Rachel Carson: Silent Spring

[joderu95]

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.

What were your reactions to the book? Has the book done more good or harm?

 

[sparkchaser]

I've never read it but it's been on my list of books to read.

That book is pretty much what started the environmental movement and it did end up outlawing the use of DDT in practically ever country so I suppose that's a good thing. Andrew Spielman takes a more critical view of the book (and its aftermath) in his book Mosquito.

 

[joderu95]

Since this has just dangled out here and gotten no attention apart from the single courteous reply I now throw down the gauntlet in an attempt to gain some friggin' feedback.

I think the reaction to the book was overblown but its affect on the Environmental Movement in the U.S. and wherever else is probably more good than bad. However much the book's publishing can be attributed to the outright ban of DDT all over the world, on the other hand, is not so good. From what I understand this chemical is still one of the most effective organic pesticides known and its harm to humans is far less than what unchecked mosquito populations do to malaria rates.

As far as what the book dealt with, which was pesticides and their harm to wildlife, the pendulum swung hard in that direction and it needs to come back the other way a bit so people aren't needlessly suffering because of a clumsy and simplistic reaction to a book who's author probably never intended such a trade off.

 

[sparkchaser]

No other pesticide comes close to the effectiveness of DDT on mosquitoes. Had the U.S. continued an aggressive campaign against mosquitoes using DDT, malaria might well have become something we read about in history books just like smallpox.

I'm curious as to how many have read the book. Send me a copy and I'll read it.

 

[joderu95]

I don't even have a copy myself, I borrowed it from my sister a few years back.

 

[sparkchaser]

That doesn't help me.

Are you aware of any books that offer a counter argument to her?

 

[joderu95]

I am not aware of any. My mind has settled on a perfect explanation of this book's legacy and it will stay right there........until I read the next book that says otherwise.

 

[speedmaster]

I've read statistics that say around 1 million people die each year from malaria, many of which could be prevented by reasonable use of DDT.

Take a good look at anything by the late great Julian Simon.

 

[arnuld]

I've read statistics that say around 1 million people die each year from malaria, many of which could be prevented by reasonable use of DDT.

and those 1 million people can never ever be saved by using DDT because Mosquitoes have developed resistance against DDT when, IIRC, I was 13 years old, which was 14 years ago. In India, we used to spray DDT in our homes once in a year to kill the mosquitoes. My father works for a government company and that government company used to spray DDT in all 10,000 homes they have built for their employees. Around 12-17 years ago, government stopped it as mosquitoes no longer affected by DDT, at least in India. Even our educational books for 8th class have been updated to include this information. You better Google before you claim anything ..

 

[sparkchaser]

OK, so Silent Spring was one of the four books I took with me last week on my trip to Germany.

I didn't like it.

I found it overly preachy, but I guess that was the 60's for you. I also noticed that it didn't present anything that I had not been told in public school, so I suppose in that regard, the book did what it was supposed to do.

After reading it, I did have a passing notion to want a Silent Spring II to be written that updates the information in Silent Spring for the 21st Century.


p.s. Whatever happened to Arnuld?

 

[arnuld]

OK, so Silent Spring was one of the four books I took with me last week on my trip to Germany.

...SNIP....

The book was not (and still is not) available in India and am not earning 2000 dollars per month so that I can buy one from amazon. International prices are around 10 to 20 folds for the same book published in India.

p.s. Whatever happened to Arnuld?

I am doing fine, thanks for asking . Don't get much time to read except my C and UNIX programming books and fitness training. Stopped reading books on politics, bureaucracy and corporate control and all this, instead spent time on reading about The Venus Project. Though I recently bought LILA because Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is the best book I ever read.