Norman Borlaug: modern hero
Who are our heroes? Is it someone who plays a mean lick on a guitar and lives a glamorous life? A model with inflated breasts who appears at charity events? An explorer accompanied by a TV crew enduring some pretty rough times? A journalist who bravely exposes a corruption scandal? An ordinary person who at great personal risk dives in to dangerous waters to save a child? A sportsman who achieves amazing physical feats but remains humble? A politician who risks her reputation to break a political logjam and end a conflict?
All of the above would qualify as heroes among varying groups. Some might even be recognised as such by their governments or international bodies. But what does it take to become a hero? How about someone who quietly save the lives of hundreds of millions of people? There is only one person who could claim that sort of hero status: Norman Borlaug.
If you’ve never heard of Norman Borlaug it’s probably because he lived a decidedly unglamorous, modest life. He was a brilliant scientist who is known as the Father of the Green Revolution. His work in developing a high-yielding variety of disease resistant wheat and improved varieties of other crop plants led to the feeding of legions of starving people. He started in Mexico, where he produced a fungus-resistant strain of wheat that allowed farmers to emerge out of poverty and starvation to selling surplus wheat. He achieved spectacular increases in crop yields in India and then the rest of Asia.
Borlaug won the Nobel peace prize in 1970. Never has such an award been more fitting. Penn & Teller call him the Greatest Human Being. Ever.
Dr Norman Borlaug died last week (September 12). He was 95 years old. Norman Borlaug was a modern hero.
“Norman E. Borlaug saved more lives than any man in human history,” said Josette Sheeran, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program. “His heart was as big as his brilliant mind, but it was his passion and compassion that moved the world.”
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The Carnival of the Africans #11 « The Skeptic Detective on
Sun, 27th Sep 2009 11:48 am
[...] carnival by highlighting the South African farewell’s written in honor of this amazing man. Tim of Reason Check, Owen Swart and yours truly the Skeptic Detective, would like to say a big “Thank You” [...]
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