What famous engineer (b. 1889) invented one of the most harmful products ever? Hint: he died due to the poor design of another of his inventions.

Should we thinking of lead added to petrol /gas in car engines here?

Wow, Fred, so close it's scary. When the answer is revealed, there will be some arguments, you bet your boots!

Hi Babs,
I just had to sneak in here before Fred !

The answer is Thomas Midgley, Jr 1889-1944.
I don't think the question and answer are controversial. In developing TELs and CFCs he impacted our environment in ways he could never have imagined.
Mingley, had quite an awful death though. He contracted polio and was confined to bed. Ever the inventor, he designed a system of pullies that he hung over his bed, and in 1944 he strangled himself when he got caught up in them!

BTW Babs did you find this question in the Bill Bryson book, "A Short History of Nearly Everything" ? Just wondered !

Wow, spookier and spookier! You're totally right, Dancer, Midgeley is the engineer I had in mind. Fred picked Midgeley's other infamous invention (using lead in gasoline to prevent engine knocking), but to me, the cfc's invention was far more harmful.

I thought my selection of CFC's would be controversial simply because, led by 'industry spokespersons', lobbyists, 'tame' politicians and religious leaders, and their ilk, so many people deny that the ozone layer is being degraded by human industry. (Cf. global warming)

Whereas leaded gasoline has been proven to cause many deaths in factories: there is a body count. The environmental and health damage cannot be measured.

And yes, my source for Midgeley was Bryson's intriquing book. It's one of my 'beside the bed' books just now. This is about my third re-read.

Pardon me if I don't pity his death. The world would be a better place if the bed contraption had been invented first.