Analysis of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

Analysis of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

Silent Spring is a novel written by a woman named Rachel Carson, which

was published in 1962. With advance sales of 40 000 copies the book

went on to be recognised in 1992 as the most influential book of the

last 50 years, and was held in much the same respect and admiration as

great works such as Karl Marx's 'Das Capital and Charles Darwin's 'The

Origin of Species'.

About the book

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The book takes an in depth look at the hazardous and detrimental

consequences of the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in not

only agriculture, but in other activities particularly leisure. It

looks in detail at the effects on soil, rivers, wildlife and humans.

As well as providing information on research into such effects, a

brief philosophy on the solution to cancer and suggestions for less

toxic means of pest control, Carson also questions the role of

science. The author queries humanity's faith in scientific and

technological progress, and for the first time looked at the

responsibility of industrial society in the initiation of large scale

environmental suffering. Setting the stage for the environmental

protection movement. In addition, Carson disproves her former belief

that nature was too great and powerful a thing to ever be effected by

humans and their actions.

About the author

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Rachel Carson was born on a farm in Pennsylvania in 1907. She

graduated from Pennsylvania College for Women in 1928 and went on to

study a Masters in Marine Biology at John Hopkin's University in

Baltimore. She continued her academic career teaching at the

University of Maryland before finding employment at the US Fish and

Wildlife Service. She spen...

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...ersial book. It challenged people, business

and governments that others had been too scared to question.

The book was an important eye-opener. It is difficult to say how long

the negative effects of chemical fertilisers and pesticides would have

gone unnoticed and ignored had it not been for the research and

writing of Rachel Carson. It was also an ecological eye-opener for the

general public, in that many realised that fertilisers and pesticides

could affect them even if they didn't use them themselves.

The impact of Silent Spring was powerful because the writing itself

was powerful. The reaction of the government and the start of the

Environmental Movement signify this power.

What is interesting is that Rachel Carson's Silent Spring is still an

incredibly relevant book today, 40years after the research was carried

out and the book was published.