CAN I PICK YOUR BRAIN?

As PopMech staffers, we consider ourselves to be knowledgeable and capable enthusiasts, if not part-time pros, in our respective fields. But we'd be foolish to think we have all the answers, which is why if we had the chance, we'd fire off endless questions to these long-gone experts who first primed our passions and continue to pique our curiosities. Here are some of the editors' intellectual idols. Who are yours?

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George Washington Carver

Born a slave in 1864, George Washington Carver eventually became the most renowned Black scientist of the 20th century. He developed techniques to prevent soil depletion, encouraging crop rotation by planting sweet potatoes and peanuts. He's often mistakenly attributed for inventing peanut butter. (It was pharmacist Marcellus Gilmore Edson, who patented it in 1884; Ted Lasso and the rest of us are in his debt.) Still, I wouldn't be able to resist asking Carver this one question: Smooth or crunchy?

Amanda Furrer, Gear Editor

RACHEL CARSON

I admire Rachel Carson for being a female pioneer in the environmental movement. When I first read her book Silent Spring as a teenager, I was captivated by her reporting on the destruction of ecosystems from the pesticide DDT, and her observations about the natural world. "There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter," she wrote.

Carson's research on the dangers of pesticides not only saved many vulnerable ecosystems but also potentially protected many humans from DDT exposure, thus setting the stage for better regulation of their use.

"A Who's Who of pesticides is therefore of concern to us all," she wrote. "If we are going to live so intimately with these chemicals, eating and drinking them, taking them into the very marrow of our bones-we had better know something about their nature and their power."