Rachel Carson Essay

Introduction

Born on May 27, 1907, in Springdale, Pennsylvania, Rachel Carson became an environmentalist that would later change the way the world used pesticides. Growing up in a small town, Carson loved nature, and continued to love nature her whole life. She enjoyed writing early on, later becoming a student of marine biology. Carson incorporated her writing into her studies.(rachelcarson.org) In 1929, she graduated from the Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University). Carson went on to study at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts,”exploring fundamental biology, understanding biodiversity and the environment, and informing the human condition through research and education.” (mbl site) In 1932, she earned

Bureau of Fisheries (now United States Fish and Wildlife Service; dedicated to managing fish, wildlife and natural habitats) to write radio scripts during the Depression and supplemented her income writing feature articles on natural history for the Baltimore Sun(mag).” (rc site) In 1936, she began her fifteen-year as a scientist and editor for the U.S.Bureau of Fisheries. She worked her way up to the position of Editor-in-Chief of all their publications. Carson edited scientific articles, wrote about conservation, and turned her government research into poetic writing (prose). (rc) In 1952, The Sea Around Us was published; a prize-winning study of the ocean. The Edge of the Sea followed in 1955, exploring beaches, rocky shores and coral reefs. (ocean project) Both of these works are considered to be some of the best Rachel Carson wrote by many readers, and are what “made Carson famous as a naturalist and science writer for the public.” (rc) Carson continued writing many articles educating people about the beauty of our world. “Embedded within all of Carson's writing was the view that human beings were but one part of nature distinguished primarily by their power to alter it, in some cases irreversibly.”

She educated the public on DDT, which we still learn in science class today. By raising awareness on the subject, she saved the environment in multiple ways. Rivers and lakes are still the home for many fish species, but would have killed them all off if we continued using DDT. Large bird species still exist in areas DDT were once used, but would have become extinct if we had not. Humans (in areas that DDT are banned) are no longer directly affected by DDT (indirectly: diseases may be passed down genetically from older generations who were exposed to DDT). Rachel Carson helped save the world, and we should recognize her