Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson was an American biologist who wrote two popular books on sea life. But her third book, Silent Spring, created an epoch—the epoch of environmentalism that has become the most vital global issue today, because human civilization stands threatened by a variety of man-made disasters in the making. The book changed the way we perceived the idea of unbridled progress based on industrialism and what was designated as the ‘Green Revolution’ dependent on pesticides and synthetic fertilizers used indiscriminately. Carson was inspired by a letter written by her friend making a note of the disappearance of birds in rural America during the spring season. Many creatures including fishes and other forms of aquatic life were fast becoming extinct from the water bodies in Europe and America. Carson made an intensive investigation and came up with the book that graphically describes what happened. The extensive use of pesticides, particularly DDT, which was considered a magic solution to a variety of pest troubles during the years following the World War II. These synthetic insecticides were poisoning food chains, from insects upwards. Till that time the effect of chemicals in farming and domestic life had never been considered a serious threat to the various forms of life on earth. Carson’s book became controversial, inviting attacks from the industrial lobby and the political establishment that supported them. She was even branded a ‘communist.’ But she stood her ground, despite the fact that she was suffering from breast cancer…
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Review by Dr. Gigy Joseph
