Today I want to tell you the story of Thomas Midgely Jr. He was a scientist, engineer, and incredibly successful inventor. His creations revolutionised transportation and made refrigerators and air conditioners possible.
Unfortunately, his inventions were also incredibly harmful. They caused millions of deaths and perhaps harmed the world more than any other human creations. Let’s discuss why and how he is accidentally responsible for the most deaths in human history!
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Vocabulary
- Lead (Noun): A heavy metal element (Pb)
- “The use of lead in gasoline was phased out due to its harmful effects on health and the environment.”
- Gasoline (Noun): A volatile, flammable liquid used as fuel in engines.
- “Before the advent of electric vehicles, gasoline-powered cars dominated the automotive industry.”
- Consequence (Noun): The result or effect of an action, decision, or condition.
- “The environmental consequences of industrial pollution are obvious.”
- Refrigeration (Noun): The process of cooling or preserving food, goods, or spaces using artificial means.
- “Refrigeration is essential for the storage and transportation of fresh food.”
- Engine Knock (Noun): The metallic knocking sound in an internal combustion engine caused by premature ignition of fuel.
- “Using incorrect fuel can lead to engine knock and reduced performance.”
- CFCs (Abbreviation, Noun): Chlorofluorocarbons, a group of compounds containing carbon, chlorine, and fluorine, once used as refrigerants and propellants.
- “The Montreal Protocol successfully phased out the use of CFCs to protect the ozone layer.”
- Atmosphere (Noun): The envelope of gases surrounding a planet, particularly Earth, held in place by gravity.
- “The Earth’s atmosphere consists of layers with distinct compositions and properties.”
I have made an extensive vocabulary list plus vocabulary activities – usually this is exclusive to patrons but for this episode it is free for all listeners!
Introduction
If I asked you “who is responsible for the most deaths in history?”, I’m sure I would get a variety of answers.
Many of you would probably mention the terrible dictators of the 20th century – Hitler, Stalin, and Mao.
Others may go back further in history to leaders of great armies and invading forces – like Genghis Khan or Alexander the Great.
You may also mention the Kings and Queens of various European countries. The countries – especially Britain, Spain, Portugal, France, as well as the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany – colonised large parts of the world.
As well as directly killing hundreds of thousands through wars and conflict, they also spread diseases to new parts of the world and millions died.
However, one possible (perhaps even likely) answer to this question – who is responsible for the most deaths in human history? – is someone few of you will have ever heard of.
Thomas Midgely Jr
He is a man from the USA. An engineer and inventor. A person who helped transform the American, and global, car industry. A person whose work allowed us to keep our homes cool in summer and have refrigerators to store our food.
He was awarded medals by scientific organsiations, was the president and chairman of the American Chemical Society, held honorary degrees given to him for his work, and was a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences.
He never led an army or a country. And he never fired a gun at another person, used a sword to fight an enemy, or dropped bombs on cities.
His name was Thomas Midgely Jr, and he was responsible for creating two of the most damaging and harmful substances in the history of humanity – leaded gasoline known as ethyl and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) known as Freon.
While he didn’t necessarily know about the consequences of his inventions, and in fact died before his legacy became clear, the impacts of Midgely’s creations are still being felt today.
The historian J.R. McNeill described him as a man that has “had more adverse impact on the atmosphere than any other single organism in Earth’s history.” And Fred Pearce described him as a “one-man environmental disaster.”
Today I want to tell you all the story of Thomas Midgely and his inventions. We’ll look at how he helped revolutionise the automobile industry by developing a new fuel called ethyl. We’ll examine how he changed refrigeration, as well as aerosol sprays and even asthma medications, by inventing Freon.
And we’ll discuss how his invention of ethyl killed, poisoned, and deformed millions of people around the globe. And how his creation of Freon tore a hole in our ozone layer, damaged the atmosphere, and contributed massively to global warming and climate change.
I also need to give credit to Veritasium, a very popular YouTube channels whose video on Thomas Midgely inspired this episode. I’ll leave a link to their channel in the transcript!
The Invention of Leaded Gasoline
Thomas Midgley Jr graduated from Cornell University in 1911 with a degree in mechanical engineering. After working for a few years for a variety of companies, he ended up in the research team of General Motors in Dayton, Ohio, helping to improve the relatively recently developed automobile (or as we now call them – cars).
One of the major issues with early 20th century cars was engine knocking.
Most of us (me included) probably don’t really understand the processes behind making a vehicle move. When you drive a car (a gasoline or petrol car, at least), the engine burns a mixture of air and fuel to create power. This is called combustion, and the process is meant to happen in a controlled way, initiated by a device called a spark plug.
Engine knocking occurs when the fuel in the engine ignites on its own before the spark plug fires. It’s like a tiny explosion happening too early and causing a knocking sound.
Imagine trying to push a door open, but someone suddenly pulls it from the other side just before you do. That sudden resistance and noise are a bit like what happens in the engine during knocking.
This knocking is bad for the engine. It can damage parts over time, reduce fuel efficiency, and make your car run less smoothly. Early vehicles would begin to shake, make loud noises, and the engine would occasionally lose power.
Thomas Midgely Jr was the engineer given the job of stopping engine knocking. In fact, his first job was to find out exactly what was happening in the engines. While I just gave you a simple explanation of engine knocking, back in the 1920s no one had any idea what was causing the knocking in the engines.
First Midgely invented a kind of miniature camera, and his images discovered the fuel being used was exploding too early, wasting energy, and making the engine knock.
Over a period of year, Midgely and his team experimented with the fuel, adding thousands of different compounds and elements to gasoline to see if any of them could stop the engine knocking.
Eventually they realised that heavy metals were able to make the fuel much more stable. And in the 1920s, the heaviest metal available for use was lead.
After creating a compound called tetraethyl lead, and adding just a tiny amount to kerosene fuel, they discovered the engine knock completely disappeared. Midgely had solved the biggest problem in the transport and automobile industry.
And with it he helped revolutionise car ownership around the world. Some articles online actually credit Midgely’s invention of leaded gasoline with being the spark that ignited the craze of personal car ownership.
With leaded gasoline, or Ethyl as it was branded in the US, cars could now accelerate without knocking or drive up a hill without the worry about getting stuck.
The Invention of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
Thomas Midgely didn’t stop with the ground-breaking invention of leaded gasoline. Instead, he changed his focus to another piece of technology – refrigeration.
Keeping things cold is a relatively recent thing. While we learned how to make fire thousands of years ago, working out how to make things cold took a lot longer. I was surprised to find out that for a long time the main way people got ice was by cutting it out of frozen lakes in the north and shipping it to other places before it melted.
Midgely didn’t invent refrigeration. Willis Carrier is credited with inventing the first air-conditioning system in 1902 and by the 1920s there were home refrigerators on the market.
But, like he did previously with fuel, Midgely worked on making refrigeration systems better, safer, more efficient, and widely available.
In simple terms, refrigerators work by using something called an evaporator coil. Inside this coil is a substance called a refrigerant, usually a gas, that is colder than the inside of the refrigerator.
The refrigerator’s interior has a temperature higher than that of the evaporator coil. As a result, heat from the inside of the refrigerator is absorbed by the refrigerant in the coil. Then through a process of compressions, expansion, and condensation, this gas releases its heat outside of the refrigerator and then cools down again to absorb more heat from inside the refrigerator.
The issue early systems had, however, was that the gases used as refrigerants (to absorb the heat) were often unstable, dangerous, or prone to exploding. Sometimes the gases would accidently leak, poisoning people around the refrigerator. Other times they would catch on fire and explode.
Midgely saw an opportunity here to find a refrigerant, a gas, that would be safe and allow the refrigerator industry to grow. He looked at tables of elements, exploring elements that would be a gas at a low temperature (instead of turning to liquid or a solid) and not be too volatile.
Some substances were already being used in existing refrigerators, but fluorine (a highly toxic element) had not yet been tried. As fluorine was dangerous, Midgely knew he would need to combine it with something else to make it safe to use.
His team quickly found the solution – mixing fluorine with the elements carbon and chlorine. The result was a compound that was stable (so it didn’t randomly explode), couldn’t be set on fire, and was not dangerous to human or animal life.
The mixture became known by the chemical name chlorofluorocarbons (or CFCs for short), or by the trademark Freon. Millions of refrigerators using CFCs, or Freon, were sold in the few years after Midgely’s discovery and CFCs were also used to create safer air conditioning units.
A few years later, scientists working for the US government realised that CFCs had other uses. For example, in aerosol devices.
CFCs began to be used in everything from deodorant sprays and hairsprays to asthma inhalers and insect repellents.
Again, Midgely had invented something that was immensely useful.
The Consequences of Leaded Gasoline
The problem, however, is that Midgely’s two inventions caused massive damage to the environment and people’s lives.
Let’s start with leaded gasoline.
Lead is a poisonous metal. This has been known for hundreds, in fact thousands, of years.
Midgely himself was very aware of lead’s toxic properties – he suffered from lead poisoning while working on tetraethyl lead and spent a year recovering in Florida. Hundreds of workers at their factory producing the chemicals died or suffered from illnesses due to lead poisoning.
They also knew about alternative to lead – alcohol – that worked just as well. The problem was that alcohol – or ethanol – was not something that could be patented or trademarked. So, they stuck with lead.
Midgely and his team believed that as the amount of lead being used in the fuel was so tiny, that it couldn’t really be doing any serious damage.
He was wrong.
In the 1940s, a geochemist called Patterson was attempting to analyse the mineral Zircon to work out the age of the earth. He would do this by seeing how much lead was in the mineral (Zircon contains no lead naturally but it does contain Uranium which produced lead as it decomposes – I apologise for all the scientific names in this episode).
Patterson had a problem though – there was too much lead in the atmosphere, and it was ruining the experiments.
Now Patterson had another goal. In addition to measuring the age of the earth, Patterson wanted to work out if there had always been lead in the atmosphere or if it was increasing.
By looking at ice from Greenland, the scientists discovered that since the industrial revolution the amount of lead in the atmosphere had increased massively. Moreover, since the invention of Ethyl, Midgely’s leaded gasoline, the concentration of lead was 350 percent higher. 350 percent increase in just 20 years.
This was not good. Leaded gasoline was pumping out massive quantities of lead into the atmosphere and has had massive consequences.
For decades, millions of people were affected by lead poisoning. And once lead is in the body, it is really difficult to remove.
Leaded gasoline has been connected to millions of premature deaths. Once leaded gasoline began to be phased out in the 1970s, the population of America is said to have risen on average IQ (intelligence level), probably due to less lead being in their systems. And leaded gasoline has been associated with high crime rates.
In particular, lead is particular damaging to children.
The first country to ban leaded gasoline was Japan in 1986 – 60 years after its invention. The last country was Algeria just a few years ago. Still, however, you can find leaded fuel being used in the aviation industry.
The Consequences of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
While Midgely was aware of lead being poisonous, the issue with CFCs (the gas in refrigerators and aerosols) was one he probably couldn’t have predicted.
If you have been a long-term podcast listener, you may remember the acronym CFCs from episode 201. How Did We Fix the Ozone Layer?. This should give you a hint of the problems CFCs caused.
In the 1950s, British scientist James Lovelock built a new device, called an electron-capture-detector, which could precisely measure the amount of different gases in the atmosphere. He was surprised to notice that there was a high amount of CFC gases in the northern hemisphere.
In the 1970s, further research found two problems with CFCs in the atmosphere. First, once released into the atmosphere they get stuck – there is nowhere on earth where they can be naturally absorbed or dissolved.
Second, the powerful UV light high up in the earth’s atmosphere could break down CFCs. If you remember, Midgely invented CFCs by combing Chlorine, Fluorine, and Carbon. Chlorine, especially, was massively damaging to the environment.
There was now a hole in the ozone layer, a hole that was caused mainly by the CFCs released since Midgely invented them.
If you want to know more about the hole in the ozone layer, I recommend listening to episode 201 of Thinking in English.
CFCs, first, destroy the ozone layer of the atmosphere. This increases the amount of radiation allowed to reach the earth and raising temperatures. And second, they are super greenhouse gases. They are far, far more damaging to the environment than gases like carbon dioxide or methane.
Eventually, CFCs were banned and regulated globally and the hole in the ozone layer has largely been healed. But not before contributing to global warming, climate change, and increased rates of skin cancer.
The Legacy of Thomas Midgely
After the success of his inventions, Midgely won numerous different awards. In 1940 he contracted the disease polio and was partially paralyzed. He died in 1944.
His inventions were commercially successful and revolutionised major industries. At the same time, they were two of the most destructive and harmful inventions in history.
The invention of leaded gasoline poisoned generations of children with lead poising, damaged IQ levels around the world, and caused numerous long term health problems and many deaths.
His invention of CFCs caused serious damage to the earth’s atmosphere that may never be fully repaired. It was a major driver of global warming and climate change, and even increased skin cancer rates around the world.
Midgely could, perhaps, be forgiven for inventing CFCs. No one knew, or even guessed, that they could be damaging to the atmosphere. It was decades after his death before we even realised the climate was changing.
Leaded gasoline, however, is less excusable. He knew lead was poisonous, but still pushed forward in the creation of Ethyl.
Overall, Thomas Midgely Jr probably has the unfortunate title of being the person who has contributed more harm to the planet than any other individual. Some estimates suggest that Midgely’s inventions have been, or will be, responsible for the deaths of 100 million people, as well as countless other illnesses and consequences.
Final Thought
The story of Thomas Midgley Jr is centred on the often-unintended consequences of scientific innovation. While his ground-breaking inventions, leaded gasoline (ethyl) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs or Freon), revolutionized industries and earned him awards, the aftermath has been catastrophic.
Leaded gasoline led to widespread lead poisoning, causing millions of premature deaths, long-term health issues, and adverse effects on IQ levels. The introduction of CFCs contributed to global warming and climate change.
Midgley Jr now holds a sad legacy as one of the individuals who has inflicted significant harm on the planet. His inventions, responsible for countless deaths and widespread environmental damage, serve as a cautionary tale about the importance of considering long-term consequences in scientific endeavours.
There may be things today, that while appearing completely safe, could have unknown future consequences. This shouldn’t stop scientific research and progress, but it should make us think about whether progress is always worth the consequences.
What do you think?
Extended Vocabulary List
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Dictators and Leaders:
- Terrible (Adjective): Extremely bad or unpleasant.
- Dictators (Noun): Leaders who rule with absolute power, often oppressively.
- 20th century (Noun): The period from 1900 to 1999.
- Hitler (Proper Noun): Adolf Hitler, German dictator during World War II.
- Stalin (Proper Noun): Joseph Stalin, Soviet leader during the mid-20th century.
- Mao (Proper Noun): Mao Zedong, Chinese Communist revolutionary.
- Genghis Khan (Proper Noun): Mongol leader and founder of the Mongol Empire.
- Alexander the Great (Proper Noun): Ancient Greek king who created one of the largest empires.
- Kings (Noun): Male monarchs.
- Queens (Noun): Female monarchs.
Historical Events and Actions:
- Colonized (Verb): Established control over a territory or people.
- Conflcit (Conflict) (Noun): A state of disagreement or opposition between people or groups.
- Wars (Noun): Armed conflicts between nations or groups.
- Spread diseases (Phrase): The transmission of illnesses.
- Consequences (Noun): Results or effects of a particular action or situation.
- Legacy (Noun): Something handed down from the past, often with lasting influence.
- Invading forces (Noun): Military groups entering and taking control of a territory.
- Industrial revolution (Noun): A period of significant economic and technological change.
- Automobile industry (Noun): The business of manufacturing automobiles.
- Revolutionize (Verb): To bring about a fundamental change.
3. Individuals and Titles:
- Engineer (Noun): A person trained in designing and building engines or machinery.
- Inventor (Noun): Someone who creates new devices or processes.
- President (Noun): The head of a country or organization.
- Chairman (Noun): The person in charge of a meeting or organization.
- Awards (Noun): Honors or recognitions given for achievements.
- Scientific organizations (Noun): Groups dedicated to advancing scientific knowledge.
- American Chemical Society (Proper Noun): A scientific society focused on chemistry.
- Honorary degrees (Noun): Academic degrees given as an honor, not earned through study.
- United States National Academy of Sciences (Proper Noun): A prestigious scientific organization.
- Historian (Noun): A person who studies and writes about history.
- Environmental disaster (Phrase): A catastrophic event with severe ecological consequences.
4. Substances and Inventions:
- Leaded gasoline (ethyl) (Noun): A fuel containing lead, known as ethyl.
- Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) (Noun): Chemical compounds, known as freon, with various applications.
- Freon (Noun): A trademark for certain CFCs used as refrigerants.
- Compound (Noun): A substance formed by the combination of two or more elements.
- Tetraethyl lead (Noun): A compound containing lead used in gasoline.
- Refrigeration (Noun): The process of cooling or preserving with the help of a refrigerant.
- Combustion (Noun): The process of burning or igniting.
- Spark plug (Noun): A device in an internal combustion engine that produces sparks to ignite fuel.
- Engine knocking (Phrase): The undesirable sound caused by premature fuel ignition.
- Aerosol sprays (Noun): Containers releasing a fine spray of liquid or particles.
- Diseases (Noun): Medical conditions causing harm to living organisms.
- Toxic properties (Phrase): Harmful characteristics of a substance.
- Patent (Noun): The exclusive right granted for an invention.
- Trademark (Noun): A legally protected symbol identifying a product.
- Refrigerant (Noun): A substance used in refrigeration systems for cooling.
- Evaporator coil (Noun): A component in a refrigeration system where refrigerant evaporates.
5. Environmental and Scientific Terms:
- Ozone layer (Noun): A region of the Earth’s stratosphere that absorbs most of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation.
- Global warming (Noun): An increase in Earth’s average surface temperature.
- Climate change (Noun): Long-term changes in the Earth’s climate patterns.
- Atmosphere (Noun): The layers of gases surrounding the Earth.
- Greenhouse gases (Noun): Gases that trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere.
- Geochemist (Noun): A scientist studying the chemical composition of the Earth.
- Electron-capture-detector (Noun): A device measuring the amounts of gases in the atmosphere.
- UV light (Noun): Ultraviolet light, a type of electromagnetic radiation.
- Radiation (Noun): The emission of energy as electromagnetic waves.
- Decomposes (Verb): Breaks down into simpler substances.
- Concentration (Noun): The amount of a substance in a given volume or area.
6. Consequences and Impact:
- Adverse impact (Phrase): A negative or harmful effect.
- Environmental damage (Phrase): Harm caused to the natural surroundings.
- Poisoning (Noun): The process of being harmed by a toxic substance.
- Deformed (Adjective): Having a shape that is not normal or natural.
- Premature deaths (Phrase): Deaths occurring earlier than expected.
- Phased out (Verb): Gradually discontinued or replaced.
- Skin cancer (Noun): A type of cancer affecting the skin.
- Health problems (Noun): Issues affecting the well-being of individuals.
- Long-term (Adjective): Existing or occurring over an extended period.
- Global consequences (Phrase): Effects on a worldwide scale.
7. Personal and Professional Details:
- Degree (Noun): An academic qualification.
- Mechanical engineering (Noun): The branch of engineering involving the design and operation of machinery.
- General Motors (Proper Noun): An American multinational automotive company.
- Research team (Noun): A group of individuals conducting scientific investigations.
- Dayton, Ohio (Proper Noun): A city in the United States.
8. Time Phrases:
- Recent (Adjective): Happening or existing not long ago.
- Decades (Noun): Periods of ten years.
- Years (Noun): Units of time measured in 12-month intervals.
- After (Preposition): Following a particular event.
- Before (Preposition): Prior to a specific time or event.
- Largely (Adverb): Mostly or mainly.
9. Positive and Negative Terms:
- Awarded (Verb): Given as an honor or recognition.
- Successful (Adjective): Achieving the desired results or outcomes.
- Revolutionized (Verb): Brought about a significant change or improvement.
- Commercially (Adverb): In a way related to business or commerce.
- Destructive (Adjective): Causing harm or damage.
- Harmful (Adjective): Capable of causing harm.
- Poisonous (Adjective): Containing substances that can cause harm or death.
- Dangerous (Adjective): Involving a risk of harm or injury.
- Damaging (Adjective): Causing harm or injury.
- Contribute (Verb): To play a part in causing a particular result.
- Legacy (Noun): Something left behind or handed down.
- Illnesses (Noun): Medical conditions causing poor health.
- Consequences (Noun): Results or outcomes of actions.
- Tragedy (Noun): A disastrous or sad event.
Miscellaneous Terms:
- Varieties (Noun): Different types or forms.
- Transform (Verb): To change or convert into something different.
- Impact (Noun): The effect or influence of one thing on another.
- Inspire (Verb): To motivate or stimulate.
- Analysis (Noun): Examination or study of a subject.
- Initiative (Noun): An action or strategy to achieve a goal.
- Accelerate (Verb): To increase in speed or intensity.
- Phases out (Verb): Gradually discontinues or eliminates.
- Estimates (Noun): Rough calculations or approximations.
- Title (Noun): A distinctive name or heading.
- Recognize (Verb): To identify or acknowledge.
- Realized (Verb): Became aware of or understood.
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