Today, human health – in fact, the health of all species – is under assault from a great variety of sources. These range from fracking to production of a huge variety of synthetic chemicals, most of which go untested except for whether they produce cancer or not. has proven time and again that it cannot and will not take any meaningful steps to reverse this assault. That is why it is up to the working class to take matters in hand. But it cannot do this without understanding the science involved.

Dr. Theo Colborn

That is where Theo Colborn comes in. A former pharmacist and then a sheep rancher, Colborn went back to school at the age of 58 to earn a Ph.D. in zoology, with minors in toxicology, epidemiology (the spread of diseases) and water chemistry. Due to her cross-training, she was able to develop a new understanding of how different synthetic chemicals affect the different systems of the body, most especially the endocrine system. (This is the system that produces the different hormones that regulate almost everything of the development and functioning of the body.)

Her work is summarized in her wonderful book, “Our Stolen Future”. (Read a review/summary here.) In 2003, Colborn went on to play the central role in the founding of The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX). She was then 76 years old! She continued researching, writing and speaking and was one of the first scientists to warn the public of the dangers of fracking.

TEDX home page

This year marks the 25th anniversary of endocrine disruption science, a discipline which Theo Colborn did so much to found. The anniversary is marked by short summary of its history as well as the story of that great figure, Theo Colborn. Along with Robert F. Williams (author of “Negroes with Guns”), it will always be a great regret of mine that I never got to meet this great hero, Theo Colborn, who died in 2014.