Who Was Thomas Midgley, Jr.

Abstract

Thomas Midgley, Jr. (1889–1944) was an American scientist and inventor. During his lifetime, he became a highly respected figure. He is best known for his discoveries of tetraethyllead and CFCs. Only as late as in the end of the 20th century he began to be blamed for the extensive environmental damage these substances caused. The article tries to summarize the available data on all the circumstances of his research work and thus show to what extent he is responsible for their harmful effects on the environment.