Back in May 2004 I posted on Norman Borlaug — one of the greatest, and least-known, benefactors of humanity. The Hoover Institution‘s Henry Miller recently wrote this nice review of a new biography of Borlaug.
The Greatest Benefactor of Humanity Whose Name Isn't Close to Being a Household Word
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Kottke linked to this recently: The Oil We Eat [http://www.harpers.org/TheOilWeEat.html]
It's an infuriating condemnation of the not just the green revolution, but all agriculture.
Fortune recently published this silly piece that claims farming for biodiesel will starve the poor: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/08/21/8383659/index.htm
I guess they missed the memo on how the Population Bomb was a dud. I would love to see a collection of prophecies of doom that didn't pan out.
I love this guy. We remember Stalin and Hitler for killing millions, we should remember this guy for saving billions.
In all seriousness, he is literally the greatest hero to humanity. I'm not sure even Jonas Salk or the future doctor who cures cancer or AIDS can compare.
This is a link to a Reason Magazine interview with the man himself:
http://reason.com/0004/fe.rb.billions.shtml
Penn Jillett of Penn and Teller fame has a podcast of his interview with Norman Borlaug from his radio show.
http://podcast.penn.freefm.com/penn/25352.mp3
He is a very big fan of the man (as we all should be).
Penn and teller also named him "The greatest human being that ever lived" in their show "Bullshit!" (Season One, episod "Eat This!")
I wonder what Jared "Agriculture is the worst mistake in human history" Diamond thinks of him.