<description>&lt;p&gt;Thomas Midgley's inventions caused his own death, hastened the deaths of millions of people around the world, and very nearly extinguished all life on land.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Midgley and his employers didn't set out to poison the air with leaded gasoline or wreck the ozone layer with CFCs - but while these dire consequences were unintended... could they have been anticipated?&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;For a list of sources, see the show notes at&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://timharford.com/"&gt;timharford.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener"&gt;omnystudio.com/listener&lt;/a&gt; for privacy information.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Pushkin Industries

The Inventor who Almost Ended the World (Classic)

MAY 22, 202636 MIN
Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

The Inventor who Almost Ended the World (Classic)

MAY 22, 202636 MIN

Description

Thomas Midgley's inventions caused his own death, hastened the deaths of millions of people around the world, and very nearly extinguished all life on land.  Midgley and his employers didn't set out to poison the air with leaded gasoline or wreck the ozone layer with CFCs - but while these dire consequences were unintended... could they have been anticipated? For a list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.