Keith Lyman
Professor Patrick Welsh
AMH2020 – 218620
21 October 2016
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring Book Review In the environmentally historical book Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson, the horrific consequences of insecticide use on the environment and ecosystem are chronicled. Carson’s novel was originally published as a three-part journal article in the New Yorker in June followed by the publication of the book in September of 1962. The book is known for beginning the modern environmental movement, which eventually led to the banning of “the domestic production of DDT and the creation of a grass-roots movement demanding protection of the environment through state and federal regulations” (Carson/Lear 9). Carson used her widespread knowledge …show more content…
Carson explains how humans generally are narrow-minded when it comes to plants: we usually view them as either useful to humans or as weeds. This thought process leads to the overuse of chemicals to destroy plants that people view as weeds. An example of this that Carson uses is in the west, where sage is viewed as an annoyance and therefore is sprayed with herbicides. This sage, however, has multiple benefits to the environment: it is a food source for birds and antelope in the area, it helps maintain the soil’s moisture, and it provides places for small animals to hide. The herbicides also killed the willow trees, which affected the moose and beaver populations, and diminished the population of fish. However, Carson also establishes the idea that people generally do not know who to trust, especially when the statements released by the government and chemical manufacturers contradict that of the conservationists. She advises people when in doubt to trust the wildlife biologists. Carson uses many other examples from all over the United States where chemicals severely impacted the environment and devastated some …show more content…
The use of chemical agents in a sense can make some species more resilient because they cause a Darwinian-type response from the species. Carson writes that the pesticides actually kill off the weaker of the species and allow the stronger to reproduce and create even stronger and more resilient offspring. The populations of the targeted species end up explosively rebounding in some cases, which causes an even larger “problem” than originally. The species that are targeted with chemical agents are developing resistance at a drastically high rate, which causes more chemicals to be created, and thus creates a never-ending