Chemical Education Today
Letters Midgley—A Two-Time Environmental Loser The article “Refrigeration—From Ice Man to Ozone Hole” (1) vividly illustrates how a class of commercial chemical products, in this case, nontoxic, nonflammable, inexpensive CFCs, once hailed as revolutionary breakthroughs, have been found to have adverse environmental effects that took years to manifest themselves. Although Thomas Midgley Jr.’s discovery (with Albert L. Henne) is included in Garrett’s collection “Flash of Genius” (2), it was not serendipitous, for it was the result of a purposeful Edisonian trial-and-error search based on the periodic table (3). There are two other ironies in the Midgley saga. Midgley’s other great contribution was the antiknock compound tetraethyllead (TEL), whose discovery was also the result of a trial-and-error search (Midgley called it a “fox hunt”) based on the periodic table. In an interview on October 30, 1924, Midgley, a consummate showman, rubbed some TEL on his hands to show that it was not toxic in small amounts. Likewise, in a 1937 ACS lecture, with his characteristic flair for the dramatic, he filled his lungs with CFC vapor, exhaled it and extinguished a candle, demonstrating its nontoxicity and nonflammability. Inasmuch as both these compounds have now been banned for environmental reasons, we might call “Midge”, as he was known to everyone, a two-time environmental loser.
The final irony in Midgley’s life was his tragic premature death at the age of 55 in 1944, the year in which he was ACS president. Like FDR, he had contracted polio as an adult, which rendered him a semi-invalid. He invented a harness with pulleys to help him in rising from bed. On Nov. 4 he became entangled in it and was accidentally strangled. The story of Midgley’s life and scientific contributions provide an inspiring and thought-provoking case study that will enliven any chemistry or science in society class. Literature Cited 1. Williams, K. R. J. Chem. Educ. 2000, 77, 1540. 2. Garrett, A. B. J. Chem. Educ. 1962, 39, 361; The Flash of Genius; Van Nostrand: Princeton, NJ; pp 19–22. 3. Kauffman, G. B. The Fresno Bee; Oct 15, 1989; pp H1, H4; The World & I 1989, 3 (11), 358; Chemtech 1989, 19, 717; Chem. Ind. 1994, 4, 143. George B. Kauffman Department of Chemistry California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-8034
[email protected] JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 79 No. 5 May 2002 • Journal of Chemical Education
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