Hardin, Garrett (1915–2003)

Garrett james hardin, born in 1915, was an ecologist from Dallas, Texas. Hardin graduated from the University of Chicago in 1936 with a BSc in Zoology, and in 1941 was awarded a Ph.D. in microbiology from Stanford University. He held the position of Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Santa Barbara, from 1933 until he retired in 1978.

Hardin wrote prolifically about environmental issues. In books such as Nature and Man's Fate (1959) and Exploring New Ethics for Survival (1977), he argued that unless human population growth is curbed, disease, starvation, and social disorder will result. He is best known for his landmark article, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” which was published in Science in 1968.

In this essay, he used the example of an imaginary ...