Real Heroes

I have two new heroes. One I just discovered, and one I've known about for a while. The first is Norman Borlaug. He is a scientist who's worked in Africa, Mexico, and Asia, including India and China. He's a plant breeder who created new strains of wheat that are hardier than previous types and produce increased yields.

So what, right? That sounds pretty boring. The thing is, in Borlaug's tireless efforts while working and living in Third World nations earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. When that prize was awarded in 1970, it was estimated that Norman Borlaug had saved the lives of over 1 billion people.

Billion. With a "B."

Can you even wrap your mind around that? I'm not sure I can. A billion people owe their lives to one guy. And he's still at work. To read more about him, go here.

The second of my new heroes is also someone you've probably never heard of, and maybe couldn't care less about -- until you know the whole story. On September 26th, 1983, Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov of the Soviet military was at his job monitoring the United States for signs of an attack. The system in place began telling him that the U.S. was launching missiles. Lots of missiles. It was Petrov's job to inform the Politburo. This would lead to a retaliatory strike, World War III, and almost certainly the end of the world as we know it.

But Petrov hesitated. Something wasn't right, he thought. So he took no actions.

And he was correct, of course. There were no missiles. It was all an error. He hesitated, let calmer heads prevail, and we're all still around because of it.

Of course, the sad truth is that Petrov was discharged for his actions. Only now, after the Cold War is over, do we hear about his decision that quite probably saved the world. You can read more about him here.

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