What did Rachel Carson accomplish?
Rachel Carson was an American biologist well known for her writings on environmental pollution and the natural history of the sea. Her book, Silent Spring (1962), became one of the most influential books in the modern environmental movement and provided the impetus for tighter control of pesticides, including DDT.
What is Rachel Carson's greatest achievement?
Marine biologist and writer Rachel Carson is hailed as one of the most important conservationists in history and is recognized as the mother of modern environmentalism. She challenged the use of man-made chemicals, and her research led to the nationwide ban on DDT and other pesticides.
What was Rachel Carson's most famous work?
A marine biologist and nature writer, Rachel Carson catalyzed the global environmental movement with her 1962 book Silent Spring.
What was Rachel Carson's main goal?
Testifying before Congress in 1963, Carson called for new policies to protect human health and the environment. Rachel Carson died in 1964 after a long battle against breast cancer. Her witness for the beauty and integrity of life continues to inspire new generations to protect the living world and all its creatures.
Why was Silent Spring banned?
Kennedy ordered the President's Science Advisory Committee to examine the issues the book raised, its report thoroughly vindicated both Silent Spring and its author. As a result, DDT came under much closer government supervision and was eventually banned.
Why was Rachel Carson's Silent Spring so important?
Specifically, Silent Spring explained how indiscriminate application of agricultural chemicals, pesticides, and other modern chemicals polluted our streams, damaged bird and animal populations, and caused severe medical problems for humans. But her treatise did much more.
When was Silent Spring banned?
Silent Spring marked the beginning of an environmental movement, and DDT's agricultural use in the United States was banned in 1972. But unfortunately Rachel did not survive to see the day. She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
How did Rachel Carson influence the environmental movement?
Carson faced blowback from the chemical industry over her book, but ultimately, the "roar of Silent Spring" led to the banning of DDT and other pesticides across the U.S., and it was quickly translated into multiple languages around the world.
Why Is Silent Spring called that?
The title Silent Spring was inspired by a line from the John Keats poem “La Belle Dame sans Merci” and evokes a ruined environment in which “the sedge is wither'd from the lake, / And no birds sing.”
Why is Rachel Carson a hero?
Rachel Carson catalyzed the global environmental movement with her 1962 book Silent Spring... that ultimately led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)"(National Women's History Museum). Carson's voice and passion for the environment led to many significant changes in governmental policies.
Is Silent Spring still relevant today?
Silent Spring influence wasn't just as a work of environmental literature. It's credited with playing a pivotal role in the banning of the pesticide DDT in the US, 10 years after its publication in 1972. And today, its impact still reverberates heavily within environmental circles.
Who wrote Silent Spring?
Rachel CarsonSilent Spring / AuthorRachel Louise Carson was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservationist whose influential book Silent Spring and other writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement. Wikipedia
How old was Rachel Carson when she died?
Rachel Carson was 56 years old when she died.
Why was Rachel Carson influential?
Rachel Carson was an American biologist well known for her writings on environmental pollution and the natural history of the sea. Her book, Silent...
What did Rachel Carson write?
Rachel Carson’s first book, Under the Sea-Wind, was published in 1941. The Sea Around Us (1951) won a National Book Award, and The Edge of the Sea...
Who is Rachel Carson?
The Edge of the Sea (1955) Silent Spring (1962) Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist, author, and conservationist whose influential book Silent Spring (1962) and other writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement . Carson began her career as an aquatic biologist in ...
Where was Rachel Carson born?
Rachel Carson was born on May 27, 1907, on a family farm near Springdale, Pennsylvania, just up the Allegheny River from Pittsburgh. She was the daughter of Maria Frazier (McLean) and Robert Warden Carson, an insurance salesman. She spent a lot of time exploring around her family's 65-acre (26 ha) farm. An avid reader, she began writing stories (often involving animals) at age eight. She had her first story published at age ten. She especially enjoyed the St. Nicholas Magazine (which carried her first published stories), the works of Beatrix Potter, and the novels of Gene Stratton-Porter, and in her teen years, Herman Melville, Joseph Conrad and Robert Louis Stevenson. The natural world, particularly the ocean, was the common thread of her favorite literature. Carson attended Springdale's small school through tenth grade, then completed high school in nearby Parnassus, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1925 at the top of her class of forty-four students.
Why did the Silent Spring campaign backfire?
The chemical industry campaign backfired, as the controversy greatly increased public awareness of potential pesticide dangers, as well as Silent Spring book sales. Pesticide use became a major public issue, especially after the CBS Reports TV special The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson that aired April 3, 1963.
How long is the Rachel Carson Trail?
Near Pittsburgh, a 35.7 miles (57 km) hiking trail, called the Rachel Carson Trail and maintained by the Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy, was dedicated to Carson in 1975. A Pittsburgh bridge was also renamed in Carson's honor as the Rachel Carson Bridge.
How did Carson's work affect the environmental movement?
Carson's work had a powerful impact on the environmental movement. Silent Spring, in particular, was a rallying point for the fledgling social movement in the 1960s. According to environmental engineer and Carson scholar H. Patricia Hynes, " Silent Spring altered the balance of power in the world. No one since would be able to sell pollution as the necessary underside of progress so easily or uncritically." Carson's work, and the activism it inspired, are at least partly responsible for the deep ecology movement and the overall strength of the grassroots environmental movement since the 1960s. It was also influential on the rise of ecofeminism and on many feminist scientists.
Where did Rachel Carson meet Dorothy Freeman?
Carson first met Dorothy Freeman in the summer of 1953 in Southport Island, Maine. Freeman had written to Carson welcoming her to the area when she had heard that the famous author was to become her neighbor. It was the beginning of an extremely close friendship that would last the rest of Carson's life. Their relationship was conducted mainly through letters and during summers spent together in Maine. Over 12 years, they would exchange somewhere in the region of 900 letters. Many of these were published in the book Always, Rachel, published in 1995 by Beacon Press.
When did Rachel Carson leave the Bureau of Wildlife?
Carson attempted to leave the Bureau (by then transformed into the United States Fish and Wildlife Service) in 1945 .
Why did Rachel Carson pursue zoology?
When she grew up, she pursued her studies in zoology to enhance her knowledge about the environment. While she was a student Carson also engaged in part-time employment at the ‘U.S. Bureau of Fisheries’ to gain financial stability.
How did Rachel's mother instil love for nature?
The love for nature was instilled in Rachel by her mother when she was still a child. The young girl preferred to spend time among nature and wildlife. They had a big farm which was her constant source of learning about nature.
Who is in the documentary Power of One Voice?
A documentary entitled ‘The Power of One Voice: A 50-Year Perspective on the Life of Rachel Carson’ was made about this eminent environmentalist, her works and challenges. It features most of Carson’s close acquaintances such as her son Roger, Linda Lear and other notable scientists and writers.
Who is Rachel Carson?
Rachel Carson was a marine biologist, environmentalist and writer who alerted the world to the environmental impact of fertilizers and pesticides.
Where was Rachel Carson born?
Early Life and Education. Marine biologist, environmentalist and writer Rachel Carson was born on May 27, 1907, in Springdale, Pennsylvania. Carson first alerted the world about the environmental impact of fertilizers and pesticides. She grew up on a Pennsylvania farm, which gave her a lot of first-hand knowledge of nature and wildlife.
What was Rachel Carson's first book?
Carson taught at the University of Maryland for five years before joining the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1936. Her first book, Under the Sea-Wind (1941), described marine life in clear, elegant and non-technical prose.
What was the name of the book that Carson wrote that helped shape the environmental consciousness?
Her best-known book, Silent Spring, led to a presidential commission that largely endorsed her findings and helped to shape a growing environmental consciousness. Carson died of cancer in 1964 and is remembered as an early activist who worked to preserve the world for future generations.
What was Carson's job in 1944?
By 1944 Carson is promoted to Aquatic Biologist and then to Information Specialist in the Information Division of FWS. Involved in policy planning for the Office of the Coordinator of Fisheries. Wartime research includes radar and sea studies. Clarence Cottam is Carson’s supervisor.
Where was Rachel Carson born?
Rachel Carson Born. Born in Springdale Pa. along the Allegheny River, 13 miles north of Pittsburgh, PA to Maria McLean and Robert Warden Carson.
What did Carson and Kelsey discuss at the Audubon meeting?
Carson comments to the press about Kelsey’s brave stand on blocking thalidomide and compares thalidomide to DDT.
Who hired Carson to write a radio program?
1935. Carson takes Federal Civil Service Exams for junior wildlife biologist and junior aquatic biologist. Hired by Elmer Higgins at the US Bureau of Fisheries in Washington, DC to write 52 short radio programs on marine life called "Romance Under the Waters.". Employed as part-time features writer.
Who is the astronaut on the silent spring of Rachel Carson?
A triumph for Carson over her critics. Mercury 7 Space capsule with Astronaut Gordon Cooper orbits the earth.
Who published Carson's first book?
Simon & Schuster publish Carson’s first book. Under the Sea-Wind. Art work is by Howard Frech, an artist Carson worked with at the Baltimore Sun. It is picked up as a selection of the Scientific Book Club, but outbreak of WWII impacts sales and the book goes out of print in 1946. Carson buys the remainder.
Environment
Early life and education
- Born on May 27, 1907 on a farm in Springdale, Pennsylvania, Carson was the youngest of Robert and Maria McLean Carsons three children. She developed a love of nature from her mother, and Carson became a published writer for childrens magazines by age 10. She attended the Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University), graduating magna cum laude in 19…
Later career
- After outscoring all other applicants on the civil service exam, in 1936 Carson became the second woman hired by the US Bureau of Fisheries. She remained there for 15 years, writing brochures and other materials for the public. She was promoted to Editor-in-Chief of all publications for the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Writings
- Meanwhile, she wrote several popular books about aquatic life, among them Under the Sea Wind (1941) and The Sea Around Us (1951). The latter was serialized in the New Yorker and sold well worldwide. She won a National Book Award, a national science writing-prize and a Guggenheim grant, which, with the books sales, enabled her to move to Southport Island, Maine in 1953 to co…
Plot summary
- After a niece died in early 1957, Carson adopted her son and relocated to Silver Spring, Maryland, to care for her aging mother. A letter from a friend in Duxbury, Massachusetts about the loss of bird life after pesticide spraying inspired Carson to write Silent Spring. The book primarily focuses on pesticides' effects on ecosystems, but four chapters detail their impact on humans, includin…
Controversy
- Chemical companies sought to discredit her as a Communist or hysterical woman. Many pulled their ads from the CBS Reports TV special on April 3, 1963, entitled The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson. Still, roughly 15 million viewers tuned in, and that, combined with President John F. Kennedys Science Advisory Committee Reportwhich validated Carsons researchmade pesticide…
Death and legacy
- Seriously ill with breast cancer, Carson died two years after her books publication. In 1980, she was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Her homes are considered national historic landmarks, and various awards bear her name.
Overview
Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservationist whose influential book Silent Spring (1962) and other writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement.
Carson began her career as an aquatic biologist in the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, …
Life and work
Rachel Carson was born on May 27, 1907, on a family farm near Springdale, Pennsylvania, just up the Allegheny River from Pittsburgh. She was the daughter of Maria Frazier (McLean) and Robert Warden Carson, an insurance salesman. She spent a lot of time exploring around her family's 65-acre (26 ha) farm. An avid reader, she began writing stories (often involving animals) at age eight. S…
Legacy
Carson bequeathed her manuscripts and papers to Yale University to take advantage of the new state-of-the-art preservations facilities of the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Her longtime agent and literary executor Marie Rodell spent nearly two years organizing and cataloging Carson's papers and correspondence, distributing all the letters to their senders so that only what e…
List of works
• Under the Sea Wind, 1941, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Group, 1996, ISBN 0-14-025380-7
• "Food From the Sea: Fish and Shellfish of New England" (PDF). Us Fish & Wildlife Publications. United States Government Printing Office. 1943.
• "Food From Home Waters: Fishes of the Middle West" (PDF). Us Fish & Wildlife Publications. United States Government Printing Office. 1943.
See also
• Environmentalist
• Environmental toxicology
• Rachel Carson Greenway (three trails in Central Maryland)
• Silent Spring Institute
Further reading
• Brooks, Paul (1972). The House of Life: Rachel Carson at Work. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-13517-6. This book is a personal memoir by Carson's Houghton Mifflin editor and close friend Paul Brooks. Brooks' papers are housed at the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods Library.
• Gottlieb, Robert (2005). Forcing the Spring: The Transformation of the American Environmental Movement. Washington D.C.: Island Press. ISBN 978-1559638326.
External links
• American Experience documentary about Rachel Carson
• A Sense of Wonder : 2010 PBS Documentary / Interviews with Rachel Carson
• Rachel Carson Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.