Rachel Carson: Books and Articles

Rachel Carson’s 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.

"The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place." A book to be read for pleasure as well as a practical identification guide, The Edge of the Sea introduces a world of teeming life where the sea meets the land. A new generation of readers is discovering why Rachel Carson's books have become cornerstones of the environmental and conservation movements.

Published in 1951, The Sea Around Us is one of the most remarkably successful books ever written about the natural world. Rachel Carson's rare ability to combine scientific insight with moving, poetic prose catapulted her book to first place on The New York Times best-seller list, where it enjoyed wide attention for thirty-one consecutive weeks. It remained on the list for more than a year and a half and ultimately sold well over a million copies, has been translated into 28 languages, inspired an Academy Award-winning documentary, and won both the 1952 National Book Award and the John Burroughs Medal.

First published more than three decades ago, this reissue of Rachel Carson's award-winning classic brings her unique vision to a new generation of readers. Stunning new photographs by Nick Kelsh beautifully complement Carson;s intimate account of adventures with her young nephew, Roger, as they enjoy walks along the rocky coast of Maine and through dense forests and open fields, observing wildlife, strange plants, moonlight and storm clouds, and listening to the "living music" of insects in the underbrush.

For the centennial of the birth of Silent Spring author Rachel Carson, a new edition of her groundbreaking paean to the sea Celebrating the mystery and beauty of birds and sea creatures in their natural habitat, Under the Sea-Wind-Rachel Carson's first book and her personal favourite - is the early masterwork of one of America's greatest nature writers. Evoking the special mystery and beauty of the shore and the open sea-its limitless vistas and twilight depths-Carson's astonishingly intimate, unforgettable portrait captures the delicate negotiations of an ingeniously calibrated ecology.

No single event played a greater role in the birth of modern environmentalism than the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and its assault on insecticides. This new collection of documents traces shifting attitudes toward DDT and pesticides through a variety of sources, from the 1890s to the present. Beginning with attitudes toward nature at the turn of the twentieth century, the book moves through the use and early regulation of pesticides, the introduction and early use of DDT; the discovery of its environmental effects; and the uproar over Silent Spring. It ends with recent debates about DDT as a potential solution to malaria.

Rachel Carson’s lyrical, popular books about the sea, includingher best-selling The Sea Around Us,set a standard for naturewriting for all time to come (Roger Caras). By the late 1950s,Carson was the most respected science writer in America.She completed Silent Spring (1962) against formidable personalodds, and with it shaped a powerful social movement thathas altered the course of history. In Silent Spring,Carson asserted that the right of the citizen to be secure in his own home against the intrusion of poisons applied by other persons must surely be a basic human right. She was the first to challenge the moral vacuity of a government that refused to take responsibility for or to acknowledge evidence of environmental damage. In this volume, today’s foremost scientists and writers give compelling evidence that Carson’s transformative insights-her courage for the earth- are giving a new generation of activists the inspiration they need to move consumers, industry, and government.The classic that launched the environmental movement.

"Background on Rachel Carson; The Environment in Silent Spring; Contemporary Perspectives on the Environment"--

In this absorbing account of the life of Rachel Carson, author Arlene R. Quaratiello chronicles the small, solemn-looking woman whom the New York Times described as having the steady forthright gaze of a type that is sometimes common to thoughtful children who prefer to listen rather than to talk. Carson emerges as a talented scientist and exceptional writer who shared her sense of wonder about nature with both scientists and the general public. Quaratiello recounts Carson's lifelong love of both nature and writing, her years of working in relative obscurity for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, her late breakthrough as a writer of books about the sea that brought her critical acclaim, and the publication of her best-known work, Silent Spring, in 1962.

Rachel Carson's landmark book Silent Spring set the modern environmental movement in motion.This very special collection of letters from Rachel Carson to her Maine summer neighbor Dorothy Freeman offers an intimate, spellbinding look at Carson's private life and thoughts. An intimate collection of letters from the woman who sparked the modern environmental movement. "What is revealed in this selection of letters is the extraordinary, private person of Carson and her relationship with Freeman, the nature-loving, homebody friend of her later years. . . . It is not often that a collection of letters reveals character, emotional depth, personality, indeed intellect and talent, as well as a full biography might; these letters do all that." -Doris Grumbach, The New York Times Book Review

A collection of essays investigating Rachel Carson's 1962 book, Silent Spring. The contributors explore the book's effectiveness in conveying its disturbing message and the rhetorical strategies that helped to create its wide influence.

A trove of Carson writing never before published or collected. Included are examples of Carson's early & often remarkable nature writing. A priceless addition to our knowledge of Rachel Carson & her passionate & influential engagement with the natural world.

This book provides information on the constituents, characteristics, health & environmental effects of pesticides in a single, convenient & easily understandable form. This guide can be used either by the layman with a few minor questions or by a specialist needing in-depth references. The facts have been arranged so that one does not have to read through lengthy material. Tabular presentations provide definitions of the categories & kinds of information given, & also show clearly where gaps in present knowledge occur. The pertinent physical properties of over 700 pesticides & transformation products & contaminants are discussed, as well as their toxic effects to mammals, other forms of life, & the environment. This guide was prepared by The Rachel Carson Council, which has compiled extensive information over its twenty-seven years of existence. The topics covered include: basic principles of toxicology; background information on pesticide use; disposal & EPA registration; characterization of toxicity of classes of pesticides; characterizations of active ingredients--name, chemical class, chief use, persistence, toxicity; & references.