Rachel Carson was born in Springdale, Pennsylvania, on May 27, 1907. Despite being from a small town, Carson raised awareness about environmental issues around the world. Growing up on a farm, Carson's childhood was filled with exploring the surrounding nature. Carson was a marine biologist, writer, and conservationist. Many of Carson's books emphasized her concerns for future generations and how the environmental movement would continue.
Her most well-known book, Silent Spring, alerted readers to the dangers of the use of pesticides. Before her book was published, many people simply believed that these chemical pesticides were really only harming the targeted insects, so Carson called attention to the effects of the chemicals on the ecosystem as a whole. Carson's book specifically called attention to the use of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT).
DDT was first used during World War II to kill lice. This chemical eventually found its way into agriculture. Carson was particularly concerned about the use of DDT because it had not yet been tested for civilian use. Carson asked the public, “Can anyone believe it is possible to lay down such a barrage of poison on the surface of the earth without making it unfit for all life? They should not be called ‘insecticides’ but ‘biocides" (Carson). To add to how inspirational Rachel Carson was, she wrote Silent Spring while fighting against breast cancer in secret. Carson did not tell the public about her illness because she did not want the chemical companies to use it against her. Rachel Carson undoubtedly and greatly started the environmental awareness movement. Without her book, Silent Spring, the public most likely would not have become as aware of the greater environmental impacts of chemicals.
Works Cited:
Rachel Carson (U.S. National Park Service). www.nps.gov/people/rachel-carson.htm#:~:text=Her%20book%20Silent%20Spring%20alerted,global%20environmental%20and%20conservation%20movements.
Carson, Rachel. “Silent Spring—II.” The New Yorker, 3 Jan. 2017, www.newyorker.com/magazine/1962/06/23/silent-spring-part-2.
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