Contributions
Ellis's contributions were in the improvement of existing technology, and they were significant. He developed gasoline that reduced engine knock, longer lasting housepaint, more durable polyesters and plastics, improved printing inks, methods for flameless combustion, methods for hydroponics for plant growth without soil, and a healthier and more palatable version of margarine. Prior to 1913, there were substitutes for butter that had been made from animal fats that had high grease content and was often hard to digest. Ellis found a way to synthesize margarine from vegetable oils, and it is said that he helped create what is now a multi-billion dollar industry.
Ellis was the author of The Hydrogenation of Oils in Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry (1912) and a 1920 book of the same name.
Read more about this topic: Carleton Ellis