INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF THOMAS MIDGLEY, JR.

摘要

The array of topics addressed by the twin conferences, Sustainability and the Cold Chain, illustrates the broad range of issues that need to be understood by participants in the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning industry. It also emphasises the need for innovation and co-operation across businesses, market segments and continents. However some other important principles are less evident although equally important. A key question which highlights these principles is "What makes an innovator?" The life and work of the American engineer Thomas Midgley Jr. provides some insight. Midgley, the inventor of leaded petrol and CFCs, is much maligned: it has been said that he had more impact on the earth's atmosphere than any other single organism in the history of life on earth (McNeill, 2001). However in the context of the prevailing knowledge during his working life he was ignorant of the climate consequences of his work and was seeking to improve quality of life in exactly the same way as we all are. What can we learn from his example, if we look beyond the current supercilious view of his life's work?