In 1962 Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring, changed the way we looked at our environment forever. In her book, Rachel Carson used a number of vivid, graphic examples to illustrate the damage that chemicals were having on the environment. Silent Spring highlighted our attitude towards nature in a manner that no other book previously, had ever done. It highlighted our arrogance and even possibly our ignorance of the consequences of our actions.
The environmental movement was born with the release of Silent Spring. Rachel Carson made us to look at ourselves, and forced us to think about the results of our actions. Chemicals that were once touted as our saviours, were looked down upon with disdain as Rachel Carson detailed the horrific consequences of their flagrant use.
But Rachel Carson, not only detailed the atrocities, she also gives us some examples of how we could achieve pest control without resulting to the extensive use of pesticides. In a number of examples she details the need to increase the use of predatory species or the use of natural biological diseases specific to the pest in question to control their spread.
But the most staggering aspect of Silent Spring is its prophetic message. The power of the book comes from the fact that it seems to talk about an integral aspect of our modern day world. Everything that it discusses back in 1962, seems to be even more relevant and crucial to the world of today. In Silent Spring, Rachel Carson states;
…the central problem of our age has therefore become the contamination of man’s total environment with such substances of incredible potential harm. Substances that accumulate in the tissues of plants and animals and even penetrate the germ cells to shatter or alter the very material of heredity upon which the shape of the future depends.
In many ways it seems that she was not only describing DDT, but was also talking about PCB’s, Dioxin and even endocrine disruptors like Bisphenol A. She was talking about all the toxic chemicals of the future.
The legacy of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring remains to this day. Her message is as strong as ever. The environment is still under threat and we have yet to reach a balance between our growth and development and the needs of Nature. Silent Spring will continue to shine as long as its message remains true to our condition and our environment remains threatened as a result of our activities.
Reas Johnson is a microbiology student, who loves writing about popular social and health related issues. Environmental topics are becoming more popular due to current situation regarding global warming. But the chemical contamination of the environment continues and we need to be aware of the dangers of the local damage that we are causing.
By Reas Johnson
