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While we must depend on the living to actively guide us toward a progressive and sustainable future, we cannot discount or ignore the Titans of the past who built the foundations of our present understanding of ourselves, our universe and everything. Herewith, a monthly compendium which provides a tiny taste of the greatness upon which we walk and float and fly: Those who have contributed mightily to the advancement of the environment, science or society.
CARL SAGAN 1934-1996 written January 1999
Carl Sagan was a prime leader in planetary astronomy, in space exploration and in science popularization. He was an experimenter on the Mariner, Viking, Voyager and Galileo expeditions and briefed the Apollo astronauts on their moon missions. He received two NASA medals for Distinguished Public Service, the NASA Apollo Achievement Award, the John F. Kennedy Astronautics Award, the Explorers Club 75th Anniversary Award, the Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Medal of the Soviet Cosmonauts Federation, the Public Welfare Medal of the National Academy of Sciences, a Pulitzer Prize for Dragons of Eden, the Emmy and Peabody awards for the TV version of Cosmos (the best-selling science book ever published in English), 22 honorary degrees for his contributions to science, literature, education and environment, many awards for his work on the consequences of nuclear war and on reversing the nuclear arms race and the Masursky Award of the American Astronomical Society. He made original and influencial contributions to the study of planetary atmospheres, planetary surfaces, Earth history and exobiology. He was brilliantly able to communicate the wonder and importance of science to millions with his many books, papers, lectures, TV version of Cosmos and Motion Picture version of Contact. He was the David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences and Director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University, was elected Chairman of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society, President of the Planetary Section of the American Geophysical Union and Chairman of the Astronomy Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was the editor-in-chief of Icarus for 12 years, was cofounder and President of the Planetary Society and Distinguished Visiting Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, CIT. He was posthumously awarded the highest honor of the National Science Foundation. Click CNN and CARL SAGAN BOOKS for more information.
MARY HARRIS JONES 1830-1930 written February 1999
Mary Harris Jones was born in Ireland and her family moved her to the US to escape British rule. She completed school; was a teacher and married iron moulder George Jones. She lost her husband and four children to yellow fever. Her dressmaking business was destroyed in the Chicago fire. She identified with working people who had no protection against low wages, long hours, dangerous working conditions, blacklists and violent intimidation to prevent unionism. She began to organize workers to fight for their rights. She became a fiery and electrifying speaker and created a strong public outcry over the inhuman treatment of men, women and child laborers. She suffered jail, deportation and threats on her life. She continued organizing campaigns well into her eighties and laid the foundation for the eventual widespread success of the labor movement. Click Mara Hawse , Mojo Wire and National Women's Hall of Fame for more information.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1809-1865 written March 1999
All Americans know or should know the contributions of the 16th President of the USA. Probably the most important thing he ever said was, "...Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money-power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed..." How prophetic this is: today, the republic has almost been destroyed and we must take the US and the rest of the world back from the global corporate dictators. Click Pic and Bio and Abraham Lincoln Online for more information.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. 1929-1968 written April 1999
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great American gunned down by a political/corporate/ racist conspiracy whose details are still being witheld from the decent peoples of the world by order of the most indecent moguls of the American establishment circa 1968. These latter-day pigs who had him killed will stop at nothing to keep the US from becoming a real democracy. Martin led the successful black boycott of Montgomery, Alabama's segregated transport system in 1955. He founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to spread desegregation nationally. He organized the massive 1963 March on Washington. He opposed the Vietnam war. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He was in the midst of a national campaign against poverty when a hired killer struck him down. Click MLK LIFE PHOTOS , Stanford:MLK WRITINGS, LINKS, ETC. and MLK ASSASSINATION for more information.
RACHEL CARSON 1907-1964 written May 1999
Rachel Carson was the first really effective whistleblower who revealed to a large audience the catastrophic negative effects of the chemical/pesticide industries on the animals of the biosphere. She is the US biologist and science writer who wrote Silent Spring, The Sea Around Us, Under the Sea-Wind, The edge of the Sea and other works. She learned about the problems of pesticides during her 17 years with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Click Ecology Hall of Fame and Online Ethics Center for more information.
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT 1884-1962 written June 1999
Eleanor Roosevelt was the most influential member of the UN's Commission on Human Rights and was the driving force behind the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. If all the nations of the world had fully implemented the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (most nations including the US have not), the most serious human problems would long ago have been solved. She was First Lady to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt from 1933-45. She was a reformer and a humanitarian who worked for social causes before, during and after her marriage. She was active in the NAACP and other social reform organizations. She was the US Ambassador to the UN. She wrote several books, a newspaper column and was an excellent lecturer. Click Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Eleanor Roosevelt (Mahady) for more information.
ANDREI SAKAROV 1921-1989 written July 1999
Andrei Sakarov was the father of the USSR hydrogen bomb. Unlike Edward Teller, the US father of the hydrogen bomb, Andrei Sakarov had a genuine sense of morality. Also, unlike Teller, Sakarov was able to see the faults of his government and he did his best to publicize those faults. Sakarov received international recognition as a scientist and was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He created the Human Rights Committee and received the Eleanor Roosevelt peace award, the Cino del Duca Prize and the Nobel Peace Prize. He was arrested by the government of the USSR, stripped of honors and exiled (1980-1987). He continued to be outspoken and was a major part of the USSR reforms in the late 80s. Click Center for History of Physics , Nobel Peace Prize and Andrei Sakarov Foundation for more information.
JANE ADDAMS 1860-1935 written August 1999
Jane Addams won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931; was very active as a social reformer, in the US women's suffrage movement and as a writer. She became the most prominent and effective woman in the US with her writings, her social settlement work, her suffrage work and her international efforts for world peace. Click Jane Addams Hull-House Museum and Nobel Peace Prize for more information.
THOMAS PAINE 1737-1809 written September 1999
Thomas Paine was the U.S. patriot and writer who wrote the most effective pamphlets in favor of American nationhood independent of British dominion. He also wrote in defense of the French Revolution, part of the US Constitution and in favor of reason, freedom of speech/debate, tolerance, equal rights and human rights/dignity. He was one of the first advocates of a real democracy free from dogmatic dominion of every sort. Like most true revolutionaries, he was jailed by established dogmatists for his beliefs. Click Media Visions Website for more information.
BARBARA JORDAN 1936-1996 written October 1999
Barbara Jordan was the first black woman elected to Congress from the south, the first black woman to deliver the keynote address at the convention of a major political party and the first black woman to serve as a Texas State Senator. She perfomed splendidly at the 1974 Nixon impeachment hearing, was a passionate defender of the Constitution, was a full professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and became a counselor to Texas Governor Ann Richards. She had a magnificent speaking voice, a commanding presence and a dedication to making the wrongs of the world right. Click National Women's Hall of Fame , PBS and Rice University for more information.
ALBERT EINSTEIN 1879-1955 written November 1999
Albert Einstein was the German-American physicist who created the theory of relativity and won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1921 concerning the application of quantum theory to photoelectricity. He also did an important mathematical analysis of Brownian motion. He left Germany when Hitler came to power and became a U.S. citizen. After WWII he became an ardent advocate of peace. Click Albert Einstein Online for more information.
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON 1815-1902 written December 1999
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a US women's rights leader and social reformer. She fought for women's equality in the antislavery movement. She and Lucretia Mott organized the first US women's rights convention. Three years later she joined with Susan B. Anthony and they worked together for 50 years in the struggle for women's rights. Elizabeth edited The Revolution journal and was elected president of the National Women's Suffrage Association. She collaborated in the writing of the History of Women's Suffrage. Women's suffrage was finally won in the US about 18 years after Elizabeth died. Full women's rights in the US will be finalized early in the 21st century. Click Women's Library and PBS Documentary for more information.
FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT 1882-1945 written January 2000
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd president of the USA who guided us successfully through the great depression and World War II. He was an insurgent member of the New York legislature and assistant secretary of the navy. In 1921 he contracted polio and his legs were paralysed. He was elected governor of New York in 1928 and president in 1932. He instituted New Deal programs which revolutionized US economic, political and social life. He was reelected in 1936, 1940 and 1944. He forged strong alliances with the Allies and commanded the most massive war effort in history. Click FDR about and FDR from Malaspina University - College for more information.
SUSAN BROWNELL ANTHONY 1820-1906 written February 2000
Susan B. Anthony was a US reformer and women's suffragist. She organized the first women's temperance association and lectured against slavery and for women's rights. She organized the National Women's Suffrage Association with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and later became its president. Susan and Elizabeth worked together for 50 years in the struggle for women's rights. Women's suffrage was finally won in the US about 14 years after Susan died. Full women's rights in the US will be finalized early in the 21st century. Click Women's Library and PBS Documentary for more information.
CHARLES DARWIN 1809-1882 written March 2000
Charles Darwin, Alfred Wallace and others created the theory of evolution and made it abundantly clear that classic religions misunderstood the natural processes that create life and the natural processes that sustain life and advance the diversity and awareness of life forms. They discovered that natural selection in diverse and changing environments favors the survival of those individuals and groups most able to tolerate or take advantage of whatever changes occur in the environment. Click Darwin bio and links and Darwin, Wallace and others for more information.
MARIE CURIE 1867-1934 written April 2000
Marie Curie and her husband Pierre Curie were pioneers in the study of radioactivity and she was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. Marie and Pierre won the 1903 Nobel prize for physics, sharing it with another French physicist, Henri Becquerel, who had discovered natural radioactivity. In 1911, Marie won the Nobel chemistry prize for isolating radium and studying its chemical properties. She was the first director of the Radium Institute in Paris. Radioactive poisoning contributed to Pierre's death in 1906 (wagon accident) and to Marie's death in 1934 (leukemia). The Radium Institute was renamed the Curie Institute in her honor. Click Nobel Prize and Marie Curie Bio and Links for more information.
MAHATMA GANDHI 1869-1948 written May 2000
Mahatma Gandhi is the father of India who nonviolently led India's nationalist movement from 1919 to 1947 when independence was won from the UK. The successful techniques included strikes, refusal to pay taxes and refusal to respect courts. This success proves that nonviolent direct action works quite well where authorities are sufficiently corrupt, injustice is widespread and protestors are well-organized and more moral than the elite masters. Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 by a fundamentalist bozo. Click Man of Millenium and Gandhi Profile for more information.
ADA BYRON LOVELACE 1815-1852 written June 2000
Ada Byron Lovelance is a computer pioneer from the 19th century. She is the daughter of the illustrious poet, Lord Byron. She created the idea of a computer program and wrote the first computer program. She also produced the design for a flying machine. She was the superior to Bill Gates in every way except timing and business savvy. Click Agnes Scott College and San Diego Supercomputer Center for more information.
MARK TWAIN (Samuel Langhorn Clemens) 1835-1910 written July 2000
Mark Twain was a writer, journalist, humanist and lecturer. He had an egalitarian attitude and a strong desire for social justice. He wrote The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, Innocents Abroad, Roughing It, Mark Twain's Sketches Old and New, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Tramp Abroad, The Prince and the Pauper, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg and Other Stories and Sketches, What is Man? and The Mysterious Stranger. He revolutionized the language of American fiction. Click complete text of works by Mark Twain and about Mark Twain for more information.
MARGARET MEAD 1901-1978 written August 2000
Margaret Mead became the most famous anthropologist because she greatly expanded the scope and meaning of anthropology by showing how the development of individuals is intimately linked to the cultural norms of nations and societies. She also came to know that societal advance is often triggered by a small but determined band of idealists. Her clear writing and public speaking brought advanced and holistic anthropology ideas to the general public. Coming of Age in Samoa is her best-known book. She brought new understandings of human behavior to bear on the future. She knew that human diversity is a wonderful resource and that racism, warfare and environmental exploitation are learned (and can be unlearned). Click Bio, Pics, Links for more information.
WAYNE MORSE 1900-1974 written September 2000
Wayne Morse was Oregon's most progressive and outspoken US Senator. He was US Senator from 1945 - 1969. He lost his bids for reelection in 1968 and 1972. He won the Democratic primary for US Senator in 1974 but died before the election. He began as a Republican but became an Independent in 1953 and then a Democrat in 1955. He voted against the Gulf of Tonkin resolution in 1964 and ardently opposed the Vietnam War. He was dean and professor of law at the University of Oregon law school, 1931 - 1944. He held many other educational and governmental posts. He was the best a politician can be. Click Bio and Wayne Morse Center for more information.
JESSICA MITFORD 1917-1996 written October 2000
Jessica Mitford was the Queen of the Muckrakers who wrote nine books, the most famous being The American Way of Death. She was born in England and moved to Oakland, California in the 1940s. She was a champion of civil rights and a friend of Maya Angelou for more than 30 years. She was known to her friends as Decca. She defended and helped standardly controversial people like Paul Robeson. She had a great sense of humor, ran away to Loyalist Spain during the Spanish Civil War, was subpoenaed by the House Committee on Un-American activities in regard to her work in the Civil Rights Congress, rode an elephant in the Ringling Parade, made a single: Decca and the Dectones, won a Guggenheim Fellowship, an honorary degree from Smith College and a Golden Gadfly Award from the SF Media Alliance. Click mitford.org, Mitford (Molly Ivins) and Salon book review for more information.
ISAAC ASIMOV 1920-1992 written November 2000
Isaac Asimov was a great science fiction and nonfiction writer and editor who produced about 500 books in his lifetime. He was a great genius who could explain almost anything to almost anybody in language that was clear and understandable. He was a one-man education machine who brought understanding of many things to millions of people. He also had a great understanding of the multiple injustices in our societies and he had a wonderful sense of humor. He brought the future closer to so many of us. He was clearly focused on reality and detested shoddy and superstitious thinking. He found such great fun in writing that he spent most of his time doing it. Click Asimov Guide , N.Y. Times and Asimov Home Page for more information.
BELLA ABZUG 1920-1998 written December 2000
Bella Abzug was a Congresswoman, founding feminist, environmentalist, lawyer, peace activist and a progressive political activist: first on many of the things that most matter to the human race. She was majorly scornful of centrism. She was a big player on the world stage of the United Nations and the Beijing conference on women. She correctly predicted that women will run the 21st century and save it from the major mistakes made by men in all of the previous centuries. She founded the Women's Environment and Development Organization which works to achieve a healthy and peaceful planet with social, political, economic and environmental justice for all, emphasizing the empowerment of women as key to this achievement. The first mistake men made was institutionalizing patriarchy in religion and politics. Click WEDO, GEM and feminist.com for more information.
JACQUES COUSTEAU 1910-1998 written January 2001
Jacques Yves Cousteau was the greatest oceanographic environmentalist of his time and was the co-inventor of the Aqua-Lung (with Emile Gagnan). He also invented a process of underwater TV, conducted many expeditions in his research ship Calypso, wrote several books including The Silent World (his documentary with the same name won Cousteau the top award at the Cannes Film Festival), conducted undersea living experiments and produced many films, two of them winning Academy Awards for best documentary. He also made an award-winning TV series for eight years. Click Cousteau remembered and Cousteau Foundation for more information.
GINETTA SAGAN 1925-2000 written February 2001
Ginetta Sagan was a renowned human rights leader who was instrumental in founding Amnesty International USA. During World War II she worked with the Italian resistance on an underground paper, helped Jews in hiding, carried information and escorted fugitives to Switzerland. She was caught, tortured, jailed for 45 days and rescued on the scheduled date of her execution. After the war she went to college in Paris and continued her studies in Chicago. She was very active in AIUSA group 19 in California after moving there from Washington, DC. She founded the Aurora Foundation which documents human rights abuses. In 1994 AIUSA established the Ginetta Sagan Fund to honor her and in 1996 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. AIUSA now bestows an annual Ginetta Sagan Award for outstanding work on behalf of the human rights of children and women. Click Amnesty USA and Common Dreams for more information.
DAVID BROWER 1912-2000 written March 2001
David Brower was the the 20th century's preeminent environmentalist/conservationist. He joined the Sierra Club in 1933, led a conservation campaign for King's Canyon National Park, led the first ascent of Shiprock on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico, was the first executive director of the Sierra Club, helped defeat the proposal to put dams in Dinosaur National Monument, led the formation of the Sierra Club Foundation, helped get JKF to create Pt Reyes National Seashore, helped create the Wilderness Act, helped get Grand Canyon dams stopped, helped create Redwood National Park and North Cascades National Park, formed Friends of the Earth and the League of Conservation Voters, helped get the UN to approve a system of World Heritage Sites, thrice nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, formed Earth Island Institute, founded the Conferences on the Fate and Hope of the Earth, helped establish Great Basin National Park, helped create the Dolphin Safe label, helped make Lake Baikal a UN World Heritage Site, helped found Glen Canyon Institute, won the Blue Planet Prize and co-founded the Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment. Click Brower Web and Salon for more information.
MARY S. CALDERONE, M.D., 1904-1998 written April 2001
Mary Calderone was a pioneer in the field of human sexuality. She co-founded and was Executive Director and President of the Sex Information and Education Council of the US, Medical Director of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Adjunct Professor at New York University Department of Health Education and a noted writer. She received numerous awards and honors including 12 honorary doctorates and was the mother of three, grandmother of three and a great-grandmother of three. Click Women's International Center bio and Great Women bio for more information.
ALAN CRANSTON 1914-2000 written May 2001
Alan Cranston was deeply committed to peace and nuclear disarmament. He was a US Senator from California for 24 years, was president and founder of the Global Security Institute, was a leading figure in reforming the California Democratic Party, was a journalist and author of Killing the Peace, was president of the World Federalists, was comptroller of California and was Chairman of the Gorbachev Foundation of the United States and of its World Forum. He believes that the United States should take the lead in developing a more orderly and peaceful world without nuclear weapons. Click UC Berkeley and Insight and Outlook for more information.
RUTH BENEDICT 1887-1948 written June 2001
Ruth Benedict was a famous American cultural anthropologist. She received her doctorate from Columbia University in 1919 having been guided by Franz Boas. In 1948 she was promoted to full professor in the faculty of Political Science. Her field work was done among the Serrano in California and with the Zuni, Cochiti and Pina in the Southwest. She wrote several books, Patterns of Culture in particular became a best seller. Later she wrote The Chrysanthenum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture which also became a best seller and is still in print. She also edited the Journal of American Folk-Lore from 1925 to 1940. She taught Margaret Mead; they became great friends and Margaret became her original literary executor. Click Minnesota State University and Vassar for more information.
MICHAEL FARADAY 1791-1867 written July 2001
Michael Faraday made the scientific discoveries and inventions that laid a major part of the foundations of our current electrical-, electronic-, communications- and computer-driven societies. He laid the foundations of today's electro-technology. He made the inventions underlying today's electric motors, electric generators and electric transformers. He was a great scientific lecturer and scientific writer. He was also a skilled analytical chemist. He liquified chlorine and discovered benzene. He stated the first and second laws of Electrolysis. He proved that electromagnetic waves propagate at the speed of light, the foundation of radio. Click About.com Michael Faraday and Faraday Lectures for more information.