Commoner, Barry (1917-2012), was an American biologist and educator. In the early 1950’s, he began warning the public of the dangerous effects of modern technology on the environment. Commoner expressed concern over the widespread use of such technology without concern for its effect on the balance of nature. Commoner commented on the use of chemical fertilizers, detergents, nuclear power, pesticides, and incinerators.
Commoner worked to make biology a useful tool in the solution of various human problems. He urged other scientists to make their special knowledge available to the public with that same goal.
Commoner was born on May 28, 1917, in New York City and graduated from Columbia University in 1937. He received a Ph.D. degree from Harvard University in 1941. Commoner served on the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis from 1947 to 1981.
In 1980, Commoner was the presidential candidate of the Citizens’ Party, a liberal political party that he helped found. He and his party called for public control of the energy industry, an end to nuclear power development, and a switch to solar energy. Commoner’s books include Science and Survival (1966), The Closing Circle (1971), and The Politics of Energy (1979). He joined the faculty of Queens College of the City University of New York in 1981. He died on Sept. 30, 2012.
