Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
It still makes us stop to consider…
It is rare that a popular science book could hold its relevance for nearly half a century. But Silent Spring, Rachel Carson’s clarion call to the American public, may be more important today than at any time since its publication in 1961.
While many of us remember Silent Spring as a well researched tome on the deleterious impacts of wide-spread pesticide use, few may realize its greater message—and the reason it was so controversial. Rachel Carson challenged the basic values of a culture that puts profit ahead of the health of its public and the integrity of the natural world.
When Rachel published Silent Spring she had established herself as America’s most popular science writer. The Sea Around Us (1951) introduced the public to the origins and functions of the oceans. It won the National Book Award for nonfiction and was eventually translated into thirty-one languages. The Edge of the Sea (1955) vividly illustrated how living communities are interdependent.
In the decade before publication of Silent Spring, Rachel became incensed over the careless advance of technologies that ignored the potential threat to nature and people. America after WWII was enamored with its technological know-how. The corporate-governmental alliances that persisted after the War led to a period much like we have today: science was censored if it appeared to impede the progress of business or government policy.
Silent Spring delivers a compelling argument for technology’s responsibility to exercise due diligence to determine the potential harm to nature and to people before a product is released for widespread use. It promotes the Precautionary Principle which places the burden of proof on the manufacturer - not the public.
Skillfully describing the science of ecology through the chemistry and physical processes of the environment, Rachel helped the public understand difficult concepts such as bioaccumulation—the systematic concentration of toxic chemicals along a food chain in nature and how substances persist in the tissues of animals where they can cause harm. The book sparked a public outcry that is still reverberating around the world.
Readers should approach Silent Spring today for its deeper meaning. Rachel shined a bright light on a path she warned we don’t want to go down. In a 1963 CBS television interview about her controversial book, she concluded, “I think we’re challenged as mankind has never been challenged before, to prove our maturity and our mastery, not of nature, but of ourselves.”
For a new biography of Rachel Carson, and excellent review of Silent Spring, read Mark Hamilton Lytle’s The Gentle Subversive (Oxford University Press, 2007).
Educational Materials from The Rachel Carson Council
Green Mantle Initiative
20 areas for action
A Family Alert
Toxics in everyday household products
Lawn Care Pesticides
Technical info for major/minor pesticides
What About the Birds?
Pesticides dangerous to birds
Looking Out for Migratory Birds
How insecticides affect birds migration
Celebrating Rachel Carson Pamphlet
In Her Centennial Year
Contact: RCCouncil@aol.com
301-593-7507
http://members.aol.com/rccouncil/ourpage/
It still makes us stop to consider…
It is rare that a popular science book could hold its relevance for nearly half a century. But Silent Spring, Rachel Carson’s clarion call to the American public, may be more important today than at any time since its publication in 1961.
While many of us remember Silent Spring as a well researched tome on the deleterious impacts of wide-spread pesticide use, few may realize its greater message—and the reason it was so controversial. Rachel Carson challenged the basic values of a culture that puts profit ahead of the health of its public and the integrity of the natural world.
When Rachel published Silent Spring she had established herself as America’s most popular science writer. The Sea Around Us (1951) introduced the public to the origins and functions of the oceans. It won the National Book Award for nonfiction and was eventually translated into thirty-one languages. The Edge of the Sea (1955) vividly illustrated how living communities are interdependent.
In the decade before publication of Silent Spring, Rachel became incensed over the careless advance of technologies that ignored the potential threat to nature and people. America after WWII was enamored with its technological know-how. The corporate-governmental alliances that persisted after the War led to a period much like we have today: science was censored if it appeared to impede the progress of business or government policy.
Silent Spring delivers a compelling argument for technology’s responsibility to exercise due diligence to determine the potential harm to nature and to people before a product is released for widespread use. It promotes the Precautionary Principle which places the burden of proof on the manufacturer - not the public.
Skillfully describing the science of ecology through the chemistry and physical processes of the environment, Rachel helped the public understand difficult concepts such as bioaccumulation—the systematic concentration of toxic chemicals along a food chain in nature and how substances persist in the tissues of animals where they can cause harm. The book sparked a public outcry that is still reverberating around the world.
Readers should approach Silent Spring today for its deeper meaning. Rachel shined a bright light on a path she warned we don’t want to go down. In a 1963 CBS television interview about her controversial book, she concluded, “I think we’re challenged as mankind has never been challenged before, to prove our maturity and our mastery, not of nature, but of ourselves.”
For a new biography of Rachel Carson, and excellent review of Silent Spring, read Mark Hamilton Lytle’s The Gentle Subversive (Oxford University Press, 2007).
Educational Materials from The Rachel Carson Council
Green Mantle Initiative
20 areas for action
A Family Alert
Toxics in everyday household products
Lawn Care Pesticides
Technical info for major/minor pesticides
What About the Birds?
Pesticides dangerous to birds
Looking Out for Migratory Birds
How insecticides affect birds migration
Celebrating Rachel Carson Pamphlet
In Her Centennial Year
Contact: RCCouncil@aol.com
301-593-7507
http://members.aol.com/rccouncil/ourpage/
