Thomas Midgley, Jr. scientist

Science’s fallen hero

Meet Thomas Midgley, Jr., who solved science problems by making bigger ones.

Scientists take a drubbing in popular culture.


They're depicted as oddballs, like the dweebs in the Big Bang Theory, a ratings topper from 2007 to 2019 and now ubiquitous in lucrative, syndicated reruns. In the 1960's, Gilligan's Island featured "The Professor," an egghead with no social skills. And lest we think this is a relatively recent stereotype, Mary Shelley introduced the world to the mad, obsessive Victor Frankenstein in 1818.

Enter Thomas Midgley, Jr., engineer and chemist who reached the scientist's equivalent of rockstar status nearly 100 years ago. Midgley, whose father and grandfather were both patent-holding inventors, was born in western Pennsylvania in 1889. After a boyhood in Columbus, Ohio, he took off for the Ivy League, emerging from Cornell with a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering in 1911.

Described as affable, Midgley is said by historians to have been in constant possession of a copy of the Periodic Table of Elements. By 1916, he was working in a General Motors lab assigned to develop a gasoline additive that would control "knocking" -- the pinging, rattling noises that can afflict an accelerating gasoline engine. By the early 1920's, Midgley's team had settled on tetraethyl lead (TEL) as the solution. The American Chemical Society (ACS) recognized Midgley with its annual Nichols Medal in 1923. He took the next month off with symptoms of lead poisoning. By contrast, GM stayed safe, marketing tetraethyl lead gasoline as "ethyl."

While evidence built on lead's impact on the human nervous system, especially for children whose brains were still developing, leaded gasoline was used for the next 50 years.

Harmful invention #2: Freon

But soon, Midgley had a different passion. GM's new appliance division Frigidaire, needed to find a safe, non-toxic refrigerant chemical to replace the toxic mash already in use. Combining fluorine and carbon, he hit paydirt: Dichlorodifluoromethane, better known by its marketing name, freon. Midgley was credited with developing an entirely new chemical family, chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's).

Midgley won the Priestley Medal -- the highest in ACS — in 1941. That same year, he became the organization's president.

By 1985, the ozone half of Midgley's star status began to fade. Scientists had detected "holes" in the Earth's stratospheric ozone layers at both poles, with Antarctica's situation particularly dire. At ground level, ozone is a pollutant — a primary component of "smog." But in the upper atmosphere ozone is a protectant—blocking skin cancer-causing solar radiation. Researchers tracked much of the problem to chlorofluorocarbons — notably Midgley's freon.

One final, fatal invention 

EArth ozone layer

Time-lapse photo from Sept. 9, 2019—scientists release these balloon-borne sensors to measure the thickness of the protective ozone layer high up in the atmosphere. (Credits: Robert Schwarz/University of Minnesota)

The world's nations responded with unusual urgency. By 1988, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer took effect, outlawing the manufacture of CFC's. More than 180 nations signed on, with enthusiastic support from such notorious non-treehuggers as Ronald Reagan and UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Today, scientists tell us that damage to the ozone layer has begun to reverse, with projections that the ozone layer will be whole by the start of the next century.

Similarly, use of tetraethyl lead in gasoline is sharply down, but not completely out. A few nations including Algeria, Iraq, Myanmar and North Korea may still allow its limited use. The U.S. still allows leaded fuel for small aircraft, farm and lawn equipment. Neurologists credit the near-absence of TEL with health and intelligence improvements in children.

Wouldn't it be nice if blunders like Midgley's could be as easily reversed with climate change or COVID?

In the cruelest of ironies, Midgley's final invention directly caused his demise. In 1940, he contracted polio, leaving him a paraplegic but not dampening his zeal for invention. He devised a rope-and-pulley system to haul himself into a wheelchair and back into bed.

On November 2, 1944, Thomas Midgley, Jr. died in his Ohio home, inadvertently strangled by his own invention.

Peter Dykstra is our weekend editor and columnist. What are your favorite (or least favorite!) environmental songs? Send them in to Peter at pdykstra@ehn.org or @pdykstra.

His views do not necessarily represent those of Environmental Health News, The Daily Climate, or publisher, Environmental Health Sciences.

Tom's Restaurant sign on a corner diner on Broadway in New York City.

NASA shutters iconic New York climate lab as Trump slashes Earth science budget

A once-vital NASA climate lab perched above Manhattan’s Tom’s Restaurant will shut down at the end of May, displacing scientists and reflecting the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle federal climate research.

Oliver Milman reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
A vehicle exhaust pipe with smoke emitting from it.

Senate GOP maneuvers to block California’s plan to ban gas cars by 2035

Republicans in the Senate used a controversial procedural tactic to advance legislation that would block California from enforcing its planned ban on new gasoline-powered vehicle sales by 2035, challenging both state environmental authority and longstanding Senate rules.

Carl Hulse reports for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
Purple flowers with the U.S. senate building in the background.

EPA chief clashes with Senate Democrats over Trump-era cuts to pollution and health programs

A bitter Senate hearing erupted into shouting as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin defended sweeping grant cuts and environmental rollbacks under President Trump, sparring with Democrats over transparency and health impacts.

Rachel Frazin reports for The Hill.

Keep reading...Show less
View of the coast of American Samoa with lush, tree-covered coastal hills and the ocean below.
Credit: Pixabay

U.S. backs plan to explore deep-sea mining near American Samoa amid legal and environmental concerns

A California company’s bid to mine the seafloor near American Samoa gained momentum after the U.S. Interior Department agreed to review its proposal following a Trump administration order to fast-track seabed mining.

Max Bearak reports for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
A downed tree in the middle of a city street.

Tornadoes tear through Black neighborhoods in St. Louis as FEMA delays and warning systems fail

A deadly tornado system ravaged Black neighborhoods in St. Louis, exposing long-standing failures in emergency alert infrastructure and the federal government’s disaster response.

Adam Mahoney reports for Capital B News.

Keep reading...Show less
silhouette of people standing on tower crane during night time.

New climate plans could spur economic growth, says UN climate chief

Strong climate action, not delay, is the key to stabilizing a global economy rocked by droughts, hunger, and rising prices, the UN’s top climate official said this week.

Fiona Harvey reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
blue lake with glacier in the middle of the mountains.

As glaciers vanish, salmon gain new habitat and mining companies race for gold

Salmon are moving into lakes and streams newly formed by melting glaciers in Alaska and British Columbia, even as mining firms rush to exploit mineral-rich lands newly exposed by retreating ice.

Max Graham reports for Grist.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.