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.

A wooden gavel with an image of a city skyline in the background.
Credit: VBlock/Pixabay

Climate funding frozen by Trump must be released, judge rules in sweeping injunction

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze billions in climate and infrastructure funds that had been paused since January, ruling the freeze unlawful and allowing projects across the country to resume.

Praveena Somasundaram reports for The Washington Post.

Keep reading...Show less
Sunrise in the woods

Get our Good News newsletter

Get the best positive, solutions-oriented stories we've seen on the intersection of our health and environment, FREE every Tuesday in your inbox. Subscribe here today. Keep the change tomorrow.

Man holding his face close to an oscillating fan during a heatwave.

Heatwave relief at risk as Trump administration layoffs stall $400 million in energy aid

A federal energy assistance program that helps low-income families pay utility bills is in limbo after Trump administration layoffs gutted the office responsible for distributing nearly $400 million in summer heat relief funds.

Nina Lakhani reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
A flooded street and house.

Climate-driven disasters make home insurance unaffordable across Australian suburbs

A growing number of Australian neighborhoods are becoming effectively uninsurable as climate change intensifies natural disasters, threatening home values, local economies, and financial markets.

Jess Davis and Andy Burns report for ABC News.

Keep reading...Show less
Image of Ben Franklin from a $100 bill behind a silhouette of an oil pump jack.

California officials vow to extend cap-and-trade as Trump targets climate rules

Gov. Gavin Newsom and top Democratic lawmakers announced plans Tuesday to extend California’s cap-and-trade program, despite opposition from President Trump, who claims state climate policies endanger national security.

Lia Russell reports for The Sacramento Bee.

Keep reading...Show less
Hands on keyboard of black laptop computer with data graphs on the screen.

Environmental groups sue Trump administration over shutdown of climate and pollution data tools

The Biden-era online tools used to identify pollution and climate risks in vulnerable communities were removed without explanation, prompting a federal lawsuit by environmental and advocacy organizations.

Georgina Gustin reports for Inside Climate News.

Keep reading...Show less
Image of tall buildings reaching towards a blue sky.

Banks revise climate goals as shift toward net-zero stalls globally

The world’s largest climate-focused banking coalition has voted to weaken its emissions targets, loosening rules to accommodate the sluggish pace of economic and policy change since 2021.

Virginia Furness reports for Reuters.

Keep reading...Show less
Image showing a destroyed road heading towards a dark city.

Trump accelerates federal deregulation campaign

President Trump’s administration is launching a rapid, far-reaching rollback of federal regulations across health, labor, environmental, and consumer safety sectors, using legal shortcuts and a new agency led by Elon Musk.

Coral Davenport reports for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
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.

People  sitting in an outdoors table working on a big sign.

Op-ed: Why funding for the environmental justice movement must be anti-racist

We must prioritize minority-serving institutions, BIPOC-led organizations and researchers to lead environmental justice efforts.

joe biden

Biden finalizes long-awaited hydrogen tax credits ahead of Trump presidency

Responses to the new rules have been mixed, and environmental advocates worry that Trump could undermine them.

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Prisons, jails and detention centers are placed in locations where environmental hazards such as toxic landfills, floods and extreme heat are the norm.

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