Revisiting Rachel:The Legacy of Silent Spring

Fifty Years On

Noel Nelson – The Institution of Environmental Sciences

Early Life

• Born in May 27th 1907 on farm in Springdale Pennsylvania;

• Developed interest in the natural world and the ocean;

• Started writing and had first published work at age 11;

• Attended Pennsylvania College for Women and changed from English to Biology.

Studies• Graduated in 1929;• After summer course

enrolled to study Zoology and Genetics at the John Hopkins University;

• June 1932 – Masters in Zoology

• Family concerns coupled with financial burden prevented her furthering her studies.

U.S. Bureau of Fisheries• Hired to write radio scripts;• 1936 became only the 2nd woman to be hired

for a full time professional post – Junior Aquatic Biologist;

• Analysis and reporting of field data on fish populations;

• Continued writing for public;• Publishing House approaches Carson for book;• 1941 ‘Under the Sea-Wind’ published.

Synthetic Pesticides• Develops an interest in

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) – the “Insect Bomb”

• USDA 1957 Fire Ant Eradication Program;– “The Great Cranberry

Scandal”• High levels of

aminotriozole in cranberries

• Predicted increased consequences due to build up in resistance of targeted pests;

• Carson called for alternative methods – biological pest control.

Silent Spring

• Published in September 1962;

• Received much publicity– Serialised in The New

Yorker;– Book of the Month;– Similar timing to the

thalidomide story;• Book commented on

pesticide impact on ecosystem and humans.

Objections• The Manhattan Project deemed a great

success;• Atomic Energy - heralding a new age;• Science – bringing in new beneficial changes;• Synthetic pesticides developed with military

funding after WWII;• Most scientists were male;• Biology not a technical science.• Objections: DuPont and Velsicol Chem.Co.

What the Critics Said• “If man were to follow the teachings of Miss Carson, we would return to

the Dark Ages, and the insects and diseases and vermin would once again inherit the earth” – Robert White-Stevens

• Labelled as “a fanatic defender of the cult of the balance of nature”. – Robert White-Stevens

• In a letter to Eisenhower the Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson concluded that because she was an unmarried despite being physically attractive, she was “probably a Communist”.

• Darby (1962) advised responsible scientists to read the book to “understand the ignorance of those writing on the subject and the educational task which lies ahead”.

• Stare (1963) criticised Carson for writing “with passion and with beauty, but with very little scientific detachment” He saw “no evidence in Silent Spring which justifies calling Miss Carson a scientist”.

Supporters• “If Silent Spring is not a scientific book, then one may

fairly ask of what interest it is to ecologists and why it is being reviewed in Ecology” – F.R. Fosberg

• Environmental Concerns– Economic entomologists => insects that affect crops,– Medical entomologists => insects that affect man,– Agricultural scientists => anything that affect agric.

production,– All making decisions about use of poisonous chemicals,– Where were the ecologists => affect on the environment

we live??

Criticism• Blamed for ban on pesticides - DDT

– DDT responsible for saving tens of Millions of lives - “Millions of people around the world suffer the painful and often deadly effects of malaria because one person sounded a false alarm. That person is Rachel Carson” R. Dunn, Nature (2012)

– Restrictions hampered agriculture

• Silent Spring never called for an outright ban. Rather that their indiscriminate use was counter-productive

• The U.S. ban on DDT in 1972 was for agricultural use and not for anti-malarial applications. The ban did not apply outside the U.S.

• In the 1970s and 80s mass outdoor spraying of DDT was banned in Sri Lanka because it was no longer effective against mosquitoes – as Rachel Carson had predicted. cf – overuse of antibiotics and rise of the superbug.

Legacy• Inspired by the book, many people wrote to their representative in

Congress;• Senators organised a committee to review the claims and invited Rachel

Carson to address them;• President Kennedy asked his Scientific Advisory Committee to research the

claims;• May 1963 - Their publication ‘ Use Of Pesticides’ was published and

broadly supported the claims made in Silent Spring;• 1964 - changes to the Federal Law required companies to first prove that

their products were not harmful before they could be sold;• 1970 – The Environmental Protection Agency was formed “in response to

the growing public demand for cleaner water, air and land”.