He would never admit to it (I met him several times early in my career), but he was a very much a Shiva character to history.
His work destroyed thousands of years of landraces. The genetic pool that we desperately need in our race against the evolution of pests and diseases.
His work also hurt impoverished farmers in third world countries even more. As high yields drove down commodity prices. Industrialized nations subsidized their farmers to ensure supply further depressing global price.
His work fed billions and has been instrumental in reducing early childhood fatality rates.
His work also freed up massive amounts of income to spend on other things. As food prices fell other industries developed rapidly. Poverty and hunger are no longer causes by not producing enough food but from the greed and selfishness of the parasitic top wealthy people.
This reminds me of the first chapter of When We Cease To Understand the World
It goes into the discovery of Prussian Blue, of nerve gas, and eventually of modern fertilizers, all stemming from the broader understanding of the nitrogen fixing process.
I find it hilarious the picture they used is equivalent to him either being snapped by a paparazzi or he just realized he stepped in dog shit. I feel they could have done better, haha
