Science: Canaries & Ferryboats

(2 of 2)

When Dr. Calingaert mixed two antiknock fuel ingredients, tetraethyl lead and diethyldimethyl lead, and gave them a catalytic nudge, atoms came loose from the molecules and formed new compounds at random—in quantities predictable by the laws of chance. For this reason, popularized versions of the Calingaert research referred to it as a chemical "dice game" or "poker game." Actually, since he deals with trillions of molecules in one operation, the chemist always knows what sort of hand he will draw.

Chemist Calingaert predicted that U. S. industry would lose little time applying his discovery to a variety of chemical shortcuts. Last week Ethyl Gasoline's alert Vice President, Thomas Midgley Jr., compared the Calingaert discovery to a ferryboat which enabled loving but frustrated lads and lassies on opposite sides of a river to get together. "What a lot of fun we're going to have," said Mr. Midgley, "shoving that ferryboat around."