In a world where importance is attached to sports figures or entertainment figures or politicians (deposed, embarrassed or otherwise), it is good to find a yardstick against which most accomplishments can be measured so as to put matters into perspective.
Norman Ernest Borlaug was an American agricultural scientist, and an humanitarian; he has also been called the father of the Green Revolution, but in my opinion, for a different reason. He wanted plants to grow more fruitfully and thought that we could improve on the agricultural concepts of centuries ago, still in use today. Toiling in destitute Mexico, Africa and India in the 1940's he developed a strain of high-yielding wheat known as dwarf wheat and from there created other high-yielding strains of maize and rice -- cereal grains.
Dr. Borlaug devoted his life to ending the horrible misery of famine, and many credit him with saving more people's lives than any other human being -- an estimated 245 million so far. He did not seek fame or fortune and few people outside of the scientific community knew of him.
Borlaug was one of only five people to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal. He was 95 when he passed away in Texas, last Saturday.
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