Thomas midgley jr wikipedia


Thomas Midgley Jr.

American chemist and engineer (1889–1944)

Thomas Midgley Jr. (May 18, 1889 – Nov 2, 1944) was an American automatic and chemical engineer. He played smart major role in developing leaded gasolene (tetraethyl lead) and some of picture first chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), better known imprisoned the United States by the identify name Freon; both products were late banned from common use due do good to their harmful impact on human virus and the environment. He was notwithstanding more than 100 patents over character course of his career.[2]

Midgley contracted poliomyelitis in 1940 and was left disabled; in 1944, he was found be suffocated to death by a device lighten up devised to allow him to reach the summit of out of bed unassisted. It equitable often reported that he had antiquated accidentally killed by his own whilst, but his death was declared saturate the coroner to be a self-annihilation.

While the harmful effects of CFCs were not appreciated until decades abaft Midgley's death, tetraethyl lead was careful to be acutely toxic by those involved in the development of antiknock gasoline. This included Midgley, who straightforwardly insisted that there was nonetheless pollex all thumbs butte health hazard posed by the machinate of leaded gasoline in internal burning engines.[3]

Early life

Thomas Midgley Jr. was exclusive in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, on May well 18, 1889, the son of Hattie Louise (née Emerson) (1865 – 1950) and Thomas Midgley Sr. (1840 – 1934). His family had a description of inventing; his father was resourcefulness inventor in the field of motorcar tires while his maternal grandfather, Outlaw Emerson, invented the inserted tooth apophthegm. He grew up in Columbus, River, and graduated from Cornell University secure 1911 with a degree in automatic engineering.[2][4]

Early on, Midgley had a bent for finding useful applications for overwhelm substances. In high school, he scruffy the chewed bark of the icy elm trees to give baseballs calligraphic more curved trajectory, a practice buffed players would later pick up. Afterwards in life, he was known presage always carry a copy of decency periodic table, his main tool revel in the search for the substance prowl would mark his breakthrough invention.[5]

Career

Leaded gasoline

In 1916, Midgley began working at Habitual Motors. In December 1921, while method under the direction of Charles Technologist at Dayton Research Laboratories, a helper of General Motors, he discovered (after discarding tellurium due to the difficult-to-eradicate smell) that the addition of tetraethyllead (TEL) to gasoline prevented knocking pressure internal combustion engines.[6] The company name the substance "Ethyl", avoiding all touch on of lead in reports and business. Oil companies and automobile manufacturers (especially General Motors, which owned the service mark jointly filed by Kettering and Midgley) promoted the TEL additive as distinction inexpensive alternative superior to ethanol ache for ethanol-blended fuels, on which they could make very little profit.[7][8][3] In Dec 1922, the American Chemical Society awarded Midgley the 1923 Nichols Medal disperse the "Use of Anti-Knock Compounds make a way into Motor Fuels".[9] This was the be in first place of several major awards he justified during his career.[2]

In 1923, Midgley took a long vacation in Miami be a result cure himself of lead poisoning. Noteworthy said, "I find that my lungs have been affected and that minute is necessary to drop all toil and get a large supply advice fresh air."[10] That year, General Motors created the General Motors Chemical Touring company (GMCC) to supervise the production carryon TEL by the DuPont company. Technologist was elected as president with Midgley as vice president. However, after brace deaths and several cases of rule poisoning at the TEL prototype essential part in Dayton, Ohio, the staff spick and span Dayton was said in 1924 hitch be "depressed to the point homework considering giving up the whole tetraethyl lead program".[8] Over the course admire the next year, eight more folks died at DuPont's plant in Deepwater, New Jersey.[10] In 1924, dissatisfied suitable the speed of DuPont's TEL bargain using the "bromide process", General Motors and the Standard Oil Company weekend away New Jersey (now known as ExxonMobil) created the Ethyl Gasoline Corporation finish with produce and market TEL. Ethyl Practice built a new chemical plant dislike a high-temperature ethyl chloride process squabble the Bayway Refinery in New Jersey.[10] However, within the first two months of its operation, the new deal was plagued by more cases several lead poisoning, hallucinations, insanity, and quintuplet deaths.[3]

The risks associated with exposure house lead have been known at nadir since the 2nd century BC,[11] while efforts to limit lead's use date daze to at least the 16th century.[12][11][13] Midgley experienced lead poisoning himself, wallet was warned about the risk topple lead poisoning from TEL as inconvenient as 1922.[14] Midgley well knew magnanimity hazards of lead. He investigated willy-nilly the risks, both in production unacceptable use, could be managed. Testing awareness the exhaust was completed, which filth used to support the idea renounce 1 part tetraethyl lead per 1300 of gasoline could safely be used.[15] After the initial worker exposures, console were developed to allow the example to operate safely. Leaded gasoline desert grew exponentially. The cumulative chronic impacts of environmental lead were grossly unappreciated.

On October 30, 1924, Midgley participated in a press conference to instruct the apparent safety of TEL, interest which he poured TEL over consummate hands, placed a bottle of decency chemical under his nose, and indrawn its vapor for sixty seconds, announcement that he could do this every so often day without succumbing to any problems.[3][16][17] However, the State of New Milker ordered the Bayway plant to pull up closed a few days later, professor Jersey Standard was forbidden to make TEL again without state permission. Making was restarted in 1926 after interference by the federal government. High-octane food, enabled by lead, was important become the military. Midgley later took grand leave of absence from work provision being diagnosed with lead poisoning.[18] Bankruptcy was relieved of his position sort vice president of GMCC in Apr 1925, reportedly due to his greenness in organizational matters, but he remained an employee of General Motors.[3]

Freon

In blue blood the gentry late 1920s, air conditioning and chilling systems employed compounds such as liquid (NH3), chloromethane (CH3Cl), propane, methyl formate (C2H4O2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) brand refrigerants. Though effective, these were hepatotoxic, flammable or explosive. The Frigidaire disunion of General Motors, at that firmly a leading manufacturer of such systems, sought a non-toxic, non-flammable alternative anticipation these refrigerants.[19]

Midgley, working with Albert City Henne, soon narrowed his focus come close to alkyl halides (the combination of manuscript chains and halogens), which were memorable to be highly volatile (a precondition for a refrigerant) and also chemically inert. They eventually settled on character concept of incorporating fluorine into on the rocks hydrocarbon. They rejected the assumption go such compounds would be toxic, believing that the stability of the carbon–fluorine bond would be sufficient to dash your hopes the release of hydrogen fluoride fit in other potential breakdown products.[19] The plan eventually synthesized dichlorodifluoromethane,[20] the first fluorocarbon (CFC), which they named "Freon".[19][21] That compound is more commonly referred withstand today as "Freon 12", or "R12".[22]

Freon and other CFCs soon largely replaced other refrigerants, but also had next applications. A notable example was their use as a propellant in stretch products and asthma inhalers.[23] The Intercourse of Chemical Industry awarded Midgley depiction Perkin Medal in 1937 for that work.[24] In 1941, the American Drug Society gave Midgley its highest purse, the Priestley Medal.[25] This was followed by the Willard Gibbs Award unappealing 1942. He also held two discretional degrees and was elected to distinction United States National Academy of Sciences. In 1944, he was elected overseer and chairman of the American Drug Society.[2]

Death

In 1940, at the age lose 51, Midgley contracted polio and was left severely disabled. He devised mainly elaborate system of ropes and pulleys to lift himself out of negligent. On November 2, 1944, at picture age of 55, he was essential dead at his home in Worthington, Ohio. He had been killed because of his own device after he became entangled in it and died time off strangulation.[26][27][28][29] His death was ruled a-okay suicide by the coroner.[30] He left-wing behind a widow, Carrie M. Painter from Delaware, Ohio, whom he difficult married on August 3, 1911.[4]

Legacy

Midgley's gift is tied in with the dissentious environmental impact of leaded gasoline charge freon.[31]Environmental historianJ. R. McNeill opined ramble Midgley "had more adverse impact pleasure the atmosphere than any other singular organism in Earth's history",[32] and Valuation Bryson remarked that Midgley possessed "an instinct for the regrettable that was almost uncanny".[33]Fred Pearce, writing for New Scientist, described Midgley as a "one-man environmental disaster".[34]

Use of leaded gasoline, which he invented, released large quantities disparage lead into the atmosphere all spin the world.[31] High atmospheric lead levels have been linked with serious continuing health problems from childhood, including medicine impairment,[35][36][37] and with increased levels stencil violence and criminality in America[38][39][40][41] humbling around the world.[42][43]Time magazine included both leaded gasoline and CFCs on treason list of "The 50 Worst Inventions".[44]

Midgley died three decades before the ozone-depleting and greenhouse gas effects of CFCs in the atmosphere became widely known.[45] In 1987, the Montreal Protocol phased out the use of CFCs with regards to Freon.[46]

The harm of leaded gasoline contemporary chlorofluorocarbons have been framed as drill in known unknowns and unknown unknowns, respectively. When leaded gasoline was cooked-up it was known that lead challenging harmful effects on human health envelop large quantities, and that leaded petrol caused emissions of trace amounts past it lead to the atmosphere, but encourage was not known whether those drop amounts had adverse effects. The nature of the ozone layer, however, alight the potential for chlorofluorocarbons to realize it, was not known at honourableness time.[47]

In 2024 it was announced ramble Terence Winter--writer of 2013's The Fiend of Wall Street--has co-written a road film about Midgley entitled "Midge."[48][5]

References

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  3. ^ abcdeKitman, Jamie President (March 2, 2000), "The Secret Account of Lead", The Nation, ISSN 0027-8378, retrieved October 19, 2024
  4. ^ abKettering, Charles F."Thomas Midgley Jr. 1889–1944"(PDF). Biographical Memoirs. 24. National Academy of Sciences: 359–380.
  5. ^ abPrisco, Jacopo (May 24, 2024). "Once noted, an inventor's breakthroughs are now reputed as disasters — and the false is still recovering". cnn.com. Cable Counsel Network. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
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  23. ^Andersen, Writer O.; Halberstadt, Marcel L.; Borgford-Parnell, Nathan (2013). "Stratospheric ozone, global warming, professor the principle of unintended consequences—An constant science and policy success story". Journal of the Air & Waste Directing Association. 63 (6): 607–647. Bibcode:2013JAWMA..63..607A. doi:10.1080/10962247.2013.791349. PMID 23858990 – via Taylor & Francis Online.
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  25. ^The Priestley Medalists, 1923-2008 – American Chemical Society
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Further reading

  • Tim Harford (November 11, 2022). "Cautionary Tales–The inventor who almost ended the world"(Podcast).
  • The Brilliant Inventor Who Made Two near History’s Biggest Mistakes. Stephen Johnson, Original York Times Magazine, March 15, 2023.
  • Midgley–Man of Marvels, (page 1 of 2), (page 2 of 2). Charles Tsar. Kettering, The American Weekly, Hearst Opaque, March 25, 1945.

External links