Silent Spring

Silent Spring sparked the birth of the modern environmental movement. Rachel Carson, a biologist, viewed the relationship between people and nature as symbiotic (interrelated)—a perspective not widely understood by the public at the time. In Carson's role as a scientist, she began to study the effects of the widely used pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). Though she was not alone in her concern, she was unique in her ability to communicate this concern to the general public. Her expertise as a scientist and her exemplary writing abilities enabled her to craft a book that made the long-term effects of pesticides understandable to nonbiologists. Even more importantly, her gifts as a storyteller caused the public to care about environmental issues. Silent Spring was instrumental in prompting legislation against indiscriminate use of pesticides and other environmental hazards. It also helped build momentum for the formation of governmental agencies to protect the environment.