Hi Mike,
Yes, determining the age of the earth was his big scientific accomplishment - although it didn't have a great positive impact on our lives. But he had trouble in doing so because all of his rock samples had wildly elevated levels of lead. It took him a while to figure out where that lead was coming from but when he did figure it out(and it didn't come from paint) he doggedly pursued the industry responsible demanding that they cease using the leaded compound.
Ever heard of tetra-ethyl lead? Yep, the stuff we used to put in our gas tanks until 1983 or so(in the USA). To prove it was coming from the car exhaust fumes he(or one of his colleagues?) had the idea to use ice cores in Greenland. This was the first application of using ice cores to determine what the atmosphere was like way in the past. They found that prior to 1923, when lead was introduced into gasoline, there was almost no lead in the atmosphere. You and I, born when we were, will die with 560 times the lead in our tissues than those who passed on prior to the 1920's.
As it is, we now have 80-90% less lead in our circulating blood than before the 1983 ban. And the real tragedy is that lead wasn't even necessary to prevent engine knocking. Ethanol would have accomplished exactly the same thing.
His efforts to get the lead out of gasoline was truly a David vs Goliath effort. The Ethyl corporation was a joint venture by no less than General Motors, DuPont, and Standard Oil of NJ. The lying and posturing by these companies went on for years in ways that now seem implausible. How the press went along with this is anyone's guess, but I think it just shows how big corporations ruled the roost then more then they do even today.
There may be more benefits to getting rid of the lead than we realize. For example, if you look on the FBI website in their crime stats pages for violent crime, you can see that it took a big dip starting in the early 90's. Coincidence? Who knows. Some speculate that abortion laws were the cause of dropping violent crime rates. However, it is known that lead poisoning leads to psychological problems like impulsive behavior, which sounds a bit like criminal behavior.
Anyway, Claire Patterson gets my vote for someone who did the world a big favor with great sacrifice that almost no one knows about much less appreciates. Nor did he try to get the limelight he surely couldn't have garnered with the right publicity agent.
Craig |
