Thomas Midgley (1889 - 1944), is a American Chimiste , CFC.

Biography

Born in Beaver Falls (Pennsylvania) with the the United States from America, the May 18th 1889. After studies of mechanics and chemistry at the University of Cornell, located in the state of New York meadows of the town of Ithaca, it leaves graduate in 1911 and integrates one of the research laboratories of the multinational General Motors.

It is while working in this laboratory that he discovers the properties of the leaded gasoline and his capacity to prevent the internal combustion engines of " frapper". But the joy is only of short duration! Indeed, the billion combustion liter of leaded gasoline releases the lead of the latter in the atmosphere and creates serious health issues throughout the world, and in particular in the workmen responsible for his manufacture. In 1924, Midgley itself had to take rest because of its own intoxication, but it kept this secret information and took part in a press conference aiming at showing the inoffensivity of the substance. To be done, it breathed large and long puff of gasoline leaded during nearly one minute and declared that it could do that each morning without being concerned for its health.

After the vexations of its leaded gasoline, Midgley invented the haloalcanes " to excuse itself in the world entier" , after having heard of the escapes of refrigerators causing of many deaths.

It is in 1928 that it deposited the patent of CFC, but only in 1930 that left the first CFC, the dichlorodifluorométhane (CF2Cl2) succeeding the tétrafluorométhane (CF4). This product was tested during more than one year without nobody finding something to repeat against this new substance described as miraculous. And as with its practice, to show the intoxicity and the non-inflammability of its new product in front of the American chemical company, it inhaled, in front eyes amazes, and exhaled gas on a candle who died out at once in a thunder of applause. Times of CFC had come and, at that time, nobody could suspect eel under rock yet.

The last years of General Motors Thomas were used with profit in research on rubber then, in 1940, reached poliomyelitis, it had to take its retirement and built a harness enabling him to return and leave its bed (the poliomyelitis is a virus, true plague in years 40-50, attacking the gray of the spinal-cord and causing paralysis of the lower extremities, or sometimes total substance).

But the November 2nd 1944, in Worthington, it died in a at the very least strange way: indeed, it will be empêtra inopportunely in the cables of its harness and was strangled.

Thomas Midgley Jr. died at the 55 years age, believer who CFC was one of the most beneficial inventions for humanity and leaving behind him more than 170 patents. A historian wrote that “He had more individual impact one the atmosphere than any other organism in earth history” what one can translate by “it had more impact on the atmosphere than any other man in all the history of humanity”.

Random links:

Robert Peary | The CEC | Flexagone | El Hadj Niang Tinder | The Hill inspired