Norman Borlaug
"Norman Borlaug: The Man Who Saved More Human Lives Than Any
Other..."
Everyone should know who Norman Borlaug was. He has been credited with
saving the lives of a billion people or more (yes, "billion" with a
"b"!) He was a scientist who saw firsthand the terrible violence and despair
caused by hunger and so became determined to use science to feed the world.
He was so successful as the "Father of the Green Revolution" that he was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for having already saved hundreds of
millions of people from starving and thereby averting great social upheaval
and violence. Yet it's amazing to me how few people know of this remarkable,
brilliant, hard-working, disciplined scientist!
Consider this quote from his biography on the World Food Prize web site:
Norman Borlaug's approach to increasing global food production resulted in the saving of as many as 1 billion people worldwide from famine, starvation and death and earned him the title “Father of the Green Revolution. Indeed, The Atlantic Monthly in 1997 said that “Norman Borlaug has already saved more lives than anyone who has ever lived.”
Consider this sample of headlines/links:
-
Forgotten Benefactor of Humanity
-
The man who saved a billion lives
- The Greatest Man You’ve Never Heard Of: Norman Borlaug, An American Hero
-
Norman Borlaug: The Man Who Saved More Human Lives Than Any Other Has Died (Borlaug died in 2009 at the age of 95.)
-
Billions Served: Norman Borlaug interviewed by Ronald Bailey (One of my favorite articles by my favorite science writer from my
favorite news magazine!)
While the general population may not recognize his name, he has his
supporters: Besides the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize, he was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, Congressional Gold Medal (shown above,) and
more than 50 honorary degrees. There is also this statue of him in the US
Congress' National Statuary Hall installed in 2014 on the centenary of his
birth:
Borlaug has his critics. There are some, mainly people who have never been
hungry, that complain that his green revolution led to huge growth in
agribusiness, pesticide and water use, and displacement of small or peasant
farmers, not to mention huge population growth and the corresponding use of
resources. Given the choice between mass starvation & war vs. using
science to try to improve the lives of the impoverished while
perhaps having unintended consequences, I vote for science and
progress every time. Borlaug was a big proponent of genetic
engineering to drive the next green revolution. You can read more articles
online where he explains his views on biotech and genetic engineering and
responds to his critics. Here's a good example from 1999:
Borlaug even shows up in popular culture: In the popular TV show "The Good Place", Chidi Anagonye (a professor of ethics and moral philosophy) is compiling a list of "great humans" to be considered for a test, and you can see that Norman Borlaug is on the list:
I even discovered online a PBS video documentary about Borlaug, and
also even a rap song thanking him!!
07/28/2020: At this point, I thought I had understood the scope of Borlaug's achievements. However, I had no idea there was so much more to the story. One unique biography captures the thrill of Borlaug narrowly missing disaster or overcoming seemingly overwhelming obstacles repeatedly. That remarkable book is "Our Daily Bread" by Noel Vietmeyer. To quote from Amazon book descriptions of books by Vietmeyer about Borlaug:
Norman Borlaug is an Indiana Jones of our time. He was bold and adventurous and faced down difficulty (sometimes danger) his whole life. That is the thrill ride to be found herein as the Borlaug saga unfolds, teetering forever on the verge of failure only to be saved by some saintly stranger or improbable coincidence. It's been called the greatest story never told. It's also been called the world's first "cereal thriller." The author worked with Borlaug and recorded the behind-the-scenes dramas that have not been made public until now.
(last edited: 07/28/2020)
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