The Man Who Saved A Billion Lives

Ever heard of Norman Borlaug before? I hadn't either but I thought he fits well into my "inspiring people" series. Neatorama has a cool write up about this plant pathologist/geneticist who is credited with saving more life than anyone else - ever! How did he do it? You'll have to read the link for the details. But to sum it up: Borlaug created new strains of wheat that were hardier, shorter, stockier, and disease resistant then ever before, increasing yields 200-400%. He singlehandedly helped some poorer wheat-importing countries become wheat-exporters! Who would have thought that so much of the world's population could be saved by advances in farming technology? Very cool.