J. Gordon Edwards, American entomologist, mountaineer, and DDT advocate (died 2004)
J. Gordon Edwards (entomologist)
J. Gordon Edwards was an American entomologist and proponent of the use and safety of the pesticide DDT. He was professor of entomology at San Jose State University for 40 years, and namesake to the university's entomology museum. He was an outspoken critic of Rachel Carson and efforts to ban DDT, famously eating the substance to demonstrate its safety to humans. He was also a noted mountain climber, spending nine seasons as a ranger-naturalist in Glacier National Park during the 1940s and '50s, and returning often to collect insects and map routes. His 1961 book A Climber's Guide to Glacier National Park, republished several times since, made him known as the "patron saint of climbing" in the park, where he died while hiking, aged 84.
August 24
August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 129 days remain until the end of the year.