Silent Spring
Rachel Louise Carson (1907-64), was an
American marine biologist, and author of
widely read books on ecological
themes. Carson was born in Springdale,
Pennsylvania, and educated at the
former Pennsylvania College for Women and
Johns Hopkins University.
Rachel Carson taught Zoology at the University of
Maryland from 1931 to
1936. She was an aquatic biologist at the U.S. Bureau of
Fisheries and
its successor, the Fish and Wildlife Service, from 1936 to 1952.
Rachel
Carson wrote 4 books including The Sea Around Us for which she was
awarded
the 1952 National Book Award for nonfiction. At the end of
Rachel
Carson's career she wrote Silent Spring, which questioned the use
of Chemical
Pesticides and was responsible for arousing world wide
concern for the
preservation of the environment. Silent Spring takes a hard
look at the effects
of the insecticides, weed killers and other common
products as well as the use
of sprays in agriculture. By introducing these
deadly substances, we have
poisoned or lakes and streams, or wild and
domestic animals, and even ourselves.
The book focuses on the importance
of balance within the environment. Rachel
Carson wrote... "Where spraying
destroys not only the insects but also
their principle enemy, the birds. When
later there is a resurgence in the insect
population, as almost always
happens, the birds are not there to keep their
numbers in check." Carson
examines the way dangerous chemicals have been
used without sufficient
research or regard for their potential harm to wildlife,
water, soil, and
humans, creating an evil chain of poisoning and death. The over
use of DDT,
dieldrin and other pesticides eventually poisoned an entire world of
living
things. Silent Spring not only recognizes the severity of the chemicals
usage
but recognizes the effect of substance use on a community. It helped
people
to look at the whole picture, to look into the future instead of the
now.
Carson helps to change this way of thinking by offering solutions to
the
existing problems. She helps to show that nature will take care of
nature. Many
times the best solutions are the introduction of other plants or
animals. For
many thousands of years man has been battling nature, when if he
took a step
back, he would see that if he just worked with it his problems
could be solved.
Rachel Carson helped many people to see this ideal and
is partly responsible for
starting the environmental movement that has become
so apparent in today's
society. There are many people that do not support
Rachel Carson's findings
about DDT. These people challenge her experiments
and say that the results would
have been worse had the controls not been
manipulated. The direct effect of DDT
may be different on all types of
animals. What the people fail to notice that
challenge her statements are the
chemical bonds that are produced with DDT and
other chemical substances. The
significance of Rachel Carson's book was not the
scientific accuracy but
instead the position it took on DDT. Why this book is so
recognized has
nothing to do with the actual data, it has to do with awareness
and the
beginning of global consciousness. Suddenly we are not just a species we
are
a planet. Carson helped us to realize that everything you do has a
greater
effect on something else. The arguments of human death due to the
banning of DDT
are serious ones, and need to be addressed. Many critics say
that in many ways
Silent Spring has caused more death than it has
prevented. In no way do i feel
that, that was Rachel Carson's intention. This
book is merely a tool for
awareness and offers solutions to specific
agricultural problems. The critics of
Carson are looking to this book, as
an answer to all environmental questions
instead of looking to it as a guide.
I don't feel that in any way Rachel Carson
wrote this book for that reason.
There are two issues in which i do not feel
have been addressed properly. The
first is the relationship with government and
big business and the second the
issue of human survival from insect born
diseases. There has been little
mention about how the legislation would change
the thinking. This book was
released in the early 60's and just recently have we
been seeing changes with
law and business practice. DDT was shown in Rachel
Carson's book to be
the root of all evil. It failed to show the good it had done
and the lives
that it had actually saved. By avoiding both sides of the story
she subjected
herself to much criticism. This book is a must if you are going
into any
environmental or biological field. I would highly recommend it to
anyone with
some college education. However, the book does get a little dull
here and
there. The most useful and interesting part were the alternative
solution to
previous chemically solved problems. The significance in this book
is that it
helped to turn around the attitude toward the environment. It also
showed
that there is no one single solution that should be applied throughout
the
world. It is too easy to look for one single answer to all of these
problems.
By banning DDT in some places we have made a healthier existence, by
banning
it in other we have lost thousands of lives. If you look at
Rachel
Carson's masterpiece in literal terms there is no significance, If
you look at
it subjectively as a whole you see the significance of global
thinking and the
importance of
awareness.