Publisher Description

'Carson's books brought ecology into popular consciousness' -- Daily TelegraphNow recognized as one of the most influential books of the twentieth century, SILENT SPRING exposed the destruction of wildlife through the widespread use of pesticides. Despite condemnation in the press and heavy-handed attempts by the chemical industry to ban the book, Rachel carson succeeded in creating a new public awareness of the environment which led to changes in government and inspired the ecological movement.

Author Biography

Rachel Carson (1907-1964) spent most of her professional life as a marine biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. By the late 1950s, she had written three lyrical, popular books about the sea, including the best-selling The Sea Around Us. An ardent ecologist and preservationist, Carson warned against the dumping of atomic waste at sea and predicted global warming. Silent Spring, which alerted the world to the dangers of the misuse of pesticides, was written against formidable personal odds. With its publication in 1962, Carson shaped a powerful social movement that has altered the course of history.

Review

One of the very few books truly to have changed the course of history * The Times *
Rachel Carson educated a planet ... Silent Spring is the cornerstone of the conservation movement. Its impact was immediate, far-reaching and ultimately life-enhancing ... One of the most effective books ever written * Guardian *

Kirkus US Review

It should come as no surprise that the gifted author of The Sea Around Us and its successors can take another branch of science- that phase of biology indicated by the term ecology- and bring it so sharply into focus that any intelligent layman can understand what she is talking about. Understand, yes, and shudder, for she has drawn a living portrait of what is happening to this balance nature has decreed in the science of life - and what man is doing (and has done) to destroy it and create a science of death. Death to our birds, to fish, to wild creatures of the woods- and, to a degree as yet undetermined, to man himself. World War II hastened the program by releasing lethal chemicals for destruction of insects that threatened man's health and comfort, vegetation that needed quick disposal. The war against insects had been under way before, but the methods were relatively harmless to other than the insects under attack; the products non-chemical, sometimes even introduction of other insects, enemies of the ones under attack. But with chemicals- increasingly stronger, more potent, more varied, more dangerous- new chain reactions have set in. And ironically, the insects are winning the war, setting up immunities, and re-emerging, their natural enemies destroyed. The peril does not stop here. Waters, even to the underground water tables, are contaminated; soils are poisoned. The birds consume the poisons in their insect and earthworm dies; the cattle, in their fodder; the fish, in waters and the food those waters provide. And humans? They drink the milk, eat the vegetables, the fish, the poultry. There is enough evidence to point to the far-reaching effects; but this is only the beginning,- in cancer, in liver disorders, in radiation perils..... This is the horrifying story. It needed to be told - and by a scientist with a rare gift of communication and an overwhelming sense of responsibility. Already the articles taken from the book for publication in The New Yorker are being widely discussed. Book-of-the-Month distribution in October will spread the message yet more widely. The book is not entirely negative; final chapters indicate roads of reversal, before it is too late! (Kirkus Reviews)

Review Quote

Silent Spring is often cited as the book which launched all modern environmentalism, but here is its equal in terms of the Orwellian strength and clarity of its prose, the depth of its author's research and the moral weight of his arguments. The surprise is that Monbiot manages to be undogmatic and even entertaining and funny, while also presenting a devastating critique of our agricultural abuse of the biosphere

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