Rachel Carson Born May 27 1907 in Springdale
Rachel Carson Born: May 27, 1907 in Springdale, Pennsylvania Died: April 14, 1964 in Silver Spring, Maryland “One species – man– has acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world”
Rachel Carson Instilling a Sense of Wonder
• Rachel was a biologist and writer who made a significant difference in the lives of American people.
Writer, scientist, and ecologist One of the 20 th Century’s most important people. “(1960 -1980): Conservation and environmental movement took off; fueled by a number of books and essays: Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson”
Born in Springdale, Pennsylvania May 27, 1907 This is the house that Rachel and her family lived in.
What was Rachel Carson’s life like?
The Love of Nature Instilled (established) “I can remember no time when I wasn’t interested in the outof-doors. ” Yale Collection of American Literature Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library • Rachel’s mother taught her to love and respect nature from an early age that lasted Rachel a lifetime.
A Good Family Life "Mamma" holding horse with Rachel, Marian and Robert. Sister Marian (on left), Rachel, and three family dogs. Sister Marian, Rachel (center) and brother Robert enjoying the "beach" along the Allegheny River, near their home, circa 1914.
• After high school, Rachel went to Pennsylvania College for Women in Pittsburgh 1925. (now Chatham College) First majored in English, but when a junior switched to biology. • Scholarships were helpful, but needed additional money for room and board. • Her father took a second job. Her mother gave piano lessons to additional students. • Rachel’s mother would not her allow her to work. She wanted Rachel to devote her time to studying.
She Dreamed of the Sea
“Those who dwell…among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone…”
“There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature…”
• Rachel’s love of nature kept her going despite all the family burdens she shouldered. (The death of her father and sister who had 2 small children) • Rachel worked full-time during the day and at night worked on writing her first book. • She averaged writing two pages a night; on a good night, she could write six pages.
Combining Writing & Science U. S. Bureau of Fisheries to write radio scripts during the Depression. Wrote feature articles on natural history for the Baltimore Sun. 1936 Federal service as a scientist and editor Later became Editor-in-Chief of all publications for the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Writing + Science = Books
1941 -- Rachel's first book Under the Sea Wind is published Pearl Harbor, Hawaii is bombed
“Eventually it dawned on me that by becoming a biologist I would be giving myself something to write about. " 1950 -- The Sea Around Us is published 1951 -- The Sea Around Us receives the National Book Award 1952 -- Under the Sea Wind and The Sea Around Us become bestsellers (her favorite book) 1955 -- The Edge of the Sea is published
Rachel began research on her next book, “Silent Spring, ” in 1958. It would become “The book that launched the environmental movement. ”
“In the gutters under the eaves and between the shingles of the roofs, a white granular powder still showed a few patches; some weeks before it had fallen like snow upon the roofs and the lawns, the fields and streams. ” What is the “white granular powder”?
“In the gutters under the eaves and between the shingles of the roofs, a white granular powder still showed a few patches; some weeks before it had fallen like snow upon the roofs and the lawns, the fields and streams. ” What is the “white granular powder”? DDT (Pesticide)
More than 200 chemicals were being used to kill insects and weeds. Carson was especially concerned about birds dying from pesticides -- sprayed from the air to kill mosquitoes. Because of DDT, egg shells of eagles and other birds were too brittle and broke before hatching.
Why was she so concerned? It’s just birds!
Side Effects of DDT in Humans • Breast cancer and other cancers • male infertility • miscarriages and low birth weight • developmental delay • nervous system and liver damage
Chemical companies made other pesticides: dieldrin, parathion, heptachlor, malathion and other compounds many times stronger than DDT. The government planned to distribute these poisons through the Department of Agriculture for public use and commercial manufacture.
Advertisements promoted pesticide use.
Carson knew and feared the dangers of being exposed to so much poison. She was afraid that we were destroying our beautiful Earth and ourselves.
After researching and writing the book for two years, an event occurred that made Carson realize the importance of the book and the need to write with a sense of urgency. In 1960, Rachel was told she had breast cancer.
1962 -- Silent Spring was published
Carson’s beautiful and terrifying imagery changed the world. Had she just wrote the story using plain, scientific diction, people would not have read the book or cared about what she had to say.
Chemical Industry uproar She was immediately assailed by threats of lawsuits and derision, including suggestions that this meticulous scientist was a "hysterical woman" unqualified to write such a book.
• When Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in 1962, she was viciously attacked. Huge sums of money were spent to discredit her. She was called “an ignorant and hysterical woman who wanted to turn the earth over to the insects. ” • While her scientific methods were problematic, her message about the environment as an interrelated organic system struck a popular nerve. • The smear campaign backfired. • Silent Spring sparked a revolution in government environmental policy and became instrumental in creating a new ecological consciousness.
Courageously speaking out Testifying before Congress in 1963, Carson called for new policies to protect human health and the environment.
1964 Rachel dies of cancer “ [Rachel Carson ] brought us back to a fundamental idea lost to an amazing degree in modern civilization: the interconnection of human beings and the natural environment. “ -Al Gore
Historical perspectives 1962: Silent Spring v 1969: Natl. Environmental Policy Act v 1970: Creation of EPA v (Environmental Protection Agency) 1970+: Clean Air Act v 1972+: Clean Water Act v 1972: U. S. bans DDT v 1973: Endangered Species Act v Rachel Carson (1907 -1964)
It was a spring without voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of scores of bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh. Even the streams were now lifeless. . . Why is the title of the book Silent Spring?
It was a spring without voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of scores of bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh. Even the streams were now lifeless. . . Why is the title of the book Silent Spring?
Looking back at the excerpt we read, what is frightening about the predictions Rachel Carson made? Have any of her predictions come true?
Resources Rachel Carson Biography http: //www. rachelcarson. org/index. cfm? fuseaction=bio Interesting Facts about Rachel Carson http: //www. eiu. edu/~wow/carsfacts. html 1994 Introduction to Silent Spring by Al Gore http: //www. uneco. org/ssalgoreintro. html
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