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Leaded petrol and CFCs

  • 08-01-2010 2:11am
    #1
    cooperguy
    Registered Users Posts: 2,650 ✭✭✭


    Hi, I was watching QI the other night and one of the topics was "The person who has killed the most people on the planet, ever".

    Hitler I hear you cry or the inventor of the atomic bomb. Turns out it was the guy who innocently added lead to petrol and went on to invent CFCs. I want to know more about this man!! I ended up forgetting his name, I googled CFCs and according to wikipedia, Frédéric Swarts is responsible. Only problem is I cant find a biography that sums up all his death causing inventions (he supposedly died due to another invention he designed).

    So basically my question is, does anybody know where I could find a good page on him? Or does anybody know if QI was just making stuff up!


Comments

  • #2
    cavedave
    Registered Users Posts: 2,164 ✭✭✭cavedave


    Thomas Midgley, Jr. is the man your looking for.

    Would Columbus not win as he lead to smallpox and other western diseases killing the Native americans and possibley Syphilis killing europeans?


  • #3
    Kevster
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,980 ✭✭✭Kevster


    ...you're both entering weird territory here! If you keep going back, you could blame God for killing everyone. If he hadn't created 'man', then no-one would die. So, I blame God (even though I'm an Atheist).

    Kevin


  • #4
    cavedave
    Registered Users Posts: 2,164 ✭✭✭cavedave


    Kevster maybe we should stay positive. Who has saved the most lives ever? Pasteur, Fleming? My vote is Norman Borlaug he saved a billion lives. More here here



  • #5
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,657 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    According to the bible Cain killed a quarter of the worlds population :D


    Back in 1938 the Chinese blew up a dam on the Yellow River to hinder a Japanese advance. WWII did NOT start with the invasion of Poland. Up to a half a million died in the floods and if you include starvation then up to one million in total.


    Up to 500,000,000 people died last century from Smallpox so those that developed the vaccine should get some credit



    Actually the QI quote was more like

    One historian remarked that Midgley "had more impact on the atmosphere than any other single organism in Earth's history."

    Though the first photosynthesising bacteria that released oxygen to reproduce might had a greater effect.


  • #6
    Kevster
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,980 ✭✭✭Kevster


    cavedave wrote: »
    Kevster maybe we should stay positive. Who has saved the most lives ever? Pasteur, Fleming? My vote is Norman Borlaug he saved a billion lives. More here here

    ...very interesting. There's a lot to take in but I just overviewed the articles. it seems like he's the type of guy who just put his head down and did what he thought was right himself. It's a shame that governments around the world don't recruit guys like this into their cabinets to make important decisions.

    Kevin


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  • #7
    Tears in Rain
    Registered Users Posts: 267 ✭✭Tears in Rain


    Kevster wrote: »
    It's a shame that governments around the world don't recruit guys like this into their cabinets to make important decisions.

    Rather than firing scientists when their scientific research is considered politically inconvenient and they refuse to compromise their science to follow the official party line...

    e.g. David Nutt


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