Silent Spring [Hardcover]

Rachel Carson's Silent Spring is an excellent book. Although Carson published the book over 30 years ago, its message about the dangers of pesticides and man's attempts to control nature are true today. Clearly an environmentalist, Carson presents a balanced picture of how pesticides contaminate our water, atmosphere, and food. For example, she examines how DDT used to control worms, ants, and grubs ultimately kills birds and other mammals and enters our streams and lakes from runoff and kills fish. She examines the history of Clear Lake, California, where scientists used a pesticide to destroy a small gnat that annoyed fishermen. The pesticide was later found in birds, fish and larger predators. Scientists discovered that initial small doses of the insecticide increases as it is consumed along the food chain and that as waters are contaminated with pesticides, there is a danger that cancer-producing substances are being introduced, too.
While Carson accepts some limited pesticide use, she fully supports biological solutions which she feels can be used to control unwanted insect and plant populations without compromising our health. For example, she points out that in California, scientists brought in two species of beetle to control the unwanted Klamath weed. She uses our fight against the Japanese beetle as another support for biological solutions to unwanted insects. In the East, scientists used an imported parasitic wasp and the milky spore disease to wipe out the Japanese beetle. In Michigan and Illinois, scientists dusted with aldrin and dieldrin to control the beetle. The pesticides only endangered birds, rabbits, muskrats, fish and people and did not solve the Japanese beetle problem. Carson notes that insects are becoming resistant to pesticides and that nature, not man, is the best control of unwanted pests.
While her book was attacked and discredited by the pesticide industry, her findings have been confirmed and today environmental issues are a major national concern. The book is easy to read and contains excellent examples and explanations of the interrelationships in nature. Anyone who is interested in the environment should read this book.

Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" is just defined in one word: Revolutionary.
The author take us beyond our trashy city-park, beyond our polluted city, she takes us to explore the world being attacked by the human kind.
"Silent Spring" was published a couple of decades ago, but we can see that what this book said was true and what Rachel Carson predicted is yet becoming our reality.
The book is very interesting and we may appreciate that the author made a huge research in this topic, basically DDT spraying and treatment.
The book emphasizes on the problems pesticides cause, not only to humans but to nature itself. The author tries to change people thoughts, and make us aware of the danger this chemicals being poured into our fields represent.
The book also gives alternatives to common pesticides and investigates each case of alternatives that is, or was, used.
As we know, Rachel Carson wrote this book long ago, making it now old, or out of date, but as you read it you realize that "Silent Spring" is clearly showing our modern date ecological problems.
So, with all this, I think Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" is a magnificent book, a bit polluted in the way is written, but a magnificent work.

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson provides an in-depth look of how the world was changing in the 1940s and 50s. After World War II, man began to develop very hazardous chemicals and decided to combat the insects without, many times, legitamste reasons. Carson's analysis of these new chemicals, such as DDT, was revolutionary and changed the scope of how these pesticides were handled in the future. she provides many real life examples and paints a very grim picture in order to try to reach out to the ignorant people of the time. the common person was very unaware of the potential danger these chemicals presented to them. Carson talks about many relevant topics including the effects on wildlife, livestock, the water, and even humans. she is able to tell the story by breaking down complex science terms for the common person to understand. Overall the book was very engrossing, but at times it can be a bit repetitive. It was a stepping stone to awareness of the situation at the time. You can even say with the help of carson the end of the world as we know it was averted.