J. Gordon Edwards | |
|---|---|
&sq=Google&lang=en&file=File:J._Gordon_Edwards,_1956_La_Torre.jpg) Edwards circa 1956 | |
| Born | August 24, 1919 |
| Died | July 19, 2004 (aged 84) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | |
| Known for |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Entomology |
| Institutions | San Jose State University |
| Thesis | Taxonomy and bionomics of superfamily Scarabaeoidea in eastern half of United States (1949) |
J. Gordon Edwards (August 24, 1919 – July 19, 2004) 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.