Russell Marker (1902 - 1995, was an American chemist who invented the octane rating system when he was working at the Ethyl Corporation . Later in his career he went on to found a steroid industry in Mexico when he successfully made synthetic progesterone from a Mexican yam in a process known as Marker degradation, which eventually led to the development of the birth control pill.

External links

• Honoring of Russell Marker at Penn State