Rachel Carson: Silent Spring

“We are rightly appalled by the genetic effects of radiation; how then, can we be indifferent to the same effect in chemicals we disseminate widely in our environment?" - Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962)

"The "control of nature" is a phrase conceived in arrogance, born of the Neanderthal age of biology and the convenience of man." - Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962)

Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 - April 14, 1964), born on a family farm outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was a marine biologist whose book Silent Spring is credited with having launched the global environmental movement. Silent Spring, published September 22, 1962, had an immense effect in the United States, where it spurred a re-evaluation of the national pesticide policy. Carson's work directly led to the banning of DDT and the first modern environmental movement. She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on June 9, 1980.