Thomas Midgley, Jr.’s greatest gift to the world might be his own life story. Midgley is the chemist responsible for the widespread use of tetraethyl lead and chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) in the 20th century. Teaching his life story is a great way to frame discussions about the benefits of these chemicals, the pollution caused by their use, and also what happens when lab discoveries become big business. During his life, Midgley was honored for the benefits his work brought to humanity. He never imagined that he would also be identified as the person who caused more damage to the global environment than anyone else in history ever did. Teaching resources on Midgley, lead, and CFCs are the subjects of the latest Short List in the new NSDL Wiki. You are invited to contribute to the wiki and add your thoughts.

Thomas Midgley, Jr.

The NSDL Wiki was set up recently to provide a collaborative online environment where users can organize, create, and annotate resources. Vetted articles and referenced resources can then be added to the library for search and discovery on nsdl.org . After registering, you or your group can use the NSDL wiki to develop specific topic areas for use in classrooms or research. You can also use the wiki’s extensions in your own MediaWiki project.