Charles “Boss” Kettering was an American inventor and businessman who headed the research department of General Motors from 1920 to 1947. Mona calls Kettering the greatest “public health villain” of all time because of his insistence that leaded gasoline was safe to use. Kettering’s insistence that lead was a benign substance—when, in reality, it is one of the most dangerous neurotoxins in existence—resulted in thousands of deaths.
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Charles “Boss” Kettering Character Timeline in What the Eyes Don’t See
The timeline below shows where the character Charles “Boss” Kettering appears in What the Eyes Don’t See. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 11: Public Health Enemy #1
In Flint, the name “Kettering” is famous—everyone knows the legend of Charles “Boss” Kettering, the head of GM’s research department...
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...was added to gasoline to stop engine knocking, an idea pioneered by none other than Kettering. Even though leaded gasoline was known to be a toxic nerve gas, it was marketed...
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...2 percent of the global burdens of heart disease and stroke. This, Mona writes, is Kettering’s true legacy.
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