The Resume

(May 28, 1917-September 30, 2012)
Born in Brooklyn, New York
Biologist and ecologist
Founded the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems (1966)
Edited 'Science Illustrated' magazine
Wrote 'Science and Survival' (1966), 'The Closing Circle: Nature, Man and Technology' (1971), 'The Politics of Energy' (1979) and 'Making Peace with the Planet' (1990)
Ran for President on the Citizens Party ticket (1980)
Popularized the Four Laws of Ecology:
1. Everything is connected to everything else
2. Everything must go somewhere
3. Nature knows best
4. There is no such thing as a free lunch

Why he might be annoying:

He ran with a street gang in his youth.
Despite being an ecologist, he declined to use mass transportation, finding it too cumbersome and time consuming.
His socialist approach to solving environmental problems never went over well in capitalist America.
He described himself as 'a visionary gadfly: I'm right, but intransigent.'

Why he might not be annoying:

He said he got his first lesson in ecology in WWII when he was assigned to spray a naval facility on the Jersey shore with DDT to kill off mosquitoes. To his dismay, there was a mass die-off among the fish that ate the, and the mosquito population rebounded in even greater numbers.
His discovery of radioactive strontium-90 in the teeth of infants was a catalyst for the signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty that eliminated atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons.
Time magazine called him 'the Paul Revere of ecology.' (1970)
He clashed with 'Population Bomb' author Paul Ehrlich, saying that reducing population was 'equivalent to attempting to save a leaking ship by lightening the load and forcing passengers overboard.'
He said his favorite moment of his presidential campaign was when a reporter asked, 'Dr. Commoner, are you a serious candidate, or are you just running on the issues?'

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 20th Century Scientists
• 21st Century Scientists
• B.C. or A.D.
• Born in Brooklyn, New York
• Bushy Eyebrows
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 44]
• Celebrities Born on the Same Date [May] (Ranked: 5281917)
• I Attended Columbia
• I Attended Harvard
• I Died in 2012 (Ranked: 95)
• I Earned a Doctorate
• I Married in 1980
• I Sought Political Office
• Look at Me, I Got a Microphone
• Look at Me, I'm Reading
• Playboy Interview Subjects [1970s] (Ranked: 1974)
• Profiles 33501-33750 (Ranked: 33519)
• Scientists
• Silver Foxes [Gray and Don't Care]
• Third Party U.S. Presidential Candidates

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 23 Votes: 39.13% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 34 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 22 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 16 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 111 Votes: 79.28% Annoying