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Original Essays | April 29, 2013

Edward Lee: IMG How to Clarify Butter: A Writer's Tale

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Chefs don't have time to write. While I was working on Smoke and Pickles, I was running a restaurant — a daily regimen of testing recipes,... Continue »
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Silent Spring

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Silent Spring Cover

ISBN13: 9780395683293
ISBN10: 0395683297
Condition: Standard
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Staff Pick

Silent Spring changed the way we thought about the environment and shaped today's environmental movement, calling us to action to protect our surroundings before we destroyed them. Today our impact on the environment is more harmful than ever, and Carson's message is just as important.

Silent Spring offers an in depth look of how chemicals developed after World War II were changing our environment.  Carson's analysis of these new chemicals, including DDT, was ground-breaking.  She incorporates the dangers of these chemicals including their effects on wildlife, water, and humans. Carson writes this fairly technical book in a way that anyone can understand the topic.
Recommended by Amy W., Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Rarely does a single book alter the course of history, but Rachel Carson's Silent Spring did exactly that. The outcry that followed its publication in 1962 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 reverberated powerfully throughout the world, and her eloquent book was instrumental in launching the environmental movement. It is without question one of the landmark books of the twentieth century.

Silent Spring served as a touchstone for Al Gore while he was working on his widely praised, bestselling book on the environment, Earth in the Balance. Now Rachel Carson's message is more important than ever, and no one is more qualified than Al Gore to introduce her classic book to a new generation of readers.

Review:

"Her book is a cry to the reading public to help curb private and public programs which by use of poisons will end by destroying life on earth....Miss Carson, with the fervor of an Ezekiel, is trying to save nature and mankind." The New York Times

Synopsis:

Rarely does a single book alter the course of history, but Rachel Carson's Silent Spring did exactly that. The outcry that followed its publication in 1962 forced the government to ban DDT and spurred revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. Carson's book was instrumental in launching the environmental movement. It is without question one of the landmark books of the twentieth century.

Description:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [301]-355) and index.
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About the Author

Rachel Carson (1907?1964) spent most of her professional life as a marine biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. By the late 1950s, she had written three lyrical, popular books about the sea, including the best-selling The Sea Around Us, and had become the Bee Plumber 76: most respected science writer in America. She completed Silent Spring against formidable personal odds, and with it shaped a powerful social movement that has altered the course of history.
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction by Vice President Al Gore xv

1 A Fable for Tomorrow 1
2 The Obligation to Endure 5
3 Elixirs of Death 15
4 Surface Waters and Underground Seas 39
5 Realms of the Soil 53
6 Earth's Green Mantle 63
7 Needless Havoc 85
8 And No Birds Sing 103
9 Rivers of Death 129
10 Indiscriminately from the Skies 154
11 Beyond the Dreams of the Borgias 173
12 The Human Price 187
13 Through a Narrow Window 199
14 One in Every Four 219
15 Nature Fights Back 245
16 The Rumblings of an Avalanche 262
17 The Other Road 277

List of Principle Sources 301
Index 357

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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
cactushugger, September 20, 2011 (view all comments by cactushugger)
So many of my professors referenced this work as the catalyst for the modern day environmental movement that I felt compelled to read it. I figured it would be outdated and clinical, but it seems as timely now as ever.

Carson's target in 1962 was DDT, but insert cosmetic pesticides still being used today and it is more relevant than ever. Her ability to break down technical information into terms anyone can understand, and her prescient understanding of ecosystems, makes it obvious why this writing was so influential. Definitely a must-read for anyone interested in the history of environmental policy and politics.
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cdemos, December 4, 2008 (view all comments by cdemos)
I really enjoyed this book. I think it was powerful and revolutionary in the way it was able to affect our thinking and change the minds and outlooks of many. The first chapter, where Carson describes, in powerful narrative form, how the world exists in harmony before the fall and before the large use of poisons in the environment is powerful and stresses her point effectively. Rather than simply “tell” about the dangers of the present course, she “shows” and paints a picture for her readers to better understand. Also, many of the chapters include scientific descriptions of the properties of different chemicals. What I found very important in the book is that Carson does a solid job explaining the concepts presented in her book in a simple way. Rachel Carson wrote so that everyone can understand the book. You do not have to be a chemist or an agriculturist to understand and feel the strong and moving affects of this book.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780395683293
Author:
Carson, Rachel
Publisher:
Mariner Books
Introduction:
Gore, Albert, Jr.
Author:
Wilson, Edward O.
Author:
Lear, Linda
Location:
Boston :
Subject:
Environmental Science
Subject:
Environmental Conservation & Protection
Subject:
Toxicology
Subject:
Insect pests
Subject:
Pesticides
Subject:
Biological control
Subject:
Food contamination
Subject:
Insect pests -- Biological control.
Subject:
Pesticides and wildlife.
Subject:
Pesticide Residues.
Subject:
Environmental Conservation & Protection - General
Copyright:
1994
Edition Description:
Trade Paper
Series Volume:
no. 652
Publication Date:
20021022
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
400
Dimensions:
8.16x5.54x.82 in. 1.01 lbs.
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Related Subjects

Science and Mathematics » Biology » General
Science and Mathematics » Environmental Studies » Environment
Science and Mathematics » Environmental Studies » General
Science and Mathematics » Nature Studies » General

Silent Spring Used Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$9.95 In Stock
Product details 400 pages HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT - English 9780395683293 Reviews:
"Staff Pick" by ,

Silent Spring changed the way we thought about the environment and shaped today's environmental movement, calling us to action to protect our surroundings before we destroyed them. Today our impact on the environment is more harmful than ever, and Carson's message is just as important.

Silent Spring offers an in depth look of how chemicals developed after World War II were changing our environment.  Carson's analysis of these new chemicals, including DDT, was ground-breaking.  She incorporates the dangers of these chemicals including their effects on wildlife, water, and humans. Carson writes this fairly technical book in a way that anyone can understand the topic.

by Amy W.
"Review" by , "Her book is a cry to the reading public to help curb private and public programs which by use of poisons will end by destroying life on earth....Miss Carson, with the fervor of an Ezekiel, is trying to save nature and mankind."
"Synopsis" by , Rarely does a single book alter the course of history, but Rachel Carson's Silent Spring did exactly that. The outcry that followed its publication in 1962 forced the government to ban DDT and spurred revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. Carson's book was instrumental in launching the environmental movement. It is without question one of the landmark books of the twentieth century.
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