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. Early life and education J. Gordon Edwards was born in Wilmington, Ohio, on August 24, 1919, to parents Gus and Evadne Edwards (née Spears). He was named after the silent film director J. Gordon Edwards. He grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and joined the Boy Scouts at age 12. He studied botany at Butler University, Indiana, graduating in 1942, then enlisted in the United States Army during World War II, serving as a combat medic with the 95th Infantry Division in Europe. He wrote about eradicating bed bugs in the barracks, and dusting personnel with DDT to control body lice and prevent typhus. He was discharged from the military after the 1945 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, having spent nearly four years with the army. His graduate education was at Ohio State University, where he earned his MS degree in 1946 and his PhD in Entomology in 1949. He also worked as an ornithological assistant to Donald J. Borror. At Ohio State he met Alice Althaus and they were married on October 13, 1946. Entomology In 1949 Edwards joined the faculty of San Jose State University (then San Jose State College), where he was professor of entomology until his retirement in 1990, after which he continued research and teaching as professor emeritus. He specialized in beetles, and published several articles on the insects of Glacier National Park. He was elected a life fellow of the California Academy of Sciences in 1977, and served as president of the Pacific Coast Entomological Society in 1948 and 1953, elected as honorary member in 1993. During his career he supervised 90 master's students in entomology, including scientists such