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Silent Spring

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Silent Spring Cover

ISBN13: 9780618249060
ISBN10: 0618249060
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.
Recommended by Amy W., Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

First published by Houghton Mifflin in 1962, Silent Spring alerted a large audience to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides, spurring revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. "Silent Spring became a runaway bestseller, with international reverberations....It is well crafted, fearless and succinct....Even if she had not inspired a generation of activists, Carson would prevail as one of the greatest nature writers in American letters" (Peter Matthiessen, for Time's 100 Most Influential People of the Century). This fortieth anniversary edition celebrates Rachel Carson's watershed book with a new introduction by the author and activist Terry Tempest Williams and a new afterword by the acclaimed Rachel Carson biographer Linda Lear, who tells the story of Carson's courageous defense of her truths in the face of ruthless assault from the chemical industry in the year following the publication of Silent Spring and before her untimely death in 1964.

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.

Synopsis:

Rachel Carsons Silent Spring was first published in three serialized excerpts in the New Yorker in June of 1962. The book appeared in September of that year and the outcry that followed its publication forced the banning of DDT and spurred revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. Carsons 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.

   In 2012 we invite you to join us in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication of this great work.

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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

  • Contents
  • Acknowledgments viii
  • Introduction by Linda Lear x
  • 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 Earths 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 Principal Sources 301
  • Afterword by Edward O. Wilson 357
  • Index 365

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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 5 comments:
laureneandy, May 16, 2012 (view all comments by laureneandy)
The voice of Rachel Carson, through her 1962 book, “Silent Spring,” has been credited as the inspiration for the modern environmental movement. Carson’s book warns about the vast effects of pesticides and herbicides, especially DDT, in turn sparking a revolution in environmental policy and invoking a new ecological consciousness. This book displays Carson’s unique ability to both poetically and scientifically explain the interconnectedness between humans and the environment, on all scales. Carson exposed how the effects of DDT expand well upon their intended target, as a single application on a crop will kill not only the targeted insect, but many others, for a period of weeks and months, as it remains toxic in the environment even after being diluted by water. DDT then also infiltrates the food chain and accumulates in the fatty tissues of both humans and animals, with the potential to cause cancer and genetic damage. Silent Spring’s power derives from an argument that Carson carefully constructed to effectively connect both emotion and logic. In doing so, she was able to sway the public’s opinion on pesticides, that at the time were widely used and considered by the majority to be harmless. With the support of the public, Silent Spring was able to alter the power structure that formerly positioned the chemical companies at the top, resulting in the ban of DDT in the US in 1972. What I feel is of the upmost importance, is how Carson advocates and inspires finding biological solutions, solutions that fully realize interconnectedness of life and work in accordance with it instead of against it.
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bevsview, October 7, 2010 (view all comments by bevsview)
Rachel Carson's, Silent Spring, was based on emotionalsim NOT PEER REVIEWED SCIENCE. The problem was not her book; anyone is free to write a book. The problem was people took her book to be scientific fact and it was not. DDT got a bad name! There's an Excellent new documentary out by a medical doctor who explores DDT and malaria indepth, 3 BILLION AND COUNTING. IT IS A MUST SEE; A REAL EYE-OPENER! Dr. Rutledge Taylor explores the myths, lies, and cover-ups surrounding the banning of DDT by the EPA in the 70s. Thousands of pages of EPA Hearings' Testimony found DDT to be Safe for Humans and The Environment, yet was banned anyway. It's time to STOP DENYING THE TRUTH and BRING DDT BACK. DDT is the Safest, Cheapest, and most Effective way TO ERADICATE BLOODSUCKERS. For more info see: www.3billionandcounting.com
US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Hearing Statements: http://epw.senate.gov/hearing statements.cfm?id=246769
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ekendall, May 13, 2009 (view all comments by ekendall)
I found Rachel Carson's Silent Spring wonderful. It reviews many of the poisonous pesticides and herbicides that we use today and explains the harmful effects they have on our planet. Written in 1962 it was way ahead of its time and helped ban DDT in the US. I really enjoyed the concise writing style and how well everything was explained. Even though some of the information was repetitive in the end it is all worth while. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone concerned about the environment and our planet's future.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780618249060
Author:
Carson, Rachel
Publisher:
Mariner Books
Introduction by:
Lear, Linda
Introduction:
Lear, Linda
Author:
Wilson, Edward O.
Author:
Lear, Linda
Afterword by:
Wilson, Edward Osborne
Afterword:
Wilson, Edward Osborne
Location:
Boston
Subject:
General
Subject:
Environmental Science
Subject:
Environmental Conservation & Protection
Subject:
Toxicology
Subject:
Insect pests
Subject:
Pesticides
Subject:
Pesticides and wildlife.
Subject:
Environmental Conservation & Protection - General
Subject:
Pesticides -- Toxicology.
Subject:
Pesticides -- Environmental aspects.
Subject:
Environmental Studies-Environment
Copyright:
2002
Edition Number:
40
Edition Description:
104
Series Volume:
241
Publication Date:
October 2002
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
from 9
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
400
Dimensions:
8.22x5.66x.78 in. .99 lbs.
Age Level:
from 14
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Silent Spring Used Trade Paper
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Product details 400 pages Mariner Books - English 9780618249060 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.

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.
"Synopsis" by ,
Rachel Carsons Silent Spring was first published in three serialized excerpts in the New Yorker in June of 1962. The book appeared in September of that year and the outcry that followed its publication forced the banning of DDT and spurred revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. Carsons 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.

   In 2012 we invite you to join us in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication of this great work.
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