Once celebrated, an inventor’s breakthroughs are now viewed as disasters — and the world is still...

Facing a crowd of journalists, inventor Thomas Midgley Jr. poured a lead additive over his hands and then proceeded to inhale its fumes for about a minute. Unfazed, he said, “I could do this every day without getting any health problems whatsoever.”

Soon afterward, Midgley needed medical treatment. But the act would have dire consequences beyond his own well-being.