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Silent Spring

by Rachel Carson, Linda Lear (Introduction), Edward O. Wilson (Afterword)

3.88 of 5 stars 3.88 · rating details · 13,044 ratings · 756 reviews

Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was first published in three serialized excerpts in the New Yorker in June of 1962. The book appeared in September of that year and the outcry that followed its publication forced the banning of DDT and spurred revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. Carson’s passionate concern for the future of our planet reverbe...more

Paperback, 378 pages

Published October 22nd 2002 by Mariner Books (first published 1962)

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Mar 08, 2013 Riku Sayuj rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: screened, reviews

A must read book for the concerned. Carson brings forth, without ever putting on alarmist garbs, all the horrors of the warfare that we have undertaken against ourselves.

The book is of course outdated and most of the bigger concerns have been if not addressed, at least taken seriously. But the true value of the book is in understanding how long a time frame has to elapse before such matters of truly catastrophic nature follows the process of scientific suspicion, investigation, verification, th...more

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Oct 30, 2008 Ken-ichi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: learning, environmentalism

I picked this up because it's a a classic of American nature and environmental writing, and ostensibly marks the beginning of American environmental activism in the modern sense (i.e. more "we deserve not to be poisoned" than "leisure grounds for posterity"). I found the rhetorical style interesting. She breaks the book up into chapters on where toxins come from, how they accumulate and spread, and what effects they have on wildlife, food, and human health. In each, she offloads tale after tale...more I picked this up because it's a a classic of American nature and environmental writing, and ostensibly marks the beginning of American environmental activism in the modern sense (i.e. more "we deserve not to be poisoned" than "leisure grounds for posterity"). I found the rhetorical style interesting. She breaks the book up into chapters on where toxins come from, how they accumulate and spread, and what effects they have on wildlife, food, and human health. In each, she offloads tale after tale of dead birds, poisoned farm workers, and nearly inhuman acts of government negligence and the corporations that facilitate them. I found this droning repetition of evidence boring, a dull and depressing tirade, but I suppose that kind of argumentative overload has power, if not appeal.

I felt some of her language and opinions were surprisingly dated. She often referred to insects using words like "horde" and militaristic symbols of weaponry and defense. Here’s an example from p. 246: "the broader problem [...:] is the fact that our chemical attack is weakening the defenses inherent in the environment itself, defenses designed to keep the various species in check. Each time we breach these defenses a horde of insects pours through." There are a couple odd implications here, like nature being a "designed" clockwork system of checks and balances, and insects as a kind of evil constantly trying to overthrow it. Of course, further down the page she writes, "The balance of nature is not a status quo; it is fluid, ever shifting, in a constant state of adjustment." The two statements seem at odds, and the bulk of the book effuses the latter sentiment, but I found it strange that she would occasionally be so careless with her language. I pick nits, of course, but perhaps it demonstrates that this book lies at a transition between American attitudes toward nature.

I was also intrigued by her almost unconditional support of biological control techniques over pesticides (generally, the use of cultivated predators to control a pest population), readily advocating the importation of effective predators with (I think) no examples of the kinds of ecological disaster that can ensue when such tactics are pursued without very careful consideration (cane toads, anyone?). Again, perhaps a sign of the times.

All in all, certainly worth my time. I'd like to read some more analysis on the book and on Carson herself (the preface to this editions is great), and I'm very keen to read her natural history writing, esp. on marine life.(less)

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Nov 18, 2008 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics, non-fiction

I've re-read this after maybe 30 years & it is still scary. It is a classic environmental book, detailing how we're changing our ecology & poisoning it. How long the effects linger is just scary & the links to cancer is horrifying.

She occasionally goes over the top, but most often makes good points on how our current practices of bludgeoning nature into our ideal form - which is often mistaken - is not working well & will eventually spell our doom. It was written over 45 years a...more

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Apr 08, 2008 Mary Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson can be considered a pivotal work, and must reading for those who are concerned about the environment. Published in 1962, it has taken the rest of us a couple of generations to catch up to her understanding of ecological systems. A marine biologist by training, and also a writer of three other works, Silent Spring was not received with acclaim. Rather, she was accused of having no scientific basis for her findings. To my non-scientific reading, it seems like evidenc...more

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Mar 13, 2012 Claire rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone who lives on the earth, because "the obligation to endure gives us the right to know"

Shelves: rocked-my-world, environmental, mesmerizing, classics, favorites

All I can say is that this book completely rocked my world. Carson's writing is so lyrical, so engrossing, and so compelling it's just impossible not to be mesmerized by the lilt of her sentences. And she presents her arguments with such magnetic conviction you cannot help but be convinced of their legitimacy. I've never been a "science person", but her descriptions of cell life, soil creatures, and even beetles truly had me on the edge of my seat. By the same token her words about pesticides ar...more

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Mar 16, 2009 Pete daPixie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: green

I had heard of Silent Spring for a long time, and when I stumbled upon it recently I knew right away I had to read this book. Rachel Carson wrote this when JFK was president, and he being the man he was took action straight away. The afterword, by Linda Lear was written in 98.
I can't believe that a book dealing with hydrocarbons could be so poetically written and so clearly explained. I can't believe that I've read such a book. The case studies are, of course, from America in the main, and from...more

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Aug 13, 2008 Erin rated it 5 of 5 stars

After being in the environmental field for 15 years, I decided it was about time to finish reading the book that started it all, at least what we know as the modern environmental movement (I won't get into what I think is happening in the environmental movement right now). If you are of my generation (thirtysomethings), you will probably start to read this and think "Yea, Yea, I know all of this already" because that's what I thought at first. But then it dawned on me that the reason "I know al...more

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Jan 23, 2008 Sarah Vendetti rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

I have a personal rule when reading books. If I am not completely absorbed into it within fifty pages I put it down. This rule doesn’t work well for assigned reading, and fifty pages into Silent Spring I was so bored I was spending more time thinking of ways to avoid reading the book than actually reading it. Finally it occurred to me the reasons why I felt this boredom. After all, the book is not boring, Carson writes with a feverish passion towards defending nature that simply following her ch...more I have a personal rule when reading books. If I am not completely absorbed into it within fifty pages I put it down. This rule doesn’t work well for assigned reading, and fifty pages into Silent Spring I was so bored I was spending more time thinking of ways to avoid reading the book than actually reading it. Finally it occurred to me the reasons why I felt this boredom. After all, the book is not boring, Carson writes with a feverish passion towards defending nature that simply following her choice of verbs is intriguing. Anything relative to wildlife and plants are written with a frilly dreamlike flow of words, as if she is trying to conjure up a still image from a Disney animation. The moment man and pesticides are brought into context all flow ends and she writes in stark single word descriptions. It very effectively shows what side she is defending. This is when I realized what I was missing, which was causing my boredom. This is a very old book. Approaching this book to learn the obvious intentions was not a wise path for me. I needed to look at this book as a piece of history, a landmark to understand why we are where we are in our agricultural systems. Silent Spring was a success, and because all the various evidence that she uses in her book are examples I was strongly familiar with, solidly shows what type of impact her argument made.
I found the book to be very narrow minded. It was truly a cry, every page being a diatribe of complaints, never offering solid solutions. Yet, she consistently used that approach throughout the book making the reader create a deep sorrow for her, maybe even pity towards what she felt was being lost. If she were to offer two sides, or a bigger picture, she would not have come across so in need and injured. Less people would wanted to help in her quest for change. So, she kept this consistency by forming her arguments with great vagueness and working on the fears already established by people. She vaguely shares that the DDT founder won a Nobel Prize, but never that DDT was awarded that prize for saving lives in the World War I, in the area of medicine. She takes arsenic, a toxic element, and describes how it is found in increased amounts in our soil, leading to increased content in tobacco. She knows the association that people have with arsenic being a poison, but is it not also an essential element to man and plants? And where were the epidemic proportions of deaths associated with this increase? She has no need to answer these questions. Throughout the first third of the book she successfully chooses examples that the reader is already afraid of and lures them in from this to increase her credibility. I don’t condemn it I cheer her for it. This is the type of extremism that when a person is subjected to it they can simply put the book down if they don’t like it. Today, we are all very fortunate that people did not put down the book.
Throughout the rest of the book I shook my head, thinking of all her over the top accusations toward increased pesticide use, but no mention of modes of action. The academic standpoint she has as a biologist, yet she has never attempted to empathize with the American farmer. The way that she never references what was happening historically in our nation at that time that was putting the demand upon farmers for feeding more people. That was the era of baby boomer, no?
I thank her for her voice and how it has brought about a stronger focus on responsible agricultural practices. However, I hope that others that read this book recognize it’s age, and use the examples she documents as milestones to measure how far away from that type of system we have come. Her crying and negativity don’t solve problems. She has attacked the practices, and people responded. Today the majority of the insecticides she references are already removed or nearly removed from use today. We no longer need her narrow approach and acknowledging the date of print of her message is vital for people that are moved by it to see it as the birth of a crusade, but not the bible.
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Jun 13, 2007 Jordan Berg rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone - a must read

I wish this book was not still so poignant. But this book that really started the modern environmental movement and rose the consciences of millions of Americans is still as important today as it was 45 years ago. Whether it’s the use of chemicals still sprayed into are yards and on our food today, or lessons on the importance of questioning how our actions affect our world, Rachel Carson broke the mold. Every person needs to read this book.

“What has already silenced the voices of spring in cou...more

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Mar 17, 2009 Matt rated it 1 of 5 stars

perhaps seminal, but in the age of Eastbound and Down who gives a damn?

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Oct 21, 2007 Janet rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: adults concerned about the environment

What is there to add to the universal praise for Rachel Carson? This book isn't a walk in the park, and it's crammed with (accesible) Scientific data, but it changed the world.

I was more fascinated by Carson's rhetoric than in her findings, which are now more than 45 years old. I read this book to learn how she built a case that challenged every major scientific, political and corporate institution in the country. And she did it by connecting with the shared values of average Americans. Bravo,...more

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Aug 04, 2011 Kahn added it

This may have been a "brilliantly written book" when it came out in the early 60s, but time has not been kind to Ms Carson.

At times, her dry, overly-scientific approach to her subject makes the head hurt.

That said, however, Silent Spring does deserve it's 'classic' tag, and it is as relevant today as it ever was.

From detailing man's arrogant bid to rid the world of 'pests' using the new toys found in the chemistry lab, Carson shows just how much damage can be done if we don't pay attention to th...more

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Jan 30, 2009 Kevin added it

I've been meaning to read this book for awhile, and just recently ran into it on my dad's bookshelves and had to go for it. It wasn't at all what I expected. I was thinking it'd be something poetic and romantic in its appreciation of nature. I didn't realize "silent spring" referred not to a tranquil spring, but a spring made silent by the pervasive poisons we pour into our environment...quite a stilling reality. She spent many parts of the book relating example after example of different pestic...more I've been meaning to read this book for awhile, and just recently ran into it on my dad's bookshelves and had to go for it. It wasn't at all what I expected. I was thinking it'd be something poetic and romantic in its appreciation of nature. I didn't realize "silent spring" referred not to a tranquil spring, but a spring made silent by the pervasive poisons we pour into our environment...quite a stilling reality. She spent many parts of the book relating example after example of different pesticides being used in techniques both irresponsible and ineffective. The chemicals were DDT, arsenic and many more, various of which I believe are now severely limited in use, but the basic point is the same: if we dump toxins into our environment, many insects and plants will die, not just the ones we want to die...furthermore, they accumulate, are magnified as they move up the food chain, and kill more animals, such as the bald eagle (ever wonder why our National Symbol is such a rarity?). Once the ecosystem's natural balance is upset, not only will we have destroyed the natural and hard-earned beauty of the world, we will have set the stage for the exponential increase in new pests, which had previously been kept in check by the now-killed prey species'. Basically, broad application of pesticides is ineffective, destroys ecosystems, and is fucking retarded. And is your selfish, and stupid enough to not care about the natural world, then consider the fact that humans are animals too, and if the toxins can kill a bald eagle, well, just connect the dots.

While obviously it made a good case in general, it has a bit of personal significance. I'm on the path to becoming a winemaker, and hopefully running a vineyard and winery at some point. I'll be making decisions of how to deal with the various pests that will harass my crop, aka grapes. There are all sorts of things that can attack a grapevine, lowering the health of the vine and the quality of the grape. So what can I do? Mass application of the deadliest chemicals is not an option to any responsible agriculturalist, so more thought is needed. There are three roads I see: 1) Utilize a range of the least harmful chemicals, in minimal applications, as needed, and as specifically as possible, destroying only the intended target while sparing the ecosystem in general. 2) Swear off chemicals entirely. Allow the pests to work as they will, understanding that grapevines produce the best grapes and ensuing wine under conditions of struggle (a rarity among agricultural crops, but counterintuitively true with grapes and wine). Say "no worries," and spare the environment. 3) The middle road, which as UC Davis they all Integrated Pest Management (IPM). IPM considers pesticides to be a last resort, to be used at an absolute minimum when no other method is found. Biological controls, using diseases and predators that will keep the pest naturally in check, come first. Cover crops are used to keep weeds under control, and vine health is maintained by building healthy soil. Essentially, the vineyard is treated like an ecosystem, utilizing the natural balance of nature to ensure that your vineyard remains healthy. And chemicals are not part of an ecosystem, so they are avoided as much as possible. If absolutely necessary they can be used, but carefully and minimally. IPM will be my approach.

Silent Spring was a damn good book, and though it is a classic of environmental literature, it is not outdated. The lessons have not been fully learned by our society. It definitely made me more aware of these issues.(less)

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May 09, 2013 Blia028 rated it 4 of 5 stars

The book describes how DDT enters the food chain and accumulated in the fatty tissues of animals, including human beings, and causes cancer and genetic damage. A single application on a crop, she writes, killed insects for weeks and months, and not only the targeted insects but also countless more. It remained toxic in the environment even after it was diluted by rainwater.

A Michigan State University Professor said that they are not just affected directly but indirectly, from eating the worms th...more The book describes how DDT enters the food chain and accumulated in the fatty tissues of animals, including human beings, and causes cancer and genetic damage. A single application on a crop, she writes, killed insects for weeks and months, and not only the targeted insects but also countless more. It remained toxic in the environment even after it was diluted by rainwater.

A Michigan State University Professor said that they are not just affected directly but indirectly, from eating the worms that were exposed to the chemicals. What he meant by indirectly is that even though the birds may not be there when the spraying was done, they were still infected by it because they would eat the insects that were infected. This shows how DDT spraying can contaminate our food supply. This affects our ecosystem system in two ways. One way is that if we harm those bugs and insects with DDT sprayings they will become sick and those that eat them such as fishes and birds will become sick. Therefore, if we eat the birds and fishes we will become sick as well. The food chain is enormously infected by these chemicals. The second way is that this could potential create a food shortage of animals and humans. If we get rid of bugs and insect other animals such as fishes, birds and others would starve.

Our waters such as rivers, lakes and oceans have been polluted because of our constant chemical dumping. Carson says that it is a strange paradox because most of the earth’s abundant water is not usable for agriculture, industry, or human consumptions. Some ways that we have polluted our water is from laboratories and hospitals, fallout from nuclear explosions and domestic wastes from towns and cities and chemical wastes from factories. In addition to all those ways of polluting, chemical being sprayed onto cropland, gardens, forests and fields also contribute to polluting our waters.

Without soil there would be no plants. DDT spraying changes the amount of nutrients the soils receive because they are converted elements derived from air and water into forms suitable for only plants. Therefore the soils lack the nutrients that it needs to keep the plant healthy and other organisms living in it happy.

Carson mentions how some insects are developing stronger resistance towards these chemicals. In Tennessee Valley, Carson says, resistance among flies had become widespread in 1948 in just two months. Other insects such as mosquitoes, ticks, and cockroaches that have been expose to DDT all have became immune to it. This was quite frightening since some mosquitoes and ticks carried diseases such as malaria and they spread very quickly.

Rachel Carson was criticized for being too extreme. However, I would say that if she had more statistics in her explanations, I could see this as something urgent and serious. Also, I would say that this book is pretty outdated. The book was copyright in 1962. She didn’t go in depth about how the studies were done to show that the insects where developing a stronger resistant. There are so many insects and bugs that I think it would be hard to know which were the ones were expose to DDT and which ones were not. Carson explains both the need for pesticides and the cons of using too much. DDT spraying can be harmful both ways because we need to get rid of infested insects but at the same time we are harming our environment and people. By pointing out the pros and cons it make her appears knowledgeable on both side of DDT spraying and not bias on one perspective.

Overall the book was very insightful and educating. Rachel Carson did a beautiful way of helping the readers picture the stories she told. What I really like about this book is that she didn’t have to use her anger and frustration to make the reader side with her, but just by telling the stories already won them over. Carson definitely leaves room for the readers make predictions of what will happen next, never enforcing her views on us.

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Apr 05, 2013 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

From the famous opening chapter depicting the perfect town where the residents are poisoning themselves, through the chapters of example after scary example of the rampant overuse, blatant promotion, and untested effects of various pesticides, this book is written with wonderful prose in a way that makes it accessible to everyone, not just those with a scientific degree. Rachel Carson, through this book, is credited with bringing about the modern environmental movement. Although it is famous for...more

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Mar 22, 2013 Linda rated it 3 of 5 stars

This March, in honor of Women’s History Month, I read Silent Spring, by environmental pioneer, Rachel Carson. I selected the 40th anniversary edition which includes an introduction by biographer, Linda Lear and an afterword by author and scientist, Edward O. Wilson. Simple, beautiful, and evocative illustrations by Lois and Louis Darling begin each chapter.

The Bottom Line

Ms. Carson was a marine biologist and enjoyed writing about nature. She spent most of her professional life with the U.S. Fish...more

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Jan 23, 2013 William Crosby rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have finally gotten around to reading this environmental classic. It has lots of information and good arguments. Plus, she makes sure to point out that a lot of effects on the environment are not so easily directly proven (i.e. the poison could go into our underwater reservoirs and cause problems 100 miles away or different "safe" poisons could get combined or be transformed by time). Although Libertarians and various conservatives and offending businesses often object to all the environmental...more

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Dec 13, 2012 Greening USiena added it

Shelves: ecology-and-science

(da feltrinellieditore.it)
Carson previde con forte anticipo sui tempi gli effetti delle tecniche impiegate in agricoltura, dell'uso degli insetticidi chimici, e di sostanze velenose, inquinanti, cancerogene o letali, sull'uomo e sulla natura. Dopo la pubblicazione dell'opera nel 1962, il DDT è stato vietato e si sono presi una serie di provvedimenti legislativi in materia di tutela ambientale. L'appassionato impegno, lo scrupoloso rispetto della verità e il coraggio personale della sua autrice s...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Jennyfer Hiraldo added it

Jennyfer Hiraldo
Frank McCourt High School
Summer Vacation Homework
Integrated Science and Math

Dear to whom it may concert,
In the book I read Silent Spring the author Rachel Carson is telling the story of everything that has to do with science and some parts of math. She is telling a story about the future in the planet, the air, land and water. Her investigation was trying to find out what has already silenced the voices of spring in countless towns in American? The book talks about all typ...more

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Sep 14, 2012 Amanda Curtin rated it 4 of 5 stars

In Silent Spring, the author Rachel Carson investigated pesticides and herbicides and their effects on the environment and living organisms. Ms. Carson proved that the use of chemical sprays to control insects and unwanted plants is ineffective, expensive, and dangerous. Humans, animals, and plants were unintentionally have been harmed by herbicides and pesticides. Virtually nobody was aware of the dangers of poison sprays at the time this book was published in 1962. At the time, pesticides and...more

In Silent Spring, the author Rachel Carson investigated pesticides and herbicides and their effects on the environment and living organisms. Ms. Carson proved that the use of chemical sprays to control insects and unwanted plants is ineffective, expensive, and dangerous. Humans, animals, and plants were unintentionally have been harmed by herbicides and pesticides. Virtually nobody was aware of the dangers of poison sprays at the time this book was published in 1962. At the time, pesticides and herbicides were sprayed on whole towns from airplanes. The results were horrific: Almost entire bird and fish populations of the area of the sprayings were wiped out and some people were poisoned. Today, more people know about the dangers of pesticides and herbicides and less are used. Yet people still own bottles of pesticides and spray in their homes, rub insect repellent on their skin, and most fruits and vegetables that we eat are sprayed with pesticides. Washing the fruits and vegetables does not actually do much to remove the chemicals which remain in the food we eat and our water supply. Rachel Carson explains that people can be very shortsighted. Nature relies on insects. Spraying poison on weeds will not just kill the weeds; the poison kills flowers and animals too. The chemicals used in these sprays were closely related to ones to be used in WWII as chemical weapons. How could people expect them not to be dangerous?
This book integrated math and science. For example, Rachel Carson discussed the food chain and biomagnification. Animals higher up on the food chain have more toxins in their bodies because these animals get the toxins from their prey. Because of biomagnification. even spraying very small amounts of toxin can cause harm and kill animals. Silent Spring explained the effects of insecticides and pesticides on animal and human bodies. The chemicals build up in the body, thus their impact may not immediately be felt. The chemicals can build up in the fatty tissues and when the tissues are used by the body as fuel the body could be poisoned. Some poisons can damage the liver, leaving the body more vulnerable in the future to the poisons. Some poisons can affect the nervous system, attacking the cerebellum and higher motor cortex. Some poisons can also cause the oxidation of cells to fail, which can lead to cancer, birth defects, and more. The symptoms of poisoning can include prickling, burning, and itching. When exposed to more, it can lead to tremors, convulsions, and death. Because of natural selection, the insects are becoming resistant and surviving the pesticides. This means the sprays are ineffective anyway. Silent Spring integrates math by showing numerical data and evidence to show the effects of the chemicals. A quote that shows this is "In all countries the recorded deaths from leukemia at all ages are rising at a rate of 4 to 5 percent a year." (Carson, 227)
Now that I have read Silent Spring, I want to know more about what has happened since the book was published. How has the use of herbicides and pesticides changed? When did this happen? Throughout the book I also wondered why anyone could possibly think it was a good idea to spray harmful poisons everywhere! I really liked this book; it was eye opening and thought provoking. Everyone should know about this issue and the use of chemical pesticides and herbicides should end for good.
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Sep 13, 2012 Timothy Morales rated it 2 of 5 stars

Dear 10th grade ISM teachers,
I decided to read the book ‘Silent Spring’ by Rachel Carson. In this book the author describes the amount of damage the use of insecticides has caused. She does this by describing how the insecticides have damaged animal life, environments, and humans. Then she later describes how all of these connect. For example, insecticides are sprayed on farms then carried by the wind to bodies of water which are then taken in by the fish. Then humans eat the fish and can also...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Andi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: environment-and-society

I knew I'd end up needing to read this classic. It appears to be required reading for anyone interested in environmental issues, because it's quoted from and referred to endlessly in all the current environmental books I've read. It had a controversial start when it was published in 1962, but it seems that people were ready to start hearing the truth.

Bottom line: man-made chemicals, used to control insects and weeds=bad.

This is widespread opinion today, but in the early 60s, chemicals were bein...more I knew I'd end up needing to read this classic. It appears to be required reading for anyone interested in environmental issues, because it's quoted from and referred to endlessly in all the current environmental books I've read. It had a controversial start when it was published in 1962, but it seems that people were ready to start hearing the truth.

Bottom line: man-made chemicals, used to control insects and weeds=bad.

This is widespread opinion today, but in the early 60s, chemicals were being used excessively and not a lot of people realized the true damage done to all wildlife, and to the health of humankind. Many claim that this book got the ball rolling, got the message out there, which is why so many people are aware today of the damage we are able to wreak out in our quest to control insects and weeds.

Before I began reading, I quickly researched Rachel Carson and was fascinated to learn that she suffered through breast cancer and died shortly after Silent Spring, her final book, was published. Knowing that she was going through physical, and probably mental turmoil, as she wrote this book made me read it with even more attentive eyes. Carson felt that her message was so important, even dying of cancer would not stop her from getting it onto paper--and not only that, I had to wonder if her cancer might not have been caused, in part, by the very message she was urgently describing.

Having been referenced so often, her message has spread wildly in the past 50 years. The message is not new or shocking, and in fact, many of the case studies are out of date. I do think it's valuable, though, to read Silent Spring for yourself--to see where the message first started, and where the beginnings of a movement began.

I was left with a couple of thoughts as I read that made me realize how much has changed since Carson wrote her book. For one, in several chapters she describes the effects of chemical warfare from the personal stories of ordinary people. She describes the housewife who notices problems with her chickens and garden. The small farmer who is horrified by the upsurge of insects despite the continual spraying that has destroyed so much else. These 'common' people noticed the effects of the chemicals because they lived with them, and were still tied to nature in a very personal way. During that time, it was very common for people to live in this very connected way. Most people had gardens, spent much time outside, and many small farms still had not been overtaken by massive agriculture. I couldn't help but think about today's world, where most of us have very little idea how nature is being affected, because it's all so distant to us. We are in a position that so much damage could be done without us ever noticing, because we live in our cars, houses and workplaces and rarely have to spend any one-on-one time dealing with nature. I hope that many more people start getting to know nature in a more personal way, even by perhaps just growing gardens, in order for a sort of monitoring of nature to occur, by all of us.

The other realization I was left with was that Carson didn't necessarily think trying to control insects was a bad idea--only the use the chemicals that proved toxic to all life. She discussed the ideas of using biological controls (hormones that would interrupt mating, introducing predators, use of sound to attract insect populations to fatal traps). I was surprised by this, because starting out with the book I had made the assumption that Carson would have a 'hands-off' attitude about nature, and I could hear a voice in my head repeatedly ask "but, is it a good idea to try to annihilate a species of insects, even with safe methods? Won't that effect the whole cycle of nature?" Apparently Carson recognized that within limits, we should be able to safely hold back tides of crop-killing and disease-spreading insects. She ended the book with the promise of new ideas for controlling insects, and with the idea that there are many ways that humankind can try to coexist with populations of insects that negatively effect our lives.
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Nov 28, 2011 Lo rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

You know, this was a truly excellent book and succeeds at spreading forth the message Rachel Carson wants us to take home:
You are what you eat, and if you try to protect your food you will succumb to the same fate as those you are trying to protect it from.

Silent Spring is a scientific novel (which is probably why I enjoyed it so much) - she methodically goes through every possible loop hole you could think of as to why we should put chemical sprays on our foods. Ironically, we STILL 50 years l...more

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Oct 25, 2011 Gaurav Sethi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson is one of the most informative and enlightening books I’ve read in the past 10 years. A non-fiction account of the horrors of DDT and its effect on our environment. A book that anticipated the creation of the EPA - Environmental Protection Agency, Silent Spring is thoroughly researched and filled with some of the most wonderful prose I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. What makes this so striking is that this is a non-fiction account and so one does not expect s...more Silent Spring by Rachel Carson is one of the most informative and enlightening books I’ve read in the past 10 years. A non-fiction account of the horrors of DDT and its effect on our environment. A book that anticipated the creation of the EPA - Environmental Protection Agency, Silent Spring is thoroughly researched and filled with some of the most wonderful prose I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. What makes this so striking is that this is a non-fiction account and so one does not expect such flowery language. The book is a sad one in that it explores the many dangers of big business, corporations, & government and their blatant disregard for the environment and human safety. It’s all about money and that trumps everything else.

Even more extraordinary discoveries were made later. No trace of DDD (similar agent to that of DDT) could be found in the water shortly after teh last application of the chemical. But the poison had not really left the lake; it had merely gone into the fabric of the life the lake supports. Twenty-three months after the chemical treatment had ceased, the plankton still contained as much as 5.3 parts per million. In that interval of nearly two years, successive crops of plankton had flowered adn faded away, but the poison, although no longer present in the water, ahd somehow passed from generation to generation. And it lived on in the animal life of the lake as well. All fish, birds, and frogs examined a year after the chemical applications had ceased still contained DDD. The amoutn found in the flesh always exceeded by many times the original concentration in the water. Among these living carriers were fish that had hatched nine months after the last DDD application, grebes, and California gulls that had built up concentrations of more than 2000 parts per million. Mean-while, the nesting colonies of the grebes dwindled- from more than 1000 pairs before the first insecticide treatment to about 30 pairs in 1960. And even the thirty seem to have nested in vain, for no young grebes have been observed on the lake since the last DDD application.

It seems horrifying to think that we ever allowed such attrocities to be committed by governments and big business, but we’re still living in such times. This book was ground-breaking in the way that it addressed such an issue using reason, science, and passion. Carson does not shy away from delving into the periodic table or the chemical break-down of these pesticides using hard science as evidence for her claims, and yet as I mentioned earlier and can be seen in the passage above: still writes in a the most accessible and and easy to read fashion. Her prose is lovely to me, reads like poetry.

I read this book in an Environmental Creative Writing course. A blend of theory and creative writing application. The book was something I went in expecting to dislike. I do not read much non-fiction, and the non-fiction I do read is carefully chosen. This is a must-read for anyone who has any concern about the environment. It is a horrifying and depressing story about a sad chapter in North America, but it’s worth your time.

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Jun 27, 2011 Bryan Kibbe rated it 4 of 5 stars

As Edward O. Wilson observes in his afterword to this classic environmental text, while the effects of broad spectrum chemical insecticides had been documented in certain quarters of the scientific community prior to Silent Spring, no one had offered such a comprehensive vision of the problems posed by chemical insecticides. Indeed, Carson displayed a remarkable ability to see across the boundaries dividing various scientific disciplines and synthesize results in a way that was accessible an com...more

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May 28, 2011 Colin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Being the 'environmentalist' that I am, I had of course heard of this book for years. Fortunately, the opportunity to read it came to me: it was assigned reading for a the IPM (integrated pest management) class I'm still currently taking. And yes, it was one of the most discouraging books I have ever read. To know just how deeply and completely the world (in 1962, even!) has been soiled by agrichemicals is a very rude awakening, yet I'd rather be cured of my ignorance in this and all . . . ok, m...more

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May 02, 2011 Sarah Krech is currently reading it

Silent Spring
My grandpa once owned a t-shirt that read, “Take only pictures, leave only footprints.” As I began to read through the pages of Silent Spring I thought about that powerful message. I wondered what pictures we will have for our future generations? The author Rachel Carson, who was a marine biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service warned back in 1962, over forty-five years ago about the effects of chemical usage on our environment and felt obligated to write and inform people...more Silent Spring
My grandpa once owned a t-shirt that read, “Take only pictures, leave only footprints.” As I began to read through the pages of Silent Spring I thought about that powerful message. I wondered what pictures we will have for our future generations? The author Rachel Carson, who was a marine biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service warned back in 1962, over forty-five years ago about the effects of chemical usage on our environment and felt obligated to write and inform people about what is going on around them. In the book, some see it as a struggle for nature and is an historical account of chemicals affecting our environment. Each chapter is organized by an historical account of different toxins, such as DDT, Aldrin, Dieldrin, Endrin, and Alkly, where the chemicals come from laboratories, hospitals, nuclear explosions, and factories. The book also has case studies on how the chemicals affect our wildlife, our food, and us as human beings. Throughout the book the reader today is reminded that it is an old book, but one that is very relevant to today’s a headline. Silent Spring’s success is that it is truly is a cry for help for everyone to get involved to defend nature. One of the most controversial stories was that of the Coho salmon which started in 1955 in the Yellowstone National Park system. An insecticide called DDT was needed to maintain control among the forest insects. In the fall of that year so many fish had been killed that the fish and game administration became alarmed. Many thought that one pound of the chemical DDT would be ok over an acre of land. Not so, as many of the fish that perished had DDT in their tissues. The effects of DDT were seen in many other fish besides the Coho salmon. Of these fish many went blind, others swam erratically, gasped at the water surface, and showed signs of spasms and tremors. Another problem of the Coho salmon was that the salmon liked to return to the same spawning stream every three years and when DDT overtook the salmon, they were nonexistent. The destruction of fish is cause for alarm to the 15 million Americans who fish for their livelihood and to another 15 million who are anglers. Another example of chemical destruction in our environment is the use of wide spread treatments against insects by airplanes. A French scientist, Leopold Trouvelot allowed gypsy moths to escape his laboratory in Massachusetts. The gypsy moth’s caterpillar stage is very light and can be carried with the wind, or by plants carrying the egg masses. The moth kills the oak tree and other hardwood trees. In response to the moths, spraying started and even city areas were not untouched. The spray hit salt marshes, dairy farms, fishponds, and truck gardens. The governments pest control department moved on to finding another insect to prey upon, the fire ant of the south and the spraying continued.
I noticed throughout the book the author does not sympathize with farmers. Living on a farm myself I have seen the affects on our families nursery stock and the lingering effects on the plants as chemicals from the air affected them were when nearby fields were sprayed. The human effects are numerous and lie in wait within every aspect of our lives. Symptoms from these dangerous chemicals may not appear until twenty years down the line, in which it may be to late. Many have noticed that there are more cases of memory loss, depression, cancer and even schizophrenia. It was said in 1962 that 45,000,000 would die of chemical related cancers alone, think about the numbers today. Chemicals in some way have afflicted every part of life. All forms of life are alike in some manner and each has a stake in how we treat our earth. Charles Darwin’s principal of survival states; “survive a deadly one, then even a more deadly one” gives cause to the idea of what will the future be like with all these chemicals around in our world. Nature is fighting back constantly shifting and making adjustments. Animal populations have been kept in check by the resistance of the environment. For example insects should be able to keep the numbers sustainable, but because of chemicals all may be irradiated. Nature should also be able to be kept in line through reproduction and animals preying on each other. The ultimate goal is to achieve peace between man and nature in which man has to make a choice, which after all, is ours to make. A great quote made by a Milwaukee, Wisconsin woman in the book was, “can anyone imagine a springtime without a robin’s song?” Think about this profound statement. The statement emphasizes the need for a speedy solution to our environment problem. Rachel Carson would be happy to know that six years after her death we celebrate Earth Day and Congress passed the Natural Environmental Policy to protect our rivers, oceans, the earth’s atmosphere, our wildlife and its streams. The findings in Silent Spring also gave way to the establishment if the Endangered Species Act in 1973. This act is one of the most important pieces of conservation as it has led to the recovery of many animals such as the American alligator and our national bird, the bald eagle. After almost fifty years Rachel Carson still challenges institutions, both physically and scientifically, writing in a way that Silent Spring is still relevant today. Silent Spring has opened my eyes to seek out a way to help in any way to better the world around me. Just like that saying on the t-shirt, we need to follow in her footsteps and allow future generations to have the opportunity to take pictures.
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Dec 22, 2010 Galicius rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: american, non-fiction

Classic of the environmentalist movement

Man's attempt to control environment and nature was born out of arrogance and has its roots in a primitive stage of biology that assumed that nature exists for man to do as he will with it. Carson calls the use of chemicals to control plants and insects a stone age method. She proposes a variety of biological solutions to the insect problems and more effort to study them instead of resorting to the chemical menace. She describes how the screwworm that affl...more

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Jun 04, 2010 Jo rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nature, changing-the-world, science, environment

This is one of my top favorite books of all time. I re-read it last year for the first time since high school, and was bowled over by the superb quality of both Carson's writing and science-- and deeply touched by her personal story. Unknown to the public, she herself was battling cancer while being viciously attacked by the chemical industry whose ill-effects her book illuminates. Her work was vindicated-- but she still hasn't won, has she? While her writings did lead to some important policy i...more

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Sep 08, 2009 Suzie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Dry, dry, dry.

I'm conflicted on this. Rachel Carson's imagery is beautiful and profound. I also loved the narrator on the audiobook - in fact, I think that's how I survived the dryness. I don't think I would have made it if I had to read it. Hmm...

Here's how Rachel Carson structures her her entire book:

"Chapter 1. Look at the beautiful birds in the sky. See how they glide across the meadows of grasses. See how they dive for their prey. See how they gather worms and insects for their young. Se...more Dry, dry, dry.

I'm conflicted on this. Rachel Carson's imagery is beautiful and profound. I also loved the narrator on the audiobook - in fact, I think that's how I survived the dryness. I don't think I would have made it if I had to read it. Hmm...

Here's how Rachel Carson structures her her entire book:

"Chapter 1. Look at the beautiful birds in the sky. See how they glide across the meadows of grasses. See how they dive for their prey. See how they gather worms and insects for their young. See how they tenderly care for their little ones, whose mouths are eager and eyes are full of wonder. Big, bad, stupid men spray chemicals they know nothing about on their fields, and what has happened as a result? The birds are gone. No longer do they grace the flowery pastures with their song. The bird feeders hang untouched. The world is dreary and lifeless without their vibrant colors and gentle wing beats. Who sanctioned this spraying of pesticides? Who thought it was a good idea to poison our environment? Who among us will stop this?

Chapter 2. Look at the beautiful fish in the sea . . . "

Ok, this is hyperbolic and maybe I should give her a little more credit. This book WAS ahead of its time (which I think was my mother's time). Maybe at the time she wrote it, the idea of replacing "biocides" with other "less harmful" chemicals that cause infertility in their target seemed like a good idea. I did have to kind of laugh at the experiments though. When testing alternative pesticides (because let's face it, that's what they are) on the gypsy moth, they couldn't gather enough subjects to test them on, and had to import larvi from Europe. If there weren't even enough moths to experiment on, were they really that much of a threat?? Nevermind that the chemical they were testing caused male moths to copulate with wood chips, vermiculite and over insects not of its species. What affects might they have on other animals? Larger animals? It's bad enough that the neighbor's dog makes amorous attempts at random inanimate objects . . .

I'm also surprised by Carson's heavy endorsement of introducing specific diseases, foreign animals and parasitic species into an environment to combat pests and weeds, instead of chemicals. Maybe I'm out of my area of expertise here, and I could be dead wrong, but can't that be just as destructive to a fragile ecosystem? Shakespeare's Starlings come to mind. Disease warfare sounds just as deadly as chemical warfare.

And that's the issue, isn't it? That we even call it "warfare" seems to me to be at the heart of the problem. I am deeply affected by the Arbinger Institute's book "The Anatomy of Peace," which supposes that when our hearts are at war we tend to perpetuate the very problem we are trying to stop. To her credit, Carson addresses this issue too. Pesticides and herbicides often don't work for long because mother nature has a fascinating and mysterious tendency to restore balance and equilibrium. Insects evolve - they grow immune. Weeds grow stronger, and the need for stronger chemicals to kill them becomes apparent.

I'm beginning to sound like Carson myself, so I'll wrap this up. Chemicals - bad. Nature - good. Find natural ways to fight the bugs, or just leave 'em the hell alone and let nature take care of itself. There are some 10 million species of insects in the world. Like Mom says, "God must be an entomologist, to have made so many."(less)

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About Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson, writer, scientist, and ecologist, grew up simply in the rural river town of Springdale, Pennsylvania. Her mother bequeathed to her a life-long love of nature and the living world that Rachel expressed first as a writer and later as a student of marine biology. Carson graduated from Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University) in 1929, studied at the Woods Hole Marine Biol...more

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“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” — 719 people liked it

“Why should we tolerate a diet of weak poisons, a home in insipid surroundings, a circle of acquaintances who are not quite our enemies, the noise of motors with just enough relief to prevent insanity? Who would want to live in a world which is just not quite fatal?” — 32 people liked it

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