J. Gordon Edwards (entomologist)

J. Gordon Edwards (1919–2004) was an American entomologist and proponent of the use and safety of the pesticide DDT. He was professor of entomology at San Jose State University for 40 years, and namesake to the university's entomology museum. He was an outspoken critic of Rachel Carson and efforts to ban DDT, famously eating the substance to demonstrate its safety to humans. He was also a noted mountain climber, spending nine seasons as a ranger-naturalist in Glacier National Park during the 1940s and '50s, and returning often to collect insects and map routes. His 1961 book A Climber's Guide to Glacier National Park, republished several times since, made him known as the "patron saint of climbing" in the park, where he died while hiking, aged 84.

24 August 1919

Born on the same birth date (24 August 1919): Enrique Llanes • Tosia Altman

Born on the same birth day (24 August): Duchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin • Earl Derr Biggers • Enrique Llanes • Eric Simms (ornithologist) • Jean-Luc Brassard • Joe Regalbuto • John Green • Lady Amelia Windsor • Noah Vonleh • Philip Henry • Siaka Stevens • Todd Young

Born in the same month (August 1919): Amrita Pritam • Enrique Llanes • George Wallace • Georgia Gibbs • Gerard J. Campbell • Jaap Rijks • Joop den Uyl • Luis Olmo • Malcolm Forbes • Margaret Burbidge • Maurice Hilleman • Murray Grand • Pee Wee Butts • Ralph Houk • Rosalind Hicks • Stanley Middleton • Vikram Sarabhai • William P. Foster • Wolfgang Wagner