Jeff answers “Why not read "The False Crises of Rachel...”

Winfield Sterling asked this question about Silent Spring:

Why not read "The False Crises of Rachel Carson: Silent Spring at 50" for a critique of this badly flawed book?

Jeff Why not suggest an alternative view without attacking a time-honored book? Although the title of your alternate also attacks.

Silent Spring should be …moreWhy not suggest an alternative view without attacking a time-honored book? Although the title of your alternate also attacks.

Silent Spring should be read in its historical context, and recognized for awakening the public's conscience regarding its own health. Carson admits the science is incomplete in 1962: No one had studied the effects of manufactured chemicals on humans, and few tests were done on non-target species. But it should be simple enough to understand that killing predator is good for prey, which may then become more of a pest for humans, or that covering ourselves and our food with poison may have some real consequences for us.(less)

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