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Silent Spring
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Silent Spring
Cover of the first edition
Author Rachel Carson
Country United States
Language English
Subjects Pesticides, ecology, environmentalism
Published September 27, 1962 (Houghton Mifflin)
Media type Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Silent Spring is an environmental sciencebook by Rachel Carson.[1] The book was published on September 27, 1962, documenting the adverse environmental effects caused by the indiscriminate use of pesticides. Carson accused the chemical industry of spreading disinformation, and public officials of accepting the industry's marketing claims unquestioningly.
Starting in the late 1950s, prior to the book's publication, Carson had focused her attention on environmental conservation, especially environmental problems that she believed were caused by synthetic pesticides. The result of her research was Silent Spring, which brought environmental concerns to the American public. The book was met with fierce opposition by chemical companies, but, owing to public opinion, it brought about numerous changes. It spurred a reversal in the United States' national pesticide policy, led to a nationwide ban on DDT for agricultural uses,[2] and helped to inspire an environmental movement that led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.[3][4]
Over three decades later, in 1996, a follow-up book, Beyond Silent Spring, co-written by H.F. van Emden and David Peakall, was published.[5][6] In 2006, Silent Spring was named one of the 25 greatest science books of all time by the editors of Discover magazine.[7]
Contents
1Research and writing
2Content
3Promotion and reception
4Other countries and languages
5Impact
5.1Grassroots environmentalism and the EPA
5.2Criticisms of environmentalism and DDT restrictions
5.3Legacy
6See also
7References
8Sources
9External links
Research and writing[edit]
Rachel Carson, 1940
Fish and Wildlife Service employee photo
In the mid-1940s, Carson became concerned about the use of synthetic pesticides, many of which had been developed through the military funding of science after World War II. The United States Department of Agriculture's 1957 fire ant eradication program, which involved aerial spraying of DDT and other pesticides mixed with fuel oil and included the spraying of private land, prompted Carson to devote her research, and her next book, to pesticides and environmental poisons.[8][9] Landowners in Long Island filed a suit to have the spraying stopped, and many in affected regions followed the case closely.[3]Though the suit was lost, the Supreme Court granted petitioners the right to gain injunctions against potential environmental damage in the future, laying the basis for later environmental actions.[3][10][11]
The impetus for Silent Spring was a letter written in January 1958 by Carson's friend, Olga Owens Huckins, to The Boston Herald, describing the death of birds around her property resulting from the aerial spraying of DDT to kill mosquitoes, a copy of which Huckins sent to Carson.[12][13][13] Carson later wrote that this letter prompted her to study the environmental problems caused by chemical pesticides.[14][15]
The Audubon Naturalist Society actively opposed chemical spraying programs and recruited Carson to help publicize the U.S. government's spraying practices and related research.[16] Carson began the four-year project of Silent Spring by gathering examples of environmental damage attributed to DDT. She tried to enlist essayist E. B. White and a number of journalists and scientists to her cause. By 1958, Carson had arranged a book deal, with plans to co-write with Newsweek science journalist Edwin Diamond. However, when The New Yorker commissioned a long and well-paid article on the topic from Carson, she began considering writing more than the introduction and conclusion as planned; soon it became a solo project. Diamond would later write one of the harshest critiques of Silent Spring.[17]
As her research progressed, Carson found a sizable community of scientists who were documenting the physiological and environmental effects of pesticides.[3] She took advantage of her personal connections with many government scientists, who supplied her with confidential information on the subject. From reading the scientific literature and interviewing scientists, Carson found two scientific camps; those who dismissed the possible danger of pesticide spraying barring conclusive proof and those who were open to the possibility of harm and were willing to consider alternative methods, such as biological pest control.[18]
Fire Ants on Trial - public service film produced by the USDA.
By 1959, the USDA's Agricultural Research Service responded to the criticism by Carson and others with a public service film, Fire Ants on Trial; Carson called it "flagrant propaganda" that ignored the dangers that spraying pesticides posed to humans and wildlife. That spring, Carson wrote a letter, published in The Washington Post, that attributed the recent decline in bird populations—in her words, the "silencing of birds"—to pesticide overuse.[19] The same year, the 1957, 1958, and 1959 crops of U.S. cranberries were found to contain high levels of the herbicide aminotriazole and the sale of all cranberry products was halted. Carson attended the ensuing FDA hearings on revising pesticide regulations; she was discouraged by the aggressive tactics of the chemical industry representatives, which included expert testimony that was firmly contradicted by the bulk of the scientific literature she had been studying. She also wondered about the possible "financial inducements behind certain pesticide programs".[20]
Research at the Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health brought Carson into contact with medical researchers investigating the gamut of cancer-causing chemicals. Of particular significance was the work of National Cancer Institute researcher and founding director of the environmental cancer section Wilhelm Hueper, who classified many pesticides as carcinogens. Carson and her research assistant Jeanne Davis, with the help of NIH librarian Dorothy Algire, found evidence to support the pesticide-cancer connection; to Carson the evidence for the toxicity of a wide array of synthetic pesticides was clear-cut, though such conclusions were very controversial beyond the small community of scientists studying pesticide carcinogenesis.[21]
By 1960, Carson had sufficient research material and the writing was progressing rapidly. She had investigated hundreds of individual incidents of pesticide exposure and the resulting human sickness and ecological damage. In January 1960, she suffered an illness which kept her bedridden for weeks, delaying the book. As she was nearing full recovery in March, she discovered cysts in her left breast, requiring a mastectomy. By December that year, Carson discovered that she had breast cancer, which had metastasized.[22] Her research was also delayed by revision work for a new edition of The Sea Around Us, and by a collaborative photo essay with Erich Hartmann.[23] Most of the research and writing was done by the fall of 1960, except for a discussion of recent research on biological controls and investigations of some new pesticides. However, further health troubles delayed the final revisions in 1961 and early 1962.[24]
Its title was inspired by a poem by John Keats, "La Belle Dame sans Merci", which contained the lines "The sedge is wither'd from the lake, And no birds sing."[25] "Silent Spring" was initially suggested as a title for the chapter on birds. By August 1961, Carson agreed to the suggestion of her literary agent Marie Rodell: Silent Spring would be a metaphorical title for the entire book—suggesting a bleak future for the whole natural world—rather than a literal chapter title about the absence of birdsong.[26] With Carson's approval, editor Paul Brooks at Houghton Mifflin arranged for illustrations by Louis and Lois Darling, who also designed the cover. The final writing was the first chapter, "A Fable for Tomorrow", which was intended to provide a gentle introduction to a serious topic. By mid-1962, Brooks and Carson had largely finished the editing and were planning to promote the book by sending the manuscript to select individuals for final suggestions.[27]In Silent Spring, Carson relied on evidence from two New York state organic farmers, Marjorie Spock and Mary Richards, and that of biodynamic farming advocate Ehrenfried Pfeiffer in developing her case against DDT.[3]
Content[edit]
The overriding theme of Silent Spring is the powerful—and often negative—effect humans have on the natural world.[28] Carson's main argument is that pesticides have detrimental effects on the environment; she says these are more properly termed "biocides" because their effects are rarely limited to the target pests. DDT is a prime example, but other synthetic pesticides—many of which are subject to bioaccumulation—are scrutinized. Carson accuses the chemical industry of intentionally spreading disinformation and public officials of accepting industry claims uncritically. Most of the book is devoted to pesticides' effects on natural ecosystems, but four chapters detail cases of human pesticide poisoning, cancer, and other illnesses attributed to pesticides.[29]
About DDT and cancer, Carson says only:
In laboratory tests on animal subjects, DDT has produced suspicious liver tumors. Scientists of the Food and Drug Administration who reported the discovery of these tumors were uncertain how to classify them, but felt there was some "justification for considering them low grade hepatic cell carcinomas." Dr. Hueper [author of Occupational Tumors and Allied Diseases] now gives DDT the definite rating of a "chemical carcinogen."[30]
Carson predicts increased consequences in the future, especially since targeted pests may develop resistance to pesticides and weakened ecosystems fall prey to unanticipated invasive species. The book closes with a call for a biotic approach to pest control as an alternative to chemical pesticides.[31]
Carson never called for an outright ban on DDT. She said in Silent Spring that even if DDT and other insecticides had no environmental side effects, their indiscriminate overuse was counterproductive because it would create insect resistance to pesticides, making them useless in eliminating the target insect populations:
No responsible person contends that insect-borne disease should be ignored. The question that has now urgently presented itself is whether it is either wise or responsible to attack the problem by methods that are rapidly making it worse. The world has heard much of the triumphant war against disease through the control of insect vectors of infection, but it has heard little of the other side of the story—the defeats, the short-lived triumphs that now strongly support the alarming view that the insect enemy has been made actually stronger by our efforts. Even worse, we may have destroyed our very means of fighting.[32]
Carson also said that "Malaria programmes are threatened by resistance among mosquitoes",[33] and quoted the advice given by the director of Holland's Plant Protection Service: "Practical advice should be 'Spray as little as you possibly can' rather than 'Spray to the limit of your capacity'. Pressure on the pest population should always be as slight as possible."[34]
Promotion and reception[edit]
Carson and the others involved with publication of Silent Spring expected fierce criticism and were concerned about the possibility of being sued for libel. Carson was undergoing radiation therapy for her cancer and expected to have little energy to defend her work and respond to critics. In preparation for the anticipated attacks, Carson and her agent attempted to amass prominent supporters before the book's release.[35]
Most of the book's scientific chapters were reviewed by scientists with relevant expertise, among whom Carson found strong support. Carson attended the White House Conference on Conservation in May 1962; Houghton Mifflin distributed proof copies of Silent Spring to many of the delegates and promoted the upcoming serialization in The New Yorker. Carson also sent a proof copy to Supreme Court Associate Justice William O. Douglas, a long-time environmental advocate who had argued against the court's rejection of the Long Island pesticide spraying case and had provided Carson with some of the material included in her chapter on herbicides.[36]
Though Silent Spring had generated a fairly high level of interest based on pre-publication promotion, this became more intense with its serialization, which began in the June 16, 1962, issue.[37] This brought the book to the attention of the chemical industry and its lobbyists, as well as the American public. Around that time, Carson learned that Silent Spring had been selected as the Book-of-the-Month for October; she said this would "carry it to farms and hamlets all over that country that don't know what a bookstore looks like—much less The New Yorker."[38] Other publicity included a positive editorial in The New York Times and excerpts of the serialized version were published in Audubon Magazine. There was another round of publicity in July and August as chemical companies responded. The story of the birth defect-causing drug thalidomide had broken just before the book's publication, inviting comparisons between Carson and Frances Oldham Kelsey, the Food and Drug Administration reviewer who had blocked the drug's sale in the United States.[39]
The Book-of-the-Month Club edition of Silent Spring, including an endorsement by Justice Douglas, had a first print run of 150,000 copies, two-and-a-half times the combined size of the two conventional printings of the initial release[40]
In the weeks before the September 27, 1962, publication, there was strong opposition to Silent Spring from the chemical industry. DuPont, a major manufacturer of DDT and 2,4-D, and Velsicol Chemical Company, the only manufacturer of chlordane and heptachlor, were among the first to respond. DuPont compiled an extensive report on the book's press coverage and estimated impact on public opinion. Velsicol threatened legal action against Houghton Mifflin, and The New Yorker and Audubon Magazine unless their planned Silent Spring features were canceled. Chemical industry representatives and lobbyists lodged a range of non-specific complaints, some anonymously. Chemical companies and associated organizations produced brochures and articles promoting and defending pesticide use. However, Carson's and the publishers' lawyers were confident in the vetting process Silent Spring had undergone. The magazine and book publications proceeded as planned, as did the large Book-of-the-Month printing, which included a pamphlet by William O. Douglas endorsing the book.[41]
American Cyanamid biochemist Robert White-Stevens and former Cyanamid chemist Thomas Jukes were among the most aggressive critics, especially of Carson's analysis of DDT.[42] According to White-Stevens, "If man were to follow the teachings of Miss Carson, we would return to the Dark Ages, and the insects and diseases and vermin would once again inherit the earth".[1] Others attacked Carson's personal character and scientific credentials, her training being in marine biology rather than biochemistry. White-Stevens called her "a fanatic defender of the cult of the balance of nature",[43] while former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson in a letter to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower reportedly said that because she was unmarried despite being physically attractive, she was "probably a Communist".[44]
Many critics repeatedly said Carson was calling for the elimination of all pesticides, but she had made it clear she was not advocating this but was instead encouraging responsible and carefully managed use with an awareness of the chemicals' impact on ecosystems.[45] She concludes her section on DDT in Silent Spring with advice for spraying as little as possible to limit the development of resistance.[46] Mark Hamilton Lytlewrites, Carson "quite self-consciously decided to write a book calling into question the paradigm of scientific progress that defined postwar American culture".[28]
The academic community—including prominent defenders such as H. J. Muller, Loren Eiseley, Clarence Cottam and Frank Egler—mostly backed the book's scientific claims and public opinion backed Carson's text. The chemical industry campaign was counterproductive because the controversy increased public awareness of the potential dangers of pesticides. Pesticide use became a major public issue after a CBS Reportstelevision special, The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson, which was broadcast on April 3, 1963. The program included segments of Carson reading from Silent Spring and interviews with other experts, mostly critics including White-Stevens. According to biographer Linda Lear, "in juxtaposition to the wild-eyed, loud-voiced Dr. Robert White-Stevens in white lab coat, Carson appeared anything but the hysterical alarmist that her critics contended".[47] Reactions from the estimated audience of ten to fifteen million were overwhelmingly positive and the program spurred a congressional review of pesticide hazards and the public release of a pesticide report by the President's Science Advisory Committee.[48] Within a year of publication, attacks on the book and on Carson had lost momentum.[49][50]
In one of her last public appearances, Carson testified before President John F. Kennedy's Science Advisory Committee, which issued its report on May 15, 1963, largely backing Carson's scientific claims.[51] Following the report's release, Carson also testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee to make policy recommendations. Though Carson received hundreds of other speaking invitations, she was unable to accept most of them because her health was steadily declining, with only brief periods of remission. She spoke as much as she could, and appeared on The Today Show and gave speeches at several dinners held in her honor. In late 1963, she received a flurry of awards and honors: the Audubon Medal from the National Audubon Society, the Cullum Geographical Medal from the American Geographical Society, and induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.[52]
In laboratory tests on animal subjects, DDT has produced suspicious liver tumors. Scientists of the Food and Drug Administration who reported the discovery of these tumors were uncertain how to classify them, but felt there was some "justification for considering them low grade hepatic cell carcinomas." Dr. Hueper [author of Occupational Tumors and Allied Diseases] now gives DDT the definite rating of a "chemical carcinogen."[30]
Carson predicts increased consequences in the future, especially since targeted pests may develop resistance to pesticides and weakened ecosystems fall prey to unanticipated invasive species. The book closes with a call for a biotic approach to pest control as an alternative to chemical pesticides.[31]
Carson never called for an outright ban on DDT. She said in Silent Spring that even if DDT and other insecticides had no environmental side effects, their indiscriminate overuse was counterproductive because it would create insect resistance to pesticides, making them useless in eliminating the target insect populations:
No responsible person contends that insect-borne disease should be ignored. The question that has now urgently presented itself is whether it is either wise or responsible to attack the problem by methods that are rapidly making it worse. The world has heard much of the triumphant war against disease through the control of insect vectors of infection, but it has heard little of the other side of the story—the defeats, the short-lived triumphs that now strongly support the alarming view that the insect enemy has been made actually stronger by our efforts. Even worse, we may have destroyed our very means of fighting.[32]
Carson also said that "Malaria programmes are threatened by resistance among mosquitoes",[33] and quoted the advice given by the director of Holland's Plant Protection Service: "Practical advice should be 'Spray as little as you possibly can' rather than 'Spray to the limit of your capacity'. Pressure on the pest population should always be as slight as possible."[34]
Promotion and reception[edit]
Carson and the others involved with publication of Silent Spring expected fierce criticism and were concerned about the possibility of being sued for libel. Carson was undergoing radiation therapy for her cancer and expected to have little energy to defend her work and respond to critics. In preparation for the anticipated attacks, Carson and her agent attempted to amass prominent supporters before the book's release.[35]
Most of the book's scientific chapters were reviewed by scientists with relevant expertise, among whom Carson found strong support. Carson attended the White House Conference on Conservation in May 1962; Houghton Mifflin distributed proof copies of Silent Spring to many of the delegates and promoted the upcoming serialization in The New Yorker. Carson also sent a proof copy to Supreme Court Associate Justice William O. Douglas, a long-time environmental advocate who had argued against the court's rejection of the Long Island pesticide spraying case and had provided Carson with some of the material included in her chapter on herbicides.[36]
Though Silent Spring had generated a fairly high level of interest based on pre-publication promotion, this became more intense with its serialization, which began in the June 16, 1962, issue.[37] This brought the book to the attention of the chemical industry and its lobbyists, as well as the American public. Around that time, Carson learned that Silent Spring had been selected as the Book-of-the-Month for October; she said this would "carry it to farms and hamlets all over that country that don't know what a bookstore looks like—much less The New Yorker."[38] Other publicity included a positive editorial in The New York Times and excerpts of the serialized version were published in Audubon Magazine. There was another round of publicity in July and August as chemical companies responded. The story of the birth defect-causing drug thalidomide had broken just before the book's publication, inviting comparisons between Carson and Frances Oldham Kelsey, the Food and Drug Administration reviewer who had blocked the drug's sale in the United States.[39]
The Book-of-the-Month Club edition of Silent Spring, including an endorsement by Justice Douglas, had a first print run of 150,000 copies, two-and-a-half times the combined size of the two conventional printings of the initial release[40]
In the weeks before the September 27, 1962, publication, there was strong opposition to Silent Spring from the chemical industry. DuPont, a major manufacturer of DDT and 2,4-D, and Velsicol Chemical Company, the only manufacturer of chlordane and heptachlor, were among the first to respond. DuPont compiled an extensive report on the book's press coverage and estimated impact on public opinion. Velsicol threatened legal action against Houghton Mifflin, and The New Yorker and Audubon Magazine unless their planned Silent Spring features were canceled. Chemical industry representatives and lobbyists lodged a range of non-specific complaints, some anonymously. Chemical companies and associated organizations produced brochures and articles promoting and defending pesticide use. However, Carson's and the publishers' lawyers were confident in the vetting process Silent Spring had undergone. The magazine and book publications proceeded as planned, as did the large Book-of-the-Month printing, which included a pamphlet by William O. Douglas endorsing the book.[41]
American Cyanamid biochemist Robert White-Stevens and former Cyanamid chemist Thomas Jukes were among the most aggressive critics, especially of Carson's analysis of DDT.[42] According to White-Stevens, "If man were to follow the teachings of Miss Carson, we would return to the Dark Ages, and the insects and diseases and vermin would once again inherit the earth".[1] Others attacked Carson's personal character and scientific credentials, her training being in marine biology rather than biochemistry. White-Stevens called her "a fanatic defender of the cult of the balance of nature",[43] while former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson in a letter to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower reportedly said that because she was unmarried despite being physically attractive, she was "probably a Communist".[44]
Many critics repeatedly said Carson was calling for the elimination of all pesticides, but she had made it clear she was not advocating this but was instead encouraging responsible and carefully managed use with an awareness of the chemicals' impact on ecosystems.[45] She concludes her section on DDT in Silent Spring with advice for spraying as little as possible to limit the development of resistance.[46] Mark Hamilton Lytlewrites, Carson "quite self-consciously decided to write a book calling into question the paradigm of scientific progress that defined postwar American culture".[28]
The academic community—including prominent defenders such as H. J. Muller, Loren Eiseley, Clarence Cottam and Frank Egler—mostly backed the book's scientific claims and public opinion backed Carson's text. The chemical industry campaign was counterproductive because the controversy increased public awareness of the potential dangers of pesticides. Pesticide use became a major public issue after a CBS Reportstelevision special, The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson, which was broadcast on April 3, 1963. The program included segments of Carson reading from Silent Spring and interviews with other experts, mostly critics including White-Stevens. According to biographer Linda Lear, "in juxtaposition to the wild-eyed, loud-voiced Dr. Robert White-Stevens in white lab coat, Carson appeared anything but the hysterical alarmist that her critics contended".[47] Reactions from the estimated audience of ten to fifteen million were overwhelmingly positive and the program spurred a congressional review of pesticide hazards and the public release of a pesticide report by the President's Science Advisory Committee.[48] Within a year of publication, attacks on the book and on Carson had lost momentum.[49][50]
In one of her last public appearances, Carson testified before President John F. Kennedy's Science Advisory Committee, which issued its report on May 15, 1963, largely backing Carson's scientific claims.[51] Following the report's release, Carson also testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee to make policy recommendations. Though Carson received hundreds of other speaking invitations, she was unable to accept most of them because her health was steadily declining, with only brief periods of remission. She spoke as much as she could, and appeared on The Today Show and gave speeches at several dinners held in her honor. In late 1963, she received a flurry of awards and honors: the Audubon Medal from the National Audubon Society, the Cullum Geographical Medal from the American Geographical Society, and induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.[52]
Other countries and languages[edit]
The book has been translated into German (under the title: Der stumme Frühling), with the first German edition appearing in 1963, followed by a number of later editions.[53]
It was translated into French (as Le printemps silencieux), with the first French edition also appearing in 1963.[54]
In 1965 Silent Spring had been published in USSR in Russian (under the title Безмолвная весна).[55]
The book's Italian title is Primavera silenziosa.;[56] and the Spanish title is Primavera silenciosa.[57]
It was translated to Swedish and published in 1963, titled Tyst vår.
Impact[edit]
Grassroots environmentalism and the EPA[edit]
Carson's work had a powerful impact on the environmental movement. Silent Spring became a rallying point for the new 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."[58] Carson's work and the activism it inspired are partly responsible for the deep ecology movement and the strength of the grassroots environmental movement since the 1960s. It was also influential on the rise of ecofeminism and on many feminist scientists.[59] Carson's most direct legacy in the environmental movement was the campaign to ban the use of DDT in the United States, and related efforts to ban or limit its use throughout the world. The 1967 formation of the Environmental Defense Fund was the first major milestone in the campaign against DDT. The organization brought lawsuits against the government to "establish a citizen's right to a clean environment", and the arguments against DDT largely mirrored Carson's. By 1972, the Environmental Defense Fund and other activist groups had succeeded in securing a phase-out of DDT use in the United States, except in emergency cases.[60]
The creation of the Environmental Protection Agency by the Nixon Administration in 1970 addressed another concern that Carson had written about. Until then, the USDA was responsible both for regulating pesticides and promoting the concerns of the agriculture industry; Carson saw this as a conflict of interest, since the agency was not responsible for effects on wildlife or other environmental concerns beyond farm policy. Fifteen years after its creation, one journalist described the EPA as "the extended shadow of Silent Spring". Much of the agency's early work, such as enforcement of the 1972 Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, was directly related to Carson's work.[61] Contrary to the position of the pesticide industry, the DDT phase-out action taken by the EPA (led by William Ruckelshaus) implied that there was no way to adequately regulate DDT use. Ruckelshaus' conclusion was that DDT could not be used safely.[62] History professor Gary Kroll wrote, "Rachel Carson's Silent Spring played a large role in articulating ecology as a 'subversive subject'—as a perspective that cuts against the grain of materialism, scientism, and the technologically engineered control of nature."[63]
In a 2013 interview, Ruckelshaus briefly recounted his decision to ban DDT except for emergency uses, noting that Carson's book featured DDT and for that reason the issue drew considerable public attention.[64]
Former Vice President of the United States and environmentalist Al Gore wrote an introduction to the 1992 edition of Silent Spring. He wrote: "Silent Spring had a profound impact ... Indeed, Rachel Carson was one of the reasons that I became so conscious of the environment and so involved with environmental issues ... [she] has had as much or more effect on me than any, and perhaps than all of them together."[1]
Criticisms of environmentalism and DDT restrictions[edit]
Carson and the environmental movement were—and continue to be—criticized by some who argue that restrictions on the use of pesticides—specifically DDT—have caused tens of millions of needless deaths and hampered agriculture, and implicitly that Carson was responsible for inciting such restrictions.[65][66][67] These arguments have been dismissed as "outrageous" by former WHO scientist Socrates Litsios. May Berenbaum, University of Illinois entomologist, says, "to blame environmentalists who oppose DDT for more deaths than Hitler is worse than irresponsible."[68] Investigative journalist Adam Sarvana and others characterize this notion as a "myth" promoted principally by Roger Bate of the pro-DDT advocacy group Africa Fighting Malaria (AFM).[69][70]
In the 2000s, criticism of the bans of DDT that her work prompted intensified.[71][72] In 2009, the libertarian think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute set up a website saying, "Millions of people around the world suffer the painful and often deadly effects of malaria because one person sounded a false alarm. That person is Rachel Carson."[72][73] A 2012 review article in Nature by Rob Dunn[74] commemorating the 50th anniversary of Silent Spring prompted a response in a letter written by Anthony Trewavas and co-signed by 10 others, including Christopher Leaver, Bruce Ames, Richard Tren and Peter Lachmann, who quote estimates of 60 to 80 million deaths "as a result of misguided fears based on poorly understood evidence".[75]
Biographer Hamilton Lytle believes these estimates are unrealistic, even if Carson can be "blamed" for worldwide DDT policies.[76] John Quiggin and Tim Lambert wrote, "the most striking feature of the claim against Carson is the ease with which it can be refuted". DDT was never banned for anti-malarial use, and its ban for agricultural use in the United States in 1972 did not apply outside the U.S. nor to anti-malaria spraying.[77][78] The international treaty that banned most uses of DDT and other organochlorine pesticides—the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (which became effective in 2004)—included an exemption for the use of DDT for malaria control until affordable substitutes could be found.[71] Mass outdoor spraying of DDT was abandoned in poor countries subject to malaria, such as Sri Lanka, in the 1970s and 1980s; this was not because of government prohibitions but because the DDT had lost its ability to kill the mosquitoes.[71] Because of insects' very short breeding cycle and large number of offspring, the most resistant insects survive and pass on their genetic traits to their offspring, which replace the pesticide-slain insects relatively rapidly. Agricultural spraying of pesticides produces pesticide resistance in seven to ten years.[79]
Some experts have said that restrictions placed on the agricultural use of DDT have increased its effectiveness for malaria control. According to pro-DDT advocate Amir Attaran, the result of the (activated in 2004) Stockholm Convention banning DDT's use in agriculture "is arguably better than the status quo ... For the first time, there is now an insecticide which is restricted to vector control only, meaning that the selection of resistant mosquitoes will be slower than before."[80]
While Carson gave accurate accounts of the scientific consensus at the time she wrote the book, much has changed in a half century. For example, the linkage between agricultural chemicals and disease, especially cancer, remains "frustratingly murky." Charles C. Mannargued in 2018:[81]Carson compounded the problem by combining her overconfidence with another then-prevalent ecological error, the belief that natural systems tend to evolve into a balanced state, a community of interconnected species that persists in perpetual equilibrium unless disturbed by humans....In this view, ecosystems have a place and function for every creature and every species in them, and all work together as a kind of "superorganism." When people wipe out species, they are, in effect, destroying the vital organs of this superorganism. They are heedlessly upsetting the balance of nature, which could bring down the whole ecosystem—a spiritual as well as ecological catastrophe. Unfortunately, nature is not, in fact, in balance. Instead ecosystems are temporary, chaotic assemblages of species, with relations between them and their environment in constant flux.
Legacy[edit]
Silent Spring has been featured in many lists of the best nonfiction books of the twentieth century. It was fifth in the Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Nonfiction and number 78 in the National Review's 100 best non-fiction books of the 20th century.[82] In 2006, Silent Spring was named one of the 25 greatest science books of all time by the editors of Discover Magazine.[7] In 2012, the American Chemical Society designated the legacy of Silent Spring a National Historic Chemical Landmark at Chatham University in Pittsburgh.[83]
In 1996, a follow-up book, Beyond Silent Spring, co-written by H.F. van Emden and David Peakall, was published.[5][6]
In 2011, the American composer Steven Stucky wrote the eponymously titled symphonic poem Silent Spring to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the book's publication. The piece was given its world premiere in Pittsburgh on February 17, 2012, with the conductorManfred Honeck leading the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.[84][85][86]
Naturalist Sir David Attenborough has stated that Silent Spring was probably the book that had changed the scientific world the most, after the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin.[87]
See also[edit]
Blessed Unrest (2007), by Paul Hawken
Our Stolen Future (1996), by Theo Colburn, et al.
Our Synthetic Environment (1962), by Murray Bookchin
Pandora's Box (1992), by Adam Curtis
The Closing Circle (1971), by Barry Commoner
The Everglades: River of Grass (1947), by Marjory Stoneman Douglas
Bioaccumulation
Biomagnification
Chemosterilant
Silent Spring Institute
Sterile insect technique
Toxins
References[edit]
^ Jump up to:a b c McLaughlin, Dorothy. "Fooling with Nature: Silent Spring Revisited". Frontline. PBS. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
^ "DDT". United States Environmental Protection Agency. Archived from the original on October 22, 2007. Retrieved November 4, 2007.
^ Jump up to:a b c d e Paull, John (2013) "The Rachel Carson Letters and the Making of Silent Spring", Sage Open, 3 (July):1–12.
^ Josie Glausiusz. (2007), "Better Planet: Can A Maligned Pesticide Save Lives?" Discover Magazine. p. 34.
^ Jump up to:a b Peakall, David B.; Van Emden, Helmut Fritz, eds. (1996). Beyond silent spring: integrated pest management and chemical safety. London: Chapman & Hall. ISBN 978-0-412-72810-5.
^ Jump up to:a b Richards H (September 1999). "Beyond Silent Spring: Integrated Pest Management and Chemical Safety. Edited by H.F. van Emden and D.B. Peakall". Integrated Pest Management Reviews. 4 (3): 269–270. doi:10.1023/A:1009686508200.
^ Jump up to:a b "25 Greatest Science Books of All Time". Discover Magazine. December 2006.
^ Lear 1997, Ch. 14
^ Murphy 2005, Ch. 1
^ "Obituary of Marjorie Spock". Ellsworthmaine.com. January 30, 2008. Retrieved March 16, 2009.[dead link]
^ Greene, Jennifer (February 2008). "Obituary for Marjorie Spock" (PDF). Newsletter of the Portland Branch of Anthroposophical Society in Portland, Oregon. 4.2: 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 August 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
^ Matthiessen, Peter (2007). Courage for the Earth: Writers, Scientists, and Activists Celebrate the Life and Writing of Rachel Carson. Mariner Books. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-618-87276-3.
^ Jump up to:a b Himaras, Eleni (May 26, 2007). "Rachel's Legacy – Rachel Carson's groundbreaking 'Silent Spring'". The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, MA.
^ Wishart, Adam (2007). One in Three: A Son's Journey Into the History and Science of Cancer. New York, NY: Grove Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-8021-1840-0.
^ Hynes, H. Patricia (September 10, 1992). "PERSPECTIVE ON THE ENVIRONMENT Unfinished Business: 'Silent Spring' On the 30th anniversary of Rachel Carson's indictment of DDT, pesticides still threaten human life". Los Angeles Times. p. 7 (Metro Section).
^ Lear 1997, pp. 312–17
^ Lear 1997, pp. 317–27
^ Lear 1997, pp. 327–36
^ Lear 1997, pp. 342–46
^ Lear 1997, pp. 358–61
^ Lear 1997, pp. 355–58
^ Lear 1997, pp. 360–68
^ Lear 1997, pp. 372–73
^ Lear 1997, pp. 376–77
^ Coates, Peter A. (October 2005). "The Strange Stillness of the Past: Toward an Environmental History of Sound and Noise". Environmental History. 10 (4): 636–665. doi:10.1093/envhis/10.4.636. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
^ Lear 1997, pp. 375, 377–78, 386–87, 389
^ Lear 1997, pp. 390–97
^ Jump up to:a b Lytle 2007, pp. 166–67
^ Lytle 2007, pp. 166–72
^ Carson 1962, p. 225
^ Lytle 2007, pp. 169, 173
^ Carson 1962, p. 266
^ Carson 1962, p. 267
^ Carson 1962, p. 275
^ Lear 1997, pp. 397–400
^ Lear 1997, pp. 375, 377, 400–7. Douglas's dissenting opinion on the rejection of the case, Robert Cushman Murphy et al., v. Butler et al., from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, is from March 28, 1960.
^ The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson (CBS Reports, with Erik Sevareid, aired on Apr 3, 1963, published to YouTube on Jan 28, 2017)
^ Lear 1997, pp. 407–08. Quotation (p. 408) from a June 13, 1962 letter from Carson to Dorothy Freeman.
^ Lear 1997, pp. 409–13
^ Lear 1997, pp. 416, 419
^ Lear 1997, pp. 412–20
^ Lear 1997, pp. 433–34
^ Quoted in Lear 1997, p. 434
^ Lear 1997, pp. 429–30 Benson's supposed comments were widely repeated at the time, but have not been directly confirmed.
^ Murphy 2005, p. 9
^ Carson, Silent Spring, p. 275
^ Lear 1997, pp. 437–49; quotation from 449.
^ Lear 1997, pp. 449–50
^ The Time 100: Scientists and Thinkers, accessed September 23, 2007
^ Lear 1997, p. 461
^ "2003 National Women's History Month Honorees: Rachel Carson". Archived from the original on 2005-12-08. Retrieved 2014-03-13.. Retrieved September 23, 2007.
^ Lear 1997, pp. 451–61, 469–73
^ 1963: Bertelsmann Verlagsgruppe, with an afterword written by Theo Löbsack. 2nd ed. in 1964: Biederstein Verlag ; 3rd ed. 1965: Büchergilde Gutenberg. 1968: first paperback edition (dtv).
^ Plon ed.
^ Карсон, Рахиль (1965). Безмолвная весна : пер. с англ [Silent Spring] (in Russian). Москва: Прогресс.
^ Feltrinelli, 2 edizione, YYYY
^ Editorial Crítica, 2010, ISBN 978-8498920918
^ Hynes 1989, p. 3
^ Hynes 1989, pp. 8–9
^ Hynes 1989, pp. 46–47
^ Hynes 1989, pp. 47–48, 148–63
^ George M. Woodwell, Broken Eggshells, Science 84, November.
^ Gary Kroll, "Rachel Carson-Silent Spring: A Brief History of Ecology as a Subversive Subject". Onlineethics.org: National Academy of Engineering. Retrieved November 4, 2007.
^ EPA Alumni Association: EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus and some of his closest aides recall the DDT ban decision, Video, Transcript (see pages 13, 14).
^ Lytle 2007, p. 217
^ Baum, Rudy M. (June 4, 2007). "Rachel Carson". Chemical and Engineering News. 85(23): 5.
^ Examples of recent criticism include:
(a) Rich Karlgaard, "But Her Heart Was Good", Forbes.com, May 18, 2007. Accessed September 23, 2007.
(b) Keith Lockitch, "Rachel Carson's Genocide Archived 2011-06-22 at the Wayback Machine.", Capitalism Magazine, May 23, 2007. Accessed May 24, 2007
(c) Paul Driessen, "Forty Years of Perverse 'Responsibility,'", The Washington Times, April 29, 2007. Accessed May 30, 2007.
(d) Iain Murray, "Silent Alarmism: A Centennial We Could Do Without Archived 2007-11-21 at the Wayback Machine.", National Review, May 31, 2007. Accessed May 31, 2007.
^ Weir, Kirsten (June 29, 2007). "Rachel Carson's birthday bashing". Salon.com. Archived from the original on April 15, 2008. Retrieved July 1, 2007.
^ Sarvana, Adam (May 28, 2009). "Bate and Switch: How a free-market magician manipulated two decades of environmental science". Natural Resources New Service. Archived from the original on May 24, 2010. Retrieved June 2, 2009.
^ Gutstein, Donald (November 24, 2009). Not a Conspiracy Theory: How Business Propaganda Hijacks Democracy. Key Porter Books. ISBN 978-1-55470-191-9.. Relevant excerpt at Gutstein, Donald (January 22, 2010). "Inside the DDT Propaganda Machine". The Tyee. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
^ Jump up to:a b c John Quiggin; Tim Lambert (24 May 2008). "Rehabilitating Carson". Prospect (146).
^ Jump up to:a b Erik M. Conway, Naomi Oreskes, Merchants of Doubt, 2010, p. 217
^ Souder, William (Sep 4, 2012). "Rachel Carson Didn't Kill Millions of Africans". Slate. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
^ Dunn R (2012). "In retrospect: Silent Spring". Nature. 485 (7400): 578–79. Bibcode:2012Natur.485..578D. doi:10.1038/485578a.
^ Trewavas, T., Leaver, C., Ames, B., Lachmann, P., Tren, R., Meiners, R., Miller, H.I.; et al. (2012). "Environment: Carson no 'beacon of reason' on DDT". Nature. 486 (7404): 473. Bibcode:2012Natur.486..473T. doi:10.1038/486473a.
^ Lytle 2007, pp. 220–28
^ "Malaria Prevention and Control". East African Community Health. Archived from the original on 2015-01-08.
^ Erik M. Conway, Naomi Oreskes, Merchants of Doubt, 2010, p. 226
^ Erik M. Conway, Naomi Oreskes, Merchants of Doubt, 2010, pp. 223–24
^ Malaria Foundation International. Retrieved March 15, 2006.
^ Charles C. Mann, "'Silent Spring & Other Writings' Review: The Right and Wrong of Rachel Carson" Wall Street Journal April 26, 2018
^ "The 100 Best Non-Fiction Books of the Century". National Review. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
^ "National Historic Chemical Landmarks - American Chemical Society". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
^ Druckenbrod, Andrew (February 18, 2012). "PSO takes hard look at turmoil, both environmental and human". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
^ Kanny, Mark (February 18, 2012). "Offerings of 'Silent Spring,' venerated material excel". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
^ Kozinn, Allan (February 27, 2012). "Capping Off Prokofiev With 'New York, New York'". The New York Times. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
^ Thomsen, Simon (2014-01-09). "Sir David Attenborough Did A Reddit Q&A: Worst Thing He's Seen? Chimps Killing Monkeys". Business Insider Australia. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
Sources[edit]
Carson, Rachel (1962). Silent Spring. Houghton Mifflin Company.
Silent Spring & Other Writings (Library of America, 2018)
Carson, Rachel (2002) [1st. Pub. Houghton Mifflin, 1962]. Silent Spring. Mariner Books. ISBN 978-0-618-24906-0. Silent Spring initially appeared serialized in three parts in the June 16, June 23, and June 30, 1962 issues of The New Yorker magazine
Graham, Frank (1970) [1st. Pub. Houghton Mifflin, 1970]. Since Silent Spring. Fawcett. ISBN 978-0-449-23141-8.
Hynes, H. Patricia (1989). The Recurring Silent Spring. Athene series. New York: Pergamon Press. ISBN 978-0-08-037117-7.
Lytle, Mark Hamilton (2007). The Gentle Subversive: Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, and the Rise of the Environmental Movement. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-517246-1.
Lear, Linda (1997). Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-0-8050-3428-8.
Murphy, Priscilla Coit (2005). What A Book Can Do: The Publication and Reception of Silent Spring. University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 978-1-55849-476-3.
Litmans, Brian; Miller, Jeff (2004). Silent Spring Revisited: Pesticide Use And Endangered Species. Diane Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-7567-4439-7.
United States Environmental Protection Agency "What is DDT?". Retrieved April 26, 2006
'DDT Chemical Backgrounder', National Safety Council at the Wayback Machine (archived December 26, 2005). Retrieved May 30, 2005
Report on Carcinogens, 12th Edition; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Toxicology Program (June 10, 2011)
Oreskes, Naomi; Conway, Erik M. (2010). Merchants of Doubt. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-59691-610-4.
American Chemical Society, Silent Spring Revisited, 1986: ISBN 0-317-59798-1, 1987: ISBN 0-8412-0981-2
External links[edit]
The New York Times July 22, 1962 report of chemical industry's campaign againstthe 16, 23, 30 June 1962 serial in The New Yorker
New York Times book review September 23, 1962
Graham, Frank Jr.; Since Silent Spring: rebuttal to the attack by chemical-agribusiness companies; Audubon Magazine
Doyle, Jack “Power in the Pen”: Silent Spring: 1962 (Publishing, Politics, Ecology) pophistorydig.com
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): The Story of Silent Spring – NRDC
Photos of the first edition of Silent Spring
Silent Spring, A Visual History curated by the Michigan State University Museum
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring Turns 50 – Elizabeth Grossman – The Atlantic
Griswold, Eliza; How Silent Spring Ignited the Environmental Movement The New York Times September 21, 2012
The Rachel Carson Council
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