Get The Lead Out

Get The Lead Out

Bill Bryson remarked that Midgley possessed "an instinct for the regrettable that was almost uncanny."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Midgley,_Jr.

Originally shared by Kam-Yung Soh

"Tomorrow (18th May) marks the date of birth of Thomas Midgley, who made significant contributions to something many of us make use of on a regular basis: petrol. Midgley was the research assistant to Charles Kettering, and the duo were responsible for the addition of the compound tetraethyl lead to petrol, an innovation that would have a lasting legacy – although perhaps not in the manner that they may have originally envisioned.
[...]
Today, unleaded petrol still contains anti-knock agents, but a range of different compounds that don’t contain lead are used. Ethanol is one such compound, as well as methyl tertiary-butyl ether (another compound which has attracted some controversy), benzene, and toluene, amongst others. Tetraethyl lead’s legacy still remains though – levels of lead in the soil near roads are still much higher than those in areas further from traffic.

Back to Midgley, and his tale doesn’t end with tetraethyl lead. He was also involved in the discovery of Freon, the widely-used refrigerant gas that was later found to be contributing to the destruction of the ozone layer. He didn’t live to fully comprehend the huge negative environmental impacts of both of these discoveries, however; he contracted polio at the age of 51, leaving him seriously disabled, and died four years later in 1944 when he became entangled in a contraption that had been designed to allow him to be lifted from his bed."
http://www.compoundchem.com/2016/05/17/petrol/

Comments

  1. John BumpMay 17, 2016 at 10:27 PM

    Wasn't Midgeley the one who drank some TEL to demonstrate how safe it was and that, too, almost killed him?
    Kettering was a genius and built a ton of stuff other than TEL, it should be noted. I think he was largely responsible for bendix-type starter mechanisms, modern synchromesh, and rear driveshaft/differential/live axle innovations.

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  2. Drew McCarthyMay 18, 2016 at 4:12 AM

    Yes. Although I think the story was that Midgeley washed his hands with it, and sniffed the vapors. What wasn't reported was that he had to take a leave of absence for lead poisoning, afterwards.
    Kettering certainly did build a lot of stuff, and made a lot of money from it. It isn't entirely clear (just as with Edison) how much of that was his genius... It's also pretty clear that both Midgeley and Kettering were big proponents of Science and Progress, but not very concerned about the possible deleterious consequences of same:
    "GM research director Charles F. Kettering rejected the notion 'that if we develop new things we must accept the responsibility to see that they are properly used…. We cannot accept this proposition.' "

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