"The Brilliant Inventor Who Made Two of Histories Biggest Mistakes"

 

Thomas Midgely, Jr. is the subjecyt of the New York Times March 23, 2023 feature by Steven Johnson with the above title.  Midgely working for General Motors invented leaded gasoline and Freon refrigerants.  Both inventions solved vexing technical problems and made enormous profits for his employer, but both inventions turned out to have enormous harmful side-effects.

Leaded gasoline solved the problem of "engine knock" that made internal combustion engines very difficult to drive and very inefficient.  Midgely discovered that the addition of small amounts of tetraethyl lead to gasoline fuel did away with engine knock.  The resulting "ethyl" gasoline introduced in 1923 made the automobile practical and led to its explosive success in the market.  Unfortunately lead from gasoline contaminated the environment and lead levels in children built up with terrible consequences.  Lead is associated with a number of diseases and is neurotoxic leading to IQ loss and impulsive and violent behavior.  The compound was ultimately banned.  There is evidence that a bulge in the crime rate from about 1970 to about 2010 was caused by lead poisoning.  

Freons provided stable, safe efficient refrigerants that made modern refrigeration and air conditioning possible.  As a result foods could be kept fresh and homes and work-places could be kept habitable during hot weather.  Probably many lives were improved and many lives saved.  Modern life would not be possible without efficient refrigeration.  Unfortunately the very stable refrigerants collected cumulatively in the upper atmosphere and through a photochemically driven cycle began to deplete the protective stratospheric ozone layer.  Without that protective layer much more harmful ultraviolet solar radiation would reach the earth's surface with devastating effects of plant and animal life.

The two mistakes have quite different implications for the future.  Lead was known to be toxic at the time GM introduced leaded gasoline.  There were alternative anti-knock agents available including ethanol.  The problem with ethanol was that it could not be patented.  Lead was the alternative that guaranteed profits for years to come.  On the other hand nothing was known about the ozone layer when Freons were introduced.  They provided important improvements in health and nutrition and really had no known side effects.  Developments of this kind are especially concerning.  The harmful effects only became apparent over a long time period.  We understand our environment and our biology better now than we did then, but it is still possible that a development that appears helpful and otherwise benign could ultimately become a problem.  Caution is certainly appropriate in introducing new developments, but careful observation of possible effects is warranted.  Note that as the problem became evident careful research has provided less harmful alternatives to the Freons.  In addition remarkable international cooperation has been remarkably successful in halting Freon protection and use.