:05, 14 March 2008 (EDT)
Contents |
TIMELINE
- May 18, 1889: Midgely is born in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
- 1911: Awarded a PhD in Engineering from Cornell.
- 1916: Joins staff of Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company, a division of General Motors, under Charles F. Kettering.
- 1921: Discovers that adding tetraethyl lead to petroleum fuel eliminates engine knock and improves performance.
- 1921-22: Ignores warnings from the U.S. Surgeon General and others that ingesting lead causes brain damage, and that widespread burning of lead is a risk to public health.
- 1923: Becomes founding VP of Ethyl Gasoline Corporation; begins selling leaded gasoline.
- 1928: Discovers that chloroflurorocarbon compounds (CFCs) are less toxic, less flammable, and less reactive than other refrigerants.
- 1930s: Contracts with DuPont to begin producing CFCs for commercial use.
- 1940: Contracts polio and is paralyzed. Devises a system of ropes and pulleys to get himself out of bed.
- November 2, 1944: Midgley becomes tangled in his own device and strangles to death in his mansion.
- 1963: Lead-based anti-knock agents are in 98 percent of the US gasoline supply.
- 1953: Geochemist Clair Patterson begins publishing research showing unusually high levels of environmental lead worldwide. The Ethyl Corporation allegedly offers him lucrative employment in exchange for more favorable research results; he refuses the offer.
- 1965: Soil tests show that environmental lead levels are roughly 1,000 times higher than they were in the pre-Ethyl era. Analyses of human bone shows that lead levels have also increased inside people.
- 1970: Passage of The Clean Air Act begins the phase-out of leaded gasoline.
- 1974: Research shows that CFCs catalytically break down ozone in the presence of ultraviolet light, and that the layer of ozone in earth’s atmosphere that blocks the sun’s radiation will be depleted by CFCs.
- 1978: US bans CFCs in aerosol sprays but allows industrial uses to continue.
- 1985: Research reveals a “hole” in the ozone layer over Antarctica. Subsequent research discovers another hole over the Arctic and shows that both holes are getting bigger.
- 1987: The first international agreement regulating the use of CFCs is signed.
- 1988: Wordwide consumption of CFCs is estimated at one billion kilograms.
- 1992: International ban on CFCs is adopted, although some minor uses continue.
- 1923-1986: An estimated seven million tons of lead are burned through gasoline, expelled through exhaust, and dissipated across the Earth’s surface. Since lead does not decay, it’s all still around somewhere.
- 2006: Researchers announce that the hole in the ozone layer has stopped growing, and that it may close up again in about 60 years.
LINKS: BIOGRAPHICAL
Kettering, Charles F., National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir of Thomas Midgley Jr. ([1]), Vol XXIV No. 11. Kettering was Midgely’s admiring employer and this was written in 1947, before the environmental effects of Midgely’s discoveries were fully realized. It contains a bibliography of Midgely’s publications and is downloadable. 21 pages.
Midgely, Thomas IV, From the Periodic Table to Production: the Life of Thomas Midgely Jr. (Stargazer Publications, 2001: [2]), s another admiring account written by his grandson.
Bellows, Alan, "The Ethyl-Poisoned Earth," December 8th, 2007 post to the website Damn Interesting ([3]), goes into detail on the warnings Midgley reseived about lead and his response to them.
Unsigned, "Anecdotes for chemistry teachers: Thomas Midgley" ([4]). From a British collection of anecdotes, stories, and unusual facts intended for Chemistry teachers who want to enliven their lessons. Three pages.
Wikipedia: [5]
LINKS: LEAD
Cotton, Simon, “Heavy Metal is Bad For You” ([6]). Tetraethel lead was the January 2001 “Molecule of the Month” on the website maintained by the chemistry department of Bristol University. It contains a Java applet that allows you to rotate and manipulate a TEL molecule.
TE Lesson: Transportation and the Environment” ([7] ) is a lesson plan for grades 3-5. Looking at transportation and the environment, students learn that some human-made creations, such as vehicles, can harm the environment. They also learn about alternative fuels and vehicles designed by engineers to minimize pollution. The associated hands-on activity gives students a chance to design their own eco-friendly vehicle.
LINKS: CFCS AND OZONE
"Refrigeration - From Ice Man to Ozone Hole" ([8]) by Kathryn R. Williams.
"Atmosphere" ([9] ), a three-part series for middle school on ozone production, ozone depletion, and the increasing greenhouse effect.
"Ozone Home Watch" ([10]), a NASA web site containing pictures of the hole in the ozone layer over time and facts about ozone, the measurement of ozone in Dobson Units, and the ozone hole.
"Ozone Depletion,History and Politics" ([11]), from NASA’s Advanced Supercomputing division, summarizes treaties and legislation controlling CFCs until 2001.
"Ozone Hole Stable, Say Scientists" ([12]) is a more recent account (August 1986) that estimates recovery time for the ozone hole.
