Dr. Barry Commoner, the man dubbed by Time magazine as “the Paul Revere of Ecology” has died in Manhattan at the age of 95.
Commoner was as well known for his scientific accomplishments as he was for the activism he used to bring environmentalism into the public arena. A Harvard- and Columbia-trained biologist, Commoner was a passionate – and early -- opponent of nuclear testing and a pioneer in the sustainability movement. He wrote extensively about the ecological effects of above-ground nuclear testing, and did groundbreaking work documenting levels of strontium 90 in the teeth of thousands of children – data which contributed to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty adopted in 1963. It would not be the last time Commoner affected public policy.