Norman Borlaug: The greatest American no one knows about.
"Doctor Weir! Doctor Weir!"
Weir looked up and saw that the Guardian was pulling a man along behind her by the wrist.
"Yes, Genie? What is it?"
"Doctor Weir, this is Doctor Parrish. He is a botanist and an agriculture specialist."
"I know who Doctor Parrish is."
"He told me something absolutely amazing!"
"Did he now?"
"Yes! He just told me how your people on Earth performed an absolute miracle."
"A miracle?"
"Oh yes, how you managed to feed seven billion people on a single world with surplus food left over. That is a feat that far surpasses anything my people have ever done in all of recorded history."
"Is it?"
Doctor Parrish helpfully explained, "She asked me about the types of food crops that we grow on Earth. I told her about the Green Revolution: Norman Borlaug and his creation of high-yield varieties [HYVs] of cereal grains, semi-dwarf rice [IR8], modern soybeans and corn.."
"Doctor Weir, the Green Revolution saved billions. Your food crops on Earth are a true miracle."
"Oh, I guess I can see why you would think of them that way. I admit I never really thought of our crops like that."
"Doctor Weir, I don't understand something. Norman Borlaug and his Green Revolution have saved countless lives on your world, literally billions of them, more than any other human being had saved in all of your world's history combined, and more than the death tolls of all your recorded wars combined. So tell me, why is it that I cannot find any statues of him in your database? No great monuments? No museums? I found many tributes to your war leaders, to Roman emperors, to American presidents, but nothing honoring him. Why is that?"
Weir shrugged, "I really don't know."
Parrish spoke up, "I have to agree with her. Norman Borlaug's work in the 1960s and 1970s in India, Brazil, Mexico, Africa, and elsewhere, his Green Revolution, really did save Earth from mass starvation. Hardly anyone appreciates just how significant his work actually was."
Sheppard walked into the gate room and saw the commotion on the main floor. He decided to join the group. "Hey, what's up?"
"John! Look at this!" The Guardian's imager brought up a picture of a plant with a green husk that was about fifteen centimeters long. The husk was peeled back to reveal rows of hundreds and hundreds of small yellow nodules that were attached in several neat and straight rows along a central shaft of cellulose.
"I see. Corn. Very nice."
"Look how big it is! And it grows incredibly fast. It thrives in a temperate climate with minimal tending and only moderate watering. It's packed with carbohydrates, and it can be dried for long term storage.."
".. and it is great for making popcorn."
"We need to get some!"
"I know. We really need some more for movie nights."
"No, no, no, no. I mean we need the seeds for this amazing crop, as much as we can get, for distribution and planting."
"Oh?"
"Yes! We need to distribute the seeds for these miracle crops to as many worlds as possible. Don't you understand? Over ninety percent of the human population in the Pegasus Galaxy live as hunter/gatherers or subsistence farmers, with hardly any food surplus. Even advanced worlds like New Athos depend upon hunting and fishing to supplant protein needs. Look at this!" Her imager whirled. "Soybeans! They are loaded with protein!"
Weir tried to calm down the excitable girl. "Okay, okay. Great, wonderful. Thank you for the Ag lesson. Say, why don't you draw up a list? McKay has an idea for sending a message back to Earth. We can include your Ag list on it."
"Oh, I will, I will! Parrish, come with me!" She dragged away the botanist while Weir and Sheppard looked on with bemused expressions on their faces.
Sheppard turned to Weir and said wryly, "Don't tell her about bacon. Her head will probably explode."