Tonight the New York Times reports the passing of the great ecologist and activist, Dr. Barry Commoner, at the age of 95. He recorded a video interview to accompany his obituary with the New York Times which is very moving.
Dr. Commoner first became involved in activism over nuclear fallout pollution and expanded to advocate a wide range of practices including environmentalism, organic farming and recycling. Dr. Commoner was a leader in the Earth Day movement and wrote many influential books.
He is best remembered for his four simple rules of ecology:
Everything is connected to everything else.
Everything must go somewhere.
Nature knows best.
There is no such thing as a free lunch.
Dr. Commoner lived a simple, frugal life and advocated an integrated approach to working on the environment and politics. He even ran as an independent candidate for President in 1980.
Share your memories of Dr. Commoner in the comments. And if you are younger (like many of my students) take a minute to learn about a man who really made a difference in his life.