People Who Went To Penn: Paul R. Ehrlich

Have you ever looked at butterflies and thought: holy sh*t, one day the human race will be destroyed by over-consumption? Do you enjoy really, really overbearing sideburns? Do you know what the word zoology means? If you answered "yes" to any of the above, you'd probably enjoy the work of Penn alum Paul R. Ehrlich.

Dr. Ehrlich graduated in 1953 with a degree in zoology and from there, got right into doing insect stuff. After receiving his PhD under the guidance of a world-renowned bee scholar, he became a professor at Stanford researching butterflies. That probably got pretty boring, so he decided to do the next best thing, and wrote a hugely controversial book about how we are all going to die of malnourishment. Yep.

The Population Bomb predicted that rising populations would cause hundreds of millions to starve to death. To combat this, he suggested that governments enact massive population controls. Ehrlich did a great job of scaring literally everyone, everywhere and his book went on to sell millions of copies, turning him into an international celebrity.

While his premonitions were false (read: we're still hereee), the issues Ehrlich raised regarding urbanization, GMOs, and pollution are more relevant than ever. His work revolved around treating the world better, something we could all work harder to do.