This Day in History: 1962-09-27

Silent Spring is published this day in 1962 by Rachel Carson, an author and biologist. Sections of the book had been published that previous spring and summer by the New Yorker, and a full-throated uproar was already underway over her “attack” on American agriculture. It took decades for the book to be seen as an appropriate and cautionary tale, and today, most people understand Carson’s point on overuse of pesticides. Some say that Carson “started” the environmental movement, and of course, that would depend on how the word “environmental” is defined. A vigorous conservation and anti-pollution effort was already emerging in the US during the 20th century, and, as this Timeline demonstrates, concerns about public health are longstanding in human history. It’s true that Carson added a huge amount of momentum and struck the right note in her book. It’s also true that the audience was ready for her message. Time Magazine and the New York Times have fairly good articles on the 50th anniversary of Silent Spring in 2012. Also, a new book about Carsonby William Souder is now available. One thing to note: There is a stubborn fringe movement that insists that she killed more people than Attila the Hun because her work led to the banning of pesticides like DDT. Actually, Carson never advocated a total ban on DDT, saving it (when effective) for human health use and the fight against malaria mosquitoes. Nor was it ever really banned. DDT is also accepted for human health and the fight against malaria by the Stockholm convention, which is the international treaty banning agricultural use of persistent organic pollutants. But drenching fields with chemicals, when other approaches such as IPM are far more effective, is what Carson and the environmental movement objected to. Carson was, and remains, an environmental hero.