Customer Reviews

From the Periodic Table to Production: The Life of Thomas Midgley, Jr., the Inventor of Ethyl Gasoline and Freon Refrigerants

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From The Periodic Table To Production: The Life Of Thomas Midgley, Jr. is the compelling biography of the American scientist who invented high-octane ethyl gasoline and freon refrigerants. His accomplishments allowed America to advance its technology in both civilian and military applications; ethyl gasoline enabled carrier-based Army aircraft, and fueled the Enola Gay when it dropped the atomic bomb that ended World War II. Though Midgley was only 55 when he died, his immense contributions to modern chemistry are all the more fascinating considering his background - he was originally trained as an engineer, not a chemist. From the Periodic Table to Production is an amazing read of how one man's hard work, creative genius, and passion for research transformed the modern world.

This book is more than a biography. Its eight appendices contain( among other things)texts of Midgley's speeches given on various occasions, and examples of his poems. Appendix "B" , his presidential address to the American Chemical Society(ACS), shows a fascination with the subject of inventions and the ages of the inventors. Unfortunately it contains numerous references to a graph which I could not find anywhere. One of the other appendices lists a number of prominent inventions and the ages of the inventors.
Surprising to me was the information that Midgley suffered from polio,
and had difficulty rising from his bed-so much so that he devised a lifting apparatus he could use to achieve independence. He died when
he became entangled in the device and strangled.
There is an interesting account of the incident when the first freon
was tested for toxicity. Differerent samples were tested by exposing a mouse to the vapor. In one case, the mouse survived, in a second case
the mouse died. The difference was traced to the antimony trifluoride
used in preparing the samples- one batch contained moisture, which led to
toxic impurities in the freon prepared from it. The dry antimony trifluoride led to a pure non-toxic freon. Midgley in retelling this
anecdote says that if the toxic sample had been tested first, the project
might have been abandoned.
Midgley's achievements are justly praised, but in the passage of time
both the lead gasoline additives and the freons have proved objectionable
in the environment.

This is a good overview of Thomas Midgley Jr's career. Written by his grandson (a retired ad exec), the actual bio part is about 90 pages and is supplemented with much useful material--patents, speeches, awards and even several of Midgley's poems for 174 total pages. The author seems to stay fairly objective and includes the negative effects of Midgley's work--leaded gasoline's poisonous side effects and freon/CFCs that harm the earth's ozone layer. His handling of these topics may be somewhat protective but also reminds us that we view these topics in hindsight which Midgley did not enjoy. Many good quality photos, diagrams, ads and other visuals illustrate the book also. All in all it's a well-written and produced volume.