The Genial Scientist Who Almost Destroyed the Planet

Posted by Ross Pomeroy at Tue, 29 Oct 2013 01:16:49 — RealClearScience.com

In 1947, legendary American inventor Charles F. Kettering paid tribute to his friend and colleague, Thomas Midgley, who had recently passed away:

"Through experience, the layman will... testify his indebtedness to one who has contributed so greatly to more pleasant and efficient living. He has made science a liberator, and we rejoice with him in the satisfactions that must be his in seeing the fruits of his labor. Posterity will acknowledge their permanent value."

Decades later, Midgley's two foremost inventions, leaded gasoline and chlorofluorocarbons, would be globally banned after wreaking havoc on both public health and the world environment.

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