First published by Houghton Mifflin in 1962, Silent Spring alerted a large audience to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides, spurring revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. "Silent Spring became a runaway bestseller, with international reverberations . . . [It is] well crafted, fearless and succinct . . . Even if she had not inspired a generation of activists, Carson would prevail as one of the greatest nature writers in Americ... (show more)
First published by Houghton Mifflin in 1962, Silent Spring alerted a large audience to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides, spurring revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. "Silent Spring became a runaway bestseller, with international reverberations . . . [It is] well crafted, fearless and succinct . . . Even if she had not inspired a generation of activists, Carson would prevail as one of the greatest nature writers in American letters" (Peter Matthiessen, for Time's 100 Most Influential People of the Century).
This fortieth anniversary edition celebrates Rachel Carson's watershed book with a new introduction by the author and activist Terry Tempest Williams and a new afterword by the acclaimed Rachel Carson biographer Linda Lear, who tells the story of Carson's courageous defense of her truths in the face of ruthless assault from the chemical industry in the year following the publication of Silent Spring and before her untimely death in 1964. (show less)
Photo Gallery
You might like these
Though most books transform their writers, few leave lasting effects on readers. Fewer still, regardless of sales, can be said to have changed the ... (show more)
Though most books transform their writers, few leave lasting effects on readers. Fewer still, regardless of sales, can be said to have changed the world. The Origin of Species, The Communist Manifesto, Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Jungle, and The Gulag Archipelago each sundered the path of history into before and after. So, too, did SILENT SPRING. The outcry that followed its publication in 1962 forced the government to ban DDT and spurred revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. Rachel Carson's book was instrumental in launching the environmental movement. It is without question one of the landmark books of the twentieth century.
SILENT SPRING is the environmental movement at its most succinct and pure, at its most apolitical and unaffected. It is the bible of environmentalists. Said Al Gore--granted, an environmentalist who is neither succinct nor apolitical--“Without this book, the environmental movement might have been delayed or never have developed at all." (show less)
This book has long been considered a must read for anyone who cares for the environment. So when I finally read it last winter, my expectations we... (show more)
This book has long been considered a must read for anyone who cares for the environment. So when I finally read it last winter, my expectations were high. Perhaps too high. I have to say that I was extremely disappointed in this book. While yes, I agree with her views about the harm humans have done (& continue to do) to the environment by using toxic chemicals, I began dreading picking up this book because of it's complete lack of optimism. It's all doom & gloom, fire & brimstone.
Rather than giving us positive changes we can make to improve the situation, Carson's only solution was a very loud "STOP USING CHEMICALS FOR FARMING!" While that is an effective solution, I'm sorry to say that it does not seem like a very realistic one. At the very least, I hoped for a plan of action to get us to that goat by giving us small steps to take on the road to getting there. A 12-step program for a better environment if you will.
While I appreciate her attempt to convince people to help make positive change for the environment, I don't think telling people how bad they are is the most effective means of bringing about change. If you continually tell people how bad the things they do are, & don't give them any alternatives other than to stop doing what they've done forever, you can't expect to convince people to magically change their ways. Give people easy, positive changes they can make that will make a difference. This may just inspire them to continue to make small changes that, in the end, will add up to having made a huge difference. (show less)
Man's attempt to control environment and nature was born out of arrogance and has its roots in a primitive stage of biology that assumed that nature exists for man to do as he will with it. Carson calls the use of chemicals to control plants and insects a stone age method. She proposes a variety of biological solutions to the insect problems and more effort to study them instead of resorting to the chemical menace. She describes how the screwworm that afflicts livestock and wild animals was e... (show more)
Man's attempt to control environment and nature was born out of arrogance and has its roots in a primitive stage of biology that assumed that nature exists for man to do as he will with it. Carson calls the use of chemicals to control plants and insects a stone age method. She proposes a variety of biological solutions to the insect problems and more effort to study them instead of resorting to the chemical menace. She describes how the screwworm that afflicts livestock and wild animals was eliminated in Florida, after first being tested on an island, by releasing irradiated sterile male flies. Other biological efforts described are the use of artificial lures, ultrasound, bacterial infections, importing natural enemies like spiders, ants, and the use of small mammals.
The above is the conclusion of this classic work that was a huge stepping stone in environmentalism that grew in the 1960's and 70's and owed much of its impetus to this scientist who chapter by chapter unveils the follies of chemical spraying as a means of attacking a particular insect or plant with no regard to the consequences. (show less)
Already read
Very artfully written classic, unavoidably dated (some of the biocides described have since been discontinued and there is more awareness of alternatives). It's amazing how complacent (or bought) governments were regarding the chemical threats to the environment in the 60s. If you saw fields full of dead and dieing birds quivering would you want to dig that lettuce out and eat it? If you saw massive strandings of dead fish down every river would you want the foresters to keep spraying the ... (show more)
Very artfully written classic, unavoidably dated (some of the biocides described have since been discontinued and there is more awareness of alternatives). It's amazing how complacent (or bought) governments were regarding the chemical threats to the environment in the 60s. If you saw fields full of dead and dieing birds quivering would you want to dig that lettuce out and eat it? If you saw massive strandings of dead fish down every river would you want the foresters to keep spraying the area? Various corporate bastards said she was a hysterical woman (sexism and slander in one) but in the end her work did help to moderate some of the excesses of our chemical age. Apparently lots of our pesticides were derived from 2nd world war german experiments in nerve gas! The sad tail of "Jamaica Ginger" and the organophosphate poisoning during the prohibition era is an intersting aside also. (show less)
Already read
This book has been added to these lists:
LivingSocial.com is a social discovery and cataloging network that allows people to review and share their favorite movies, books, games, music, restaurants and beer
Add Bookmark
