About this title: A new edition of the classic environmental tract with an introduction by Al Gore. Carson's muckraking book, originally published in 1962, brought about revolutionary changes in laws that affect our air, land, and water, in addition, to a banning of DDT. Considered one of the most influential books of the last 50 years, according to a panel of 22 distinguished Americans including Jimmy Carter, Sandra Day O'Connor, Russell Baker, and George Will.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: Twenth-fifth Anniversary Edition
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780395453902ISBN:0395453909
Description: Very Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. A very good paperback copy. The binding is solid, and there are no reading creases in the spine. The front cover has one bent corner and a half-inch split where the cover meets the spine, but otherwise the cover shows only very mild wear. There is a price written on the half-title page, but the text of the book is clean and unmarked. ---------------------------------------- years after the original publication of Silent Spring in 1962, it was evident what an ... read more
Edition: 24th Printing
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co, New York
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780395453902ISBN:0395453909
Description: Very Good. 368 Pages. Measures: 5-1/2" x 8-1/4" Clean, tight copy with no writing or markings. The spine is not creased. Not an Ex-Library Book. Colorfully illustrated cover. Includes numerous illustrations, Author's Note, Foreword, 17 Chapters, List of Principal Sources, and Index. read more
Description: Good. Minimal damage to cover and binding. Pages show light use. With pride from Motor City. All books guaranteed. Best Service, Best Prices. read more
Description: Good. Minimal damage to cover and binding. Pages show light use. With pride from Motor City. All books guaranteed. Best Service, Best Prices. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Mariner Books
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780395453902ISBN:0395453909
Description: Good. Books have varying amounts of wear and highlighting. Usually ships within 24 hours in quality packaging. Satisfaction guaranteed. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Date Published: 1987-09-27
ISBN-13:9780395453902ISBN:0395453909
Description: Good. Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition. Some shelf-wear, and a bend on p.355. A Garfield (cat) book plate with name torn off, and some water damage to first two pages. Nice shiny cover. Fast shipping. read more
"My 8th grade social studies teacher was all about saving the environment long before it was the fashionable thing to do. I was in her advanced class and she made all of us read Silent Spring and write a very long report on it. At the time, I thought it was torture, mainly because the assignment involved a review of every chapter, but at the same time I knew that I was being forced to read a very important book. Many of the stories told in the book are still vivid to me, especially those involving the use of DDT in my hometown of Long Island and the subsequent high incidence of breast cancer there. It is a wonderful book and should be read by all. I myself need to re-read it, as I am sure it will mean more to me 15 years later."
I'm conflicted on this. Rachel Carson's imagery is beautiful and profound. I also loved the narrator on the audiobook - in fact, I think that's how I survived the dryness. I don't think I would have made it if I had to read it. Hmm...
Here's how Rachel Carson structures her her entire book:
"Chapter 1. Look at the beautiful birds in the sky. See how they glide across the meadows of grasses. See how they dive for their prey. See how they gather worms and insects for their young. See how they tenderly care for their little ones, whose mouths are eager and eyes are full of wonder. Big, bad, stupid men spray chemicals they know nothing about on their fields, and what has happened as a result? The birds are gone. No longer do they grace the flowery pastures with their song. The bird feeders hang untouched. The world is dreary and lifeless without their vibrant colors and gentle wing beats. Who sanctioned this spraying of pesticides? Who thought it was a good idea to poison our environment? Who among us will stop this?
Chapter 2. Look at the beautiful fish in the sea . . . "
Ok, this is hyperbolic and maybe I should give her a little more credit. This book WAS ahead of its time (which I think was my mother's time). Maybe at the time she wrote it, the idea of replacing "biocides" with other "less harmful" chemicals that cause infertility in their target seemed like a good idea. I did have to kind of laugh at the experiments though. When testing alternative pesticides (because let's face it, that's what they are) on the gypsy moth, they couldn't gather enough subjects to test them on, and had to import larvi from Europe. If there weren't even enough moths to experiment on, were they really that much of a threat?? Nevermind that the chemical they were testing caused male moths to copulate with wood chips, vermiculite and over insects not of its species. What affects might they have on other animals? Larger animals? It's bad enough that the neighbor's dog makes amorous attempts at random inanimate objects . . .
I'm also surprised by Carson's heavy endorsement of introducing specific diseases, foreign animals and parasitic species into an environment to combat pests and weeds, instead of chemicals. Maybe I'm out of my area of expertise here, and I could be dead wrong, but can't that be just as destructive to a fragile ecosystem? Shakespeare's Starlings come to mind. Disease warfare sounds just as deadly as chemical warfare.
And that's the issue, isn't it? That we even call it "warfare" seems to me to be at the heart of the problem. I am deeply affected by the Arbinger Institute's book "The Anatomy of Peace," which supposes that when our hearts are at war we tend to perpetuate the very problem we are trying to stop. To her credit, Carson addresses this issue too. Pesticides and herbicides often don't work for long because mother nature has a fascinating and mysterious tendency to restore balance and equilibrium. Insects evolve - they grow immune. Weeds grow stronger, and the need for stronger chemicals to kill them becomes apparent.
I'm beginning to sound like Carson myself, so I'll wrap this up. Chemicals - bad. Nature - good. Find natural ways to fight the bugs, or just leave 'em the hell alone and let nature take care of itself. There are some 10 million species of insects in the world. Like Mom says, "God must be an entomologist, to have made so many.""
"Rachel Carson changed the world when she wrote about pesticides poisoning the food web and the environment as a whole. The book spurred a massive battle with petrochemical companies and led to the banning of (domestic) DDT. She also introduced the concept of biocontrol and a partnership approach to environmental issues that was revolutionary - and perceived as somewhat crazy - in 1962. Carson is still an inspiration for women in science and advocacy work, and is proof that one person really can make a difference. Nice to have E.O. Wilson include some writing in this 40th Anniversary edition."
"This amazing breakthrough in ecological thinking is more important today than ever before. It is extremely clear and delightful prose that fearlessly probes the reality of our destruction of our own habitat. Carson does a wonderful job here showing how our "solutions" to "problems" often create far worse problems than we began with. Among the books many revolutionary observations is this: nothing nature exists alone: everything is connected. Heeding Carson's alarming call to attention regarding human-manufactured ecological devastation today might involve addressing the role of such agribusiness corporations as Monsanto, etc."
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