Not so Silent Spring |

Spring now comes unheralded by the return of the birds, and the early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of bird song.

Silent Spring

September 27 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Silent Spring, credited with alerting the American public to the dangers of pesticides and inspiring the environmental movement.

Author Rachel Carson was a marine biologist who spent most of her career working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Educational brochures and scripts she prepared for the Service revealed her gift for writing about the natural world and led to magazine articles and other writing projects. Her first book, Under the Sea Wind, was published in 1941. The success of her award-winning and bestselling second book, The Sea Around Us, allowed her to leave the Fish and Wildlife Service for full-time writing, and in 1956 her third book, The Edge of the Sea, was published.

In Silent Spring, Carson described the negative effects of indiscriminate pesticide use, particularly on birds and other wildlife. She was also concerned about potential effects on human health. The book was controversial from the outset. The pesticide industry disputed Carson's conclusions and threatened to sue her publisher, but the book became a bestseller and is credited with raising public awareness about pesticides – which led to the United States banning the use of DDT in 1972. Some continue to take issue with Carson's work or argue that the resulting pesticide bans have been costly and counterproductive. In particular, her critics contend that limiting DDT use has resulted in more cases of malaria and other insect borne diseases.

Rachel Carson is the subject of several biographies. I'm looking forward to reading William Souder's new book On a Farther Shore: the life and legacy of Rachel Carson, published earlier this month. Souder has written an interesting article in Slate about the anniversary of Silent Spring.

To learn more about the impact and legacy of this celebrated book, have a look at The Environment and Society Portal's exhibition called Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, a book that changed the world.