North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Michael Nave <jmichaelnave@yahoo.com>]

I've seen it everywhere too. I'm sure it's not a real
quote. I have no doubt if it were researched it would
be found nowhere in Einstein's history. As you note
below, the conclusion is simply not true and it's not
difficult to ascertain that the conclusion is untrue.
Einstein was not given to making patently untrue
statements. Einstein was also not given to stating
things in such an absolutist and arrogant fashion,
particularly outside his araea of expertise. He was
not arrogant. 

--- road's end farm <organic101@linkny.com> wrote:

> 
> On Apr 17, 2007, at 1:43 PM, Brungardt, Sam [quoted
> someone else as 
> saying]:
> 
> >  Albert Einstein -- if not a bee expert, a
> relatively smart guy -- 
> > once said that in the absence of the busy crop
> pollinators, humans 
> > "would have only four years of life left." 
> 
> This particular quote has shown up a lot in bee loss
> discussions.
> 
> If Einstein actually said this, could somebody tell
> me where, when, 
> and/or to whom he did so?
> 
> Even if he did say it, this was hardly his field.
> 
> If we lost the bees, there would certainly be major
> agricultural and 
> other ecological disruptions. There would certainly
> be major 
> disruptions in food supplies for humans. I don't
> want to minimize the 
> importance of honeybees. However, there are lots of
> plants, including 
> plants which are eaten by humans and plants eaten by
> animals which are 
> then eaten by humans, which are not dependent on
> bees for pollination; 
> and many plants ordinarily pollinated by honeybees
> are also pollinated 
> by other insects, though not always as efficiently.
> We might well lose 
> some population; but it's not likely that the
> disappearance of 
> honeybees would wipe out the entire human species.
> 
> Exaggerating a problem doesn't always make people
> take you more 
> seriously. Sometimes it makes them quit listening
> altogether; which 
> would be a shame, in this case, as there obviously
> is a real problem, 
> whatever's causing it.
> 
> --Rivka
> Finger Lakes NY; zone 5 mostly>
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