Silent Spring

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on alarmist garbs, all the horrors of the warfare that we have undertaken against ourselves The book is of course outdated and most of the bigger concerns have been if not addressed, at least taken seriously But the true value of the book is in understanding how long a time frame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, then [...]

This is a classic It has not lost its validity It has an important global message still today, 54 years after publication Everyone should read this at least once This reads as a horror story, but it is true The scientific studies are numerous, clear and to the point The demise of habitats and living creatures are lyrically depicted The author expertly alternates between poetic expression and scientific accuracy Eloquent prose That s the essential.Carson shows through carefully identified and qua [...]

How could I forget the first book I read about pesticides, and how they are destroying our planet Rachel Carson is literally my hero After reading Carson s book, I decided this is what I wanted to do with my life I spent many years in the field of environmental geology, and I have her to thank I believe this book is as relevant today as it was when she wrote it in 1962 She has an ease of writing, that not only expresses her deep concerns for the environment, but also feels highly personal Her lo [...]

She was warned She was given an explanation Nevertheless, she persisted Mitch McConnell, about Elizabeth Warren Poisoning the Planet with Impunity Part 2, 2017 Man has lost the capacity to foresee and to forestall He will end by destroying the earth Albert SchweitzerThis lovely, eloquent, poetic book, published in 1962 and nominated for The National Book Award, was read to me by the woman who played the part of Rachel in the movie, Kaiulani Lee, in a gentle voice that belies the storm the book s [...]

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 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, [...]

This is nonfiction concerning the harmful effects that chemicals, which were created to make life easier for man pesticides, weed killers, etc have on the environment This was first published in 1962 and the author is credited for opening the door on his topic However, even now, 55 years later, it is still considered a hot topic Great strides have been made in this arena, but vigilance must me constant While reading this, I kept thinking that ignorance is bliss ONLY for those who don t have to p [...]

Advocacy is tricky When you re trying to motivate people to take action, you need to decide whether to appeal to the head, to the heart, to some combination of the two, or perhaps to some delicate faculty Upton Sinclair miscalculated when he wrote The Jungle, aiming for the heart but instead hitting the stomach and as a result, the book was interpreted as an expos of the meat industry rather than a plea for the working poor Aldo Leopold, in A Sand County Almanac, eschews appeals to expediency, [...]

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 are not [...]

AcknowledgementsAuthor s NoteIntroduction, by Lord ShackletonPreface, by Julian Huxley, F.R.S Silent SpringAfterword, by Linda LearList of Principal SourcesIndex

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 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 [...]

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 countles [...]

Rachel Carson is a feminist hero In a world of science beholden to capitalist interests and run by men, she defied all conventions in publishing this non academic yet copiously researched expose on Big Ag and the effects of pesticide use She was decried from all angles, not least of all by the scientific establishment, which derided her pop science approach and her hysterical feminine tone But it was too late Carson had appealed to the public, and the public and their representatives listened Co [...]

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 way [...]

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 evidence en [...]

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 ago , while a little dated, is st [...]

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 fascinated by Carson s rhetoric than in her findings, which are now 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, Rachel

It wasn t until I was looking for a Rachel Carson book to read that I realized I never rated or reviewed this one I m currently reading The Sea Around Us, but am rating this one from a couple of years memory.This book is truly a classic in the nature lit world Carson has that unique ability, like Stephen Jay Gould and Carl Sagan, to write like a creative writer while coming to us from the world of science So if you read this, don t be surprised if you find yourself suddenly in a section of prose [...]

5 David Attenborough said that after Charles Darwin s The Origin of Species, Silent Spring was probably the book that changed the scientific world the most.Why Because marine biologist Rachel Carson explains in no uncertain terms exactly how mankind was changing the natural world for the worse in unimagined ways through pesticide use Agriculture wasn t concerned with wildlife or waterways, just livestock and crops.I remember as a child hearing that DDT was so safe you could sprinkle it on your c [...]

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 all of this [...]

In keeping with Dad s injunction to spend the summer s constructively and not wanting to work at Dairy Queen or the like, I took Public Speaking between the sopho and junior years of high school Don Martello, the instructor, had a good reputation among students which turned out to be well deserved I was inexperienced as a public speaker and felt it would be prudent to overcome the fear I had of it.The way the class was constructed required both research and presentation One of my topics had to d [...]

Silent Spring or, How the Reader Decided to Become a Hunter GathererWhat begins with a surprisingly beautifully written introduction that would rival the best nature writing quickly gives way to an onslaught of data, a barrage of statistics all perfectly designed to regret your participation in the modern world.Of course, this book is outdated It came out in the sixties and, though I don t actually know anything about anything, I m pretty sure most of the problems Rachel Carson describes in Sile [...]

There s definitely some kind of trend going on with my reads lately Poison Poison, poison, poison My family members should watch their drinks, apparently Trailblazing female marine biologist in the 1940s 50s Check.Thinks humans are arrogant and overstate their significance in the world Check Changed the world with a book Check.Wrote a readable book for laypeople, not academics Check.Gracefully aknowledges the significance of the faithful help of her housekeeper in the acknowledgements section CH [...]

I first read this book almost twenty five years ago, and rereading it now confirms my opinion at that time that Carson, long viewed as one of the most influential women in America, was brilliant In the book, Carson drew attention at the time 1962 to the damage to the environment being caused by pesticides, particularly the toxic effects of dichloro diphenyl trichloroethane DDT on the bird population Carson s conclusions also suggested potential harm to humans In 1962, this was huge, and the chem [...]

After than half a century it is always easy to poke holes into the scientific knowledge of the day Not everything that Carson claims in her book is correct and not every solution she proposes works That being said, the book put a subject on the agenda that very much needed to be discussed After reading it, I feel the eternal link between DDT and Silent Spring is an oversimplification of what Carson tried to achieve Her message was much complex and subtle, not just raging against a particular c [...]

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 the worl [...]

After reading this amazing, mind blowing expos of the near disastrous consequences that humans have wrought on the natural world with our overuse and misuse of pesticides, I ll never take birds, fish and even the lowly earthworms for granted again This book is a real cautionary tale that we all should read and heed before what Miss Carson uncovered in the 60s becomes irreversible, assuming it isn t already too late.

A deeply disturbing and poetic account of the insidious and irreversible ways pesticides and residue of chemical pollution travel through our planet s nervous system Still as important as ever A must read.

My notes while reading the book Originated the modern environmental movement.Short summary of her and her book She was a biologist and scientific writer, faced pressure from the industry after publishing the book, but she triumphed over them Died due to breast cancer.Read by a soft female voice Very appropriate since author is a woman andChapter 1 A fable for tomorrowPoetic description of the possible demise and disasters striking wild life, all of them not collectively have actually happened so [...]

I had to set this book down many times to research the details Did airplanes really spray chemicals over cities in the 50s and 60s answer yes What is the modern method of dealing with fire ants answer basically what Rachel Carson recommends in this book Whatever happened to Rachel Carson anyway answer she died of cancer just a few years after this book came out Her voice in Silent Spring has a certain desperation about it and understandably so While at times I felt she leaned a little too hard o [...]

In a bunch of my bio classes, they inevitably referenced this book, and how it changed the course of history and the way people thought about pesticides, raising a public outcry that forced the ban of DDT and eventually changed legislation regarding air, land, and water quality I decided to finally sit down and read this book to see what all the hullabaloo was about, and HOLY COW If I had been living in that decade, and read about all this stuff AS it was happening, I d have been freaking out an [...]