View source for Silent Spring

{{Short description|Book by Rachel Carson about pesticides harming the environment}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox book |
| name = Silent Spring
| image = SilentSpring.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Cover of the first edition
| author = [[Rachel Carson]]
| cover_artist =
| country = United States
| language = English
| subjects = {{hlist | [[Pesticide]]s | [[ecology]] | [[environmentalism]]}}
| published = September 27, 1962 ([[Houghton Mifflin]])
| media_type = Print (hardcover {{·}} paperback)
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}
'''''Silent Spring''''' is an [[environmental science]] book by [[Rachel Carson]].<ref name=McLaughlin>{{cite web |author=McLaughlin, Dorothy |title=Fooling with Nature: ''Silent Spring'' Revisited |work= [[Frontline (American TV program)|Frontline]] |publisher= WGBH, PBS |url= https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/nature/disrupt/sspring.html |access-date=August 24, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100310174306/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/nature/disrupt/sspring.html |archive-date=March 10, 2010 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Published on September 27, 1962, the book documented the environmental harm caused by the indiscriminate use of [[DDT]], a [[pesticide]] used by soldiers during World War II. Carson accused the [[chemical industry]] of spreading [[disinformation]], and public officials of accepting the industry's [[marketing claim]]s unquestioningly.

In the late 1950s, Carson began to work on environmental [[conservation (ethic)|conservation]], especially environmental problems that she believed were caused by [[Synthetic chemical|synthetic]] pesticides. The result of her research was ''Silent Spring'', which brought environmental concerns to the American public. The book was met with fierce opposition by chemical companies, but it swayed public opinion and led to a reversal in US pesticide policy, a nationwide [[DDT#United States ban|ban]] on DDT for [[Agriculture|agricultural uses]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://iaspub.epa.gov/trs/trs_proc_qry.navigate_term?p_term_id=6719&p_term_cd=TERM |title=DDT |publisher= [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]]| website= epa.gov| location= US |access-date=November 4, 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071022152858/http://iaspub.epa.gov/trs/trs_proc_qry.navigate_term?p_term_id=6719&p_term_cd=TERM |archive-date=October 22, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and an [[environmental movement]] that led to the creation of the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|US Environmental Protection Agency]].<ref name=CarsonPaull>{{cite journal| last= Paull| first= John | date= July–September 2013| url= http://orgprints.org/22934/7/22934.pdf| title= The Rachel Carson Letters and the Making of ''Silent Spring''| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20131103230258/http://orgprints.org/22934/7/22934.pdf |archivedate=2013-11-03 |work= Sage Open| number= 3 | pages= 1–12| access-date= | via= orgprints.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine| last= Glausiusz| first= Josie |date= November 2007| title= Better Planet: Can A Maligned Pesticide Save Lives?| work= Discover| page= 34| url= }}</ref>

In 2006, ''Silent Spring'' was named one of the 25 greatest [[science book]]s of all time by the editors of [[Discover (magazine)|''Discover'' magazine]].<ref name="discovermagazine.com">{{cite journal |title=25 Greatest Science Books of All Time |magazine=Discover |date= December 8, 2006 |url= https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/25-greatest-science-books-of-all-time |access-date=2008-10-08 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090129181222/http://discovermagazine.com/2006/dec/25-greatest-science-books/article_view?b_start:int=1&page=2 |archive-date=2009-01-29 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Research and writing==
[[image:Rachel-Carson.jpg|right|upright=0.9|thumb|Rachel Carson, 1940 <br />[[United States Fish and Wildlife Service|Fish and Wildlife Service]] employee photo]]

In the mid-1940s, Carson became concerned about the use of synthetic pesticides, many of which had been developed through the [[military funding of science]] after [[World War II]]. The United States Department of Agriculture's 1957 [[fire ant]] eradication program, which involved aerial spraying of [[DDT]] and other pesticides mixed with [[fuel oil]] and included the spraying of private land, prompted Carson to devote her research, and her next book, to pesticides and environmental poisons.<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|loc=Ch. 14}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Murphy|2005|loc=Ch. 1}}</ref> Landowners in Long Island filed a suit to have the spraying stopped, and many in affected regions followed the case closely.<ref name=CarsonPaull/> Though the suit was lost, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] granted petitioners the right to gain injunctions against potential environmental damage in the future, laying the basis for later environmental actions.<ref name=CarsonPaull/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ellsworthmaine.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12535&Itemid=47 |title=Obituary of Marjorie Spock |publisher=Ellsworthmaine.com |date=January 30, 2008 |access-date=March 16, 2009 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Greene|first1=Jennifer|title=Obituary for Marjorie Spock|journal=Newsletter of the Portland Branch of Anthroposophical Society in Portland, Oregon|date=February 2008|volume=4|issue=2|page=7|url=http://www.portlandanthroposophy.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/February2008PortlandBranchNewsletter.pdf|access-date=29 August 2015|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150829182612/http://www.portlandanthroposophy.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/February2008PortlandBranchNewsletter.pdf|archive-date=29 August 2015}}</ref>

The impetus for ''Silent Spring'' was a letter written in January 1958 by Carson's friend, [[Olga Huckins|Olga Owens Huckins]], to ''[[The Boston Herald]]'', describing the death of birds around her property in [[Duxbury]], Massachusetts, resulting from the aerial spraying of DDT to kill mosquitoes, a copy of which Huckins sent to Carson.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Matthiessen |first=Peter |title=Courage for the Earth: Writers, Scientists, and Activists Celebrate the Life and Writing of Rachel Carson |page=[https://archive.org/details/courageforearthw00matt/page/135 135] |publisher=Mariner Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-618-87276-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/courageforearthw00matt/page/135 }}</ref><ref name="Himaras07">{{Cite news |last=Himaras |first=Eleni |date=May 26, 2007 |title=Rachel's Legacy – Rachel Carson's groundbreaking 'Silent Spring' |work=The Patriot Ledger |location=Quincy, Massachusetts}}</ref> Carson later wrote that this letter prompted her to study the environmental problems caused by the overuse of chemical pesticides.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wishart |first=Adam |url=https://archive.org/details/oneinthreesonsjo00wish/page/82 |title=One in Three: A Son's Journey Into the History and Science of Cancer |publisher=Grove Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-8021-1840-0 |location=New York, New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/oneinthreesonsjo00wish/page/82 82] |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hynes |first=H. Patricia |title =Perspective on the Environment – Unfinished Business: 'Silent Spring' On the 30th anniversary of Rachel Carson's indictment of DDT, pesticides still threaten human life |page=7 (Metro Section) |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=September 10, 1992 }}</ref>

The [[Audubon Naturalist Society]] actively opposed chemical spraying programs and recruited Carson to help publicize the US government's spraying practices and related research.<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=312–317}}</ref> Carson began the four-year project of ''Silent Spring'' by gathering examples of environmental damage attributed to DDT. She tried to enlist essayist [[E. B. White]] and a number of journalists and scientists to her cause. By 1958, Carson had arranged a book deal, with plans to co-write with ''[[Newsweek]]'' science journalist Edwin Diamond. However, when ''The New Yorker'' commissioned a long and well-paid article on the topic from Carson, she began considering writing more than the introduction and conclusion as planned; soon it became a solo project. Diamond would later write one of the harshest critiques of ''Silent Spring''.<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=317–327}}</ref>

As her research progressed, Carson found a sizable community of scientists who were documenting the physiological and environmental effects of pesticides.<ref name=CarsonPaull/> She took advantage of her personal connections with many government scientists, who supplied her with confidential information on the subject. From reading the scientific literature and interviewing scientists, Carson found two scientific camps: those who dismissed the possible danger of pesticide spraying barring conclusive proof, and those who were open to the possibility of harm and willing to consider alternative methods, such as [[biological pest control]].<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=327–336}}</ref>

[[File:16-p-1402-2 Fire Ants on Trial.webm|thumb|thumbtime=00:48|right|upright=1.15|''Fire Ants on Trial'' – public service film produced by the [[USDA]]]]
By 1959, the [[USDA]]'s [[Agricultural Research Service]] responded to the criticism by Carson and others with a public service film, ''Fire Ants on Trial''; Carson called it "flagrant propaganda" that ignored the dangers that spraying pesticides posed to humans and wildlife. That spring, Carson wrote a letter, published in ''[[The Washington Post]]'', that attributed the recent decline in bird populations{{mdash}}in her words, the "silencing of birds"{{mdash}}to pesticide overuse.<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=342–346}}</ref> The same year, the 1957, 1958, and 1959 crops of US [[cranberry|cranberries]] were found to contain high levels of the herbicide [[aminotriazole]] and the sale of all cranberry products was halted. Carson attended the ensuing FDA hearings on revising pesticide regulations; she was discouraged by the aggressive tactics of the chemical industry representatives, which included expert testimony that was firmly contradicted by the bulk of the scientific literature she had been studying. She also wondered about the possible "financial inducements behind certain pesticide programs".<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=358–361}}</ref>

Research at the [[United States National Library of Medicine|National Library of Medicine]] of the [[National Institutes of Health]] brought Carson into contact with medical researchers investigating the gamut of cancer-causing chemicals. Of particular significance was the work of [[National Cancer Institute]] researcher and founding director of the environmental cancer section [[Wilhelm Hueper]], who classified many pesticides as [[carcinogens]]. Carson and her research assistant Jeanne Davis, with the help of NIH librarian Dorothy Algire, found evidence to support the pesticide-cancer connection; to Carson the evidence for the toxicity of a wide array of synthetic pesticides was clear-cut, though such conclusions were very controversial beyond the small community of scientists studying pesticide [[carcinogenesis]].<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=355–358}}</ref>

By 1960, Carson had sufficient research material and the writing was progressing rapidly. She had investigated hundreds of individual incidents of pesticide exposure and the resulting human sickness and ecological damage. In January 1960, she suffered an illness which kept her bedridden for weeks, delaying the book. As she was nearing full recovery in March, she discovered cysts in her left breast, requiring a [[mastectomy]]. By December that year, Carson discovered that she had breast cancer, which had [[metastasized]].<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=360–368}}</ref> Her research was also delayed by revision work for a new edition of ''[[The Sea Around Us]]'', and by a collaborative photo essay with [[Erich Hartmann (photographer)|Erich Hartmann]].<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=372–373}}</ref> Most of the research and writing was done by the fall of 1960, except for a discussion of recent research on [[biological controls]] and investigations of some new pesticides. However, further health troubles delayed the final revisions in 1961 and early 1962.<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=376–377}}</ref>

The work's title was inspired by a poem by [[John Keats]], "[[La Belle Dame sans Merci]]", which contained the lines "The sedge is wither'd from the lake, And no birds sing."<ref>{{cite journal |author=Coates, Peter A. |title=The Strange Stillness of the Past: Toward an Environmental History of Sound and Noise |journal=Environmental History |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=636–665 |date=October 2005 |doi=10.1093/envhis/10.4.636 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> "Silent Spring" was initially suggested as a title for the chapter on birds. By August 1961, Carson agreed to the suggestion of her literary agent Marie Rodell: ''Silent Spring'' would be a metaphorical title for the entire book{{mdash}}suggesting a bleak future for the whole natural world{{mdash}}rather than a literal chapter title about the absence of birdsong.<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=375, 377–378, 386–387, 389}}</ref> With Carson's approval, editor Paul Brooks at [[Houghton Mifflin]] arranged for illustrations by [[Louis Darling|Louis]] and [[Lois Darling]], who also designed the cover. The final writing was the first chapter, "A Fable for Tomorrow", which was intended to provide the fact that something like the story in the book could happen any time in the near future. By mid-1962, Brooks and Carson had largely finished the editing and were planning to promote the book by sending the manuscript to select individuals for final suggestions.<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=390–397}}</ref> In ''Silent Spring'', Carson relied on evidence from two New York state organic farmers, [[Marjorie Spock]] and Mary Richards, and that of [[biodynamic farming]] advocate [[Ehrenfried Pfeiffer]] in developing her case against DDT.<ref name=CarsonPaull/>

==Content==
The overarching theme of ''Silent Spring'' is the powerful{{mdash}}and often negative{{mdash}}effect humans have on the natural world.<ref name="Lytle 2007 166–7">{{harvnb|Lytle|2007|pp=166–167}}</ref> Carson's main argument is that pesticides have detrimental effects on the environment; she says these are more properly termed "[[biocide]]s" because their effects are rarely limited to solely targeting pests. DDT is a prime example, but other synthetic pesticides{{mdash}}many of which are subject to [[bioaccumulation]]{{mdash}}are scrutinized. Carson accuses the chemical industry of intentionally spreading disinformation and public officials of accepting industry claims uncritically. Most of the book is devoted to pesticides' effects on natural ecosystems, but four chapters detail cases of human [[pesticide poisoning]], cancer, and other illnesses attributed to pesticides.<ref>{{harvnb|Lytle|2007|pp=166–172}}</ref> About DDT and cancer, Carson says only:

{{blockquote|In laboratory tests on animal subjects, DDT has produced suspicious liver tumors. Scientists of the Food and Drug Administration who reported the discovery of these tumors were uncertain how to classify them, but felt there was some "justification for considering them low grade hepatic cell carcinomas". Dr.&nbsp;Hueper [author of ''Occupational Tumors and Allied Diseases''] now gives DDT the definite rating of a "chemical carcinogen".<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|1962|p=225}}</ref>}}

Carson predicts increased consequences in the future, especially since targeted pests may develop [[resistance to pesticides]] and weakened ecosystems fall prey to unanticipated invasive species. The book closes with a call for a [[biotic material|biotic]] approach to pest control as an alternative to chemical pesticides.<ref>{{harvnb|Lytle|2007|pp=169, 173}}</ref>

Carson never called for an outright ban on DDT. She said in ''Silent Spring'' that even if DDT and other insecticides had no environmental side effects, their indiscriminate overuse was counterproductive because it would create insect resistance to pesticides, making them useless in eliminating the target insect populations:

{{blockquote|No responsible person contends that insect-borne disease should be ignored. The question that has now urgently presented itself is whether it is either wise or responsible to attack the problem by methods that are rapidly making it worse. The world has heard much of the triumphant war against disease through the control of insect vectors of infection, but it has heard little of the other side of the story—the defeats, the short-lived triumphs that now strongly support the alarming view that the insect enemy has been made actually stronger by our efforts. Even worse, we may have destroyed our very means of fighting.<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|1962|p=266}}</ref>}}

Carson also said that "Malaria programmes are threatened by resistance among mosquitoes",<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|1962|p=267}}</ref> and quoted the advice given by the director of Holland's Plant Protection Service: "Practical advice should be 'Spray as little as you possibly can' rather than 'Spray to the limit of your capacity'. Pressure on the pest population should always be as slight as possible."<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|1962|p=275}}</ref>

=== Politics ===
At the time the book was written, environmental issues were excluded from mainstream political conversation in America.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carson |first=Rachel |title=Silent Spring |pages=348}}</ref> However, Carson believed that governments should consider what environmental impact a policy may have before implementing it; for example, in chapter 10 she describes a pesticide program from 1957 that was intended to control the spread of fire ants:<blockquote>With the development of chemicals of broad lethal powers, there came a sudden change in the official attitude towards the fire ant. In 1957 the United States Department of Agriculture launched one of the most remarkable publicity campaigns in its history. The fire ant suddenly became the target of a barrage of government releases, motion pictures, and government-inspired stories portraying it as a despoiler of southern agriculture and a killer of birds, livestock, and man. A mighty campaign was announced, in which the federal government in cooperation with the afflicted states would ultimately treat some 20,000,000 acres in nine southern states.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carson |first=Rachel |title=Silent Spring |pages=177}}</ref></blockquote>Despite calls from experts to consider the damage using the pesticides could bring to the environment, the Agriculture Department dismissed the objections and continued on with the program:<blockquote>Urgent protests were made by most of the state conservation departments, by national conservation agencies, and by ecologists and even by some entomologists, calling upon the then Secretary of Agriculture, [[Ezra Taft Benson|Ezra Benson]], to delay the program at least until some research had been done to determine the effects of heptachlor and dieldrin on wild and domestic animals and to find the minimum amount that would control the ants. The protests were ignored and the program was launched in 1958. A million acres were treated the first year. It was clear that any research would be in the nature of a post mortem.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carson |first=Rachel |title=Silent Spring |pages=180–181}}</ref></blockquote>After the program, an increased number of birds, cattle, horses and other wildlife were found dead in the areas where the pesticides had been sprayed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carson |first=Rachel |title=Silent Spring |pages=181–185}}</ref> To make matters worse, the heptachlor and dieldrin sprayed accomplished nothing, instead creating more infested areas.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carson |first=Rachel |title=Silent Spring |pages=187}}</ref> Had the government researched the impact the chemicals could have on wildlife they could have prevented the deaths and environmental damage and saved the taxpayer's money.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carson |first=Rachel |title=Silent Spring |pages=186}}</ref> Overall, ''Silent Spring'' not only uncovered the many negative effects pesticides have on the environment but also asked for environmental issues to be discussed and treated seriously within the political sphere.

==Promotion and reception==
Carson and the others involved with publication of ''Silent Spring'' expected fierce criticism and were concerned about the possibility of being sued for [[libel]]. Carson was undergoing [[radiation therapy]] for her cancer and expected to have little energy to defend her work and respond to critics. In preparation for the anticipated attacks, Carson and her agent attempted to amass prominent supporters before the book's release.<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=397–400}}</ref>

Most of the book's scientific chapters were reviewed by scientists with relevant expertise, among whom Carson found strong support. Carson attended the [[White House]] Conference on Conservation in May 1962; Houghton Mifflin distributed proof copies of ''Silent Spring'' to many of the delegates and promoted the upcoming serialization in ''[[The New Yorker]]''. Carson also sent a proof copy to Supreme Court Associate Justice [[William O. Douglas]], a long-time environmental advocate who had argued against the court's rejection of the Long Island pesticide spraying case and had provided Carson with some of the material included in her chapter on herbicides.<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=375, 377, 400–407}}. Douglas's dissenting opinion on the rejection of the case, ''Robert Cushman Murphy et al., v. Butler et al.'', from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, is from March 28, 1960.</ref>

Though ''Silent Spring'' had generated a fairly high level of interest based on pre-publication promotion, this became more intense with its serialization, which began in the June 16, 1962, issue.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6fAP6Fjx-Y&t=10m15s ''The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126131242/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6fAP6Fjx-Y&t=10m15s |date=2022-01-26 }} (CBS Reports, with Erik Sevareid, aired on Apr 3, 1963, published to YouTube on Jan 28, 2017)</ref> This brought the book to the attention of the chemical industry and its lobbyists, as well as the American public. Around that time, Carson learned that ''Silent Spring'' had been selected as the [[Book of the Month]] for October; she said this would "carry it to farms and hamlets all over that country that don't know what a bookstore looks like{{mdash}}much less ''The New Yorker''".<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=407–408}}. Quotation (p. 408) from a June 13, 1962, letter from Carson to Dorothy Freeman.</ref> Other publicity included a positive editorial in ''[[The New York Times]]'' and excerpts of the serialized version were published in ''Audubon Magazine''. There was another round of publicity in July and August as chemical companies responded. The story of the birth defect-causing drug [[thalidomide]] had broken just before the book's publication, inviting comparisons between Carson and [[Frances Oldham Kelsey]], the [[Food and Drug Administration]] reviewer who had blocked the drug's sale in the United States.<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=409–413}}</ref>

In the weeks before the September 27, 1962, publication, there was strong opposition to ''Silent Spring'' from the chemical industry. [[DuPont]], a major manufacturer of DDT and [[2,4-D]], and [[Velsicol Chemical Company]], the only manufacturer of [[chlordane]] and [[heptachlor]], were among the first to respond. DuPont compiled an extensive report on the book's press coverage and estimated impact on public opinion. Velsicol threatened legal action against Houghton Mifflin, and ''The New Yorker'' and ''Audubon Magazine'' unless their planned ''Silent Spring'' features were canceled. Chemical industry representatives and lobbyists lodged a range of non-specific complaints, some anonymously. Chemical companies and associated organizations produced brochures and articles promoting and defending pesticide use. However, Carson's and the publishers' lawyers were confident in the vetting process ''Silent Spring'' had undergone. The magazine and book publications proceeded as planned, as did the large Book-of-the-Month printing, which included a pamphlet by William O. Douglas endorsing the book.<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=412–420}}</ref>

[[American Cyanamid]] biochemist [[Robert White-Stevens]] and former Cyanamid chemist [[Thomas H. Jukes|Thomas Jukes]] were among the most aggressive critics, especially of Carson's analysis of DDT.<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=433–434}}</ref> According to White-Stevens, "If man were to follow the teachings of Miss Carson, we would return to the Dark Ages, and the insects and diseases and vermin would once again inherit the earth".<ref name=McLaughlin/> Others attacked Carson's personal character and scientific credentials, her training being in marine biology rather than biochemistry. White-Stevens called her "a fanatic defender of the cult of the balance of nature".<ref>Quoted in {{harvnb|Lear|1997|p=434}}</ref> According to historian [[Linda Lear]] the former US Secretary of Agriculture [[Ezra Taft Benson]], asked in a letter to former President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], "Why a spinster with no children was so concerned about genetics?" Benson's conclusion was Carson was "probably a Communist".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Paull |first=John |date=2013-07-01 |title=The Rachel Carson Letters and the Making of Silent Spring |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244013494861 |journal=[[SAGE Open]] |publisher=[[Sage Publishing]] |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=215824401349486 |doi=10.1177/2158244013494861 |issn=2158-2440 |archive-date=2023-09-08 |access-date=2024-04-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230908154146/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244013494861 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=429,573}} The purported letter from Benson to Eisenhower was also reported by historian [[Blanche Wiesen Cook]] in 1992, but could not be located in Eisenhower's archives; author Frank Graham Jr. in 1970 credited a "disgruntled member of the Federal Pest Control Review Board" as the source.</ref>

Monsanto published 5,000 copies of a parody called "The Desolate Year" (1962) which projected a world of famine and disease caused by banning pesticides.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Professional entomology and the 44 noisy years since Silent Spring. Part 2: Response to Silent Spring|author1=Krupke, C.H.|author2=Prasad, R.P.|author3=Anelli, C.M.|journal=American Entomologist|year=2007|pages=16–25|volume=53|issue=1|url=http://entomology.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Krupke-et-al-2007.pdf|doi=10.1093/ae/53.1.16|access-date=May 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213173334/http://entomology.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Krupke-et-al-2007.pdf|archive-date=February 13, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Many critics repeatedly said Carson was calling for the elimination of all pesticides, but she had made it clear she was not advocating this but was instead encouraging responsible and carefully managed use with an awareness of the chemicals' impact on ecosystems.<ref>{{harvnb|Murphy|2005|p=9}}</ref> She concludes her section on DDT in ''Silent Spring'' with advice for spraying as little as possible to limit the development of resistance.<ref>Carson, ''Silent Spring'', p. 275</ref> [[Mark Hamilton Lytle]] writes, Carson "quite self-consciously decided to write a book calling into question the [[paradigm]] of [[scientific progress]] that defined [[postwar]] American culture".<ref name="Lytle 2007 166–7"/>

The academic community{{mdash}}including prominent defenders such as [[H. J. Muller]], [[Loren Eiseley]], [[Clarence Cottam]] and [[Frank Egler]]{{mdash}}mostly backed the book's scientific claims and public opinion backed Carson's text. The chemical industry campaign was counterproductive because the controversy increased public awareness of the potential dangers of pesticides, an early example of the [[Streisand Effect]]. Pesticide use became a major public issue after a ''[[CBS Reports]]'' television special, ''The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson'', which was broadcast on April 3, 1963. The program included segments of Carson reading from ''Silent Spring'' and interviews with other experts, mostly critics including White-Stevens. According to biographer [[Linda Lear]], "in juxtaposition to the wild-eyed, loud-voiced Dr. Robert White-Stevens in white lab coat, Carson appeared anything but the hysterical alarmist that her critics contended".<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=437–449}}; quotation from 449.</ref> Reactions from the estimated audience of ten to fifteen million were overwhelmingly positive and the program spurred a congressional review of pesticide hazards and the public release of a pesticide report by the [[President's Science Advisory Committee]].<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=449–450}}</ref> Within a year of publication, attacks on the book and on Carson had lost momentum.<ref name="time100">[http://www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/carson03.html The Time 100: Scientists and Thinkers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090613014455/http://www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/carson03.html |date=2009-06-13 }}, accessed September 23, 2007</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|p=461}}</ref>

In one of her last public appearances, Carson testified before President [[John F. Kennedy]]'s Science Advisory Committee, which issued its report on May 15, 1963, largely backing Carson's scientific claims.<ref name="nwhm_bio">{{cite web|url=https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/rachel-carson|title=Rachel Carson (1907-1964)|editor-last=Michals|editor-first=Debra|publisher=[[National Women's History Museum]]|location=Alexandria, Virginia|date=2015|access-date=2024-04-21|archive-date=2025-06-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250623023013/https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/rachel-carson|url-status=live}}</ref> Following the report's release, Carson also testified before a [[United States Senate|US Senate]] subcommittee to make policy recommendations. Though Carson received hundreds of other speaking invitations, she was unable to accept most of them because her health was steadily declining, with only brief periods of remission. She spoke as much as she could, and appeared on ''[[Today (NBC program)|The Today Show]]'' and gave speeches at several dinners held in her honor. In late 1963, she received a flurry of awards and honors: the [[Audubon Medal]] from the [[National Audubon Society]], the [[Cullum Geographical Medal]] from the [[American Geographical Society]], and induction into the [[American Academy of Arts and Letters]].<ref>{{harvnb|Lear|1997|pp=451–461, 469–473}}</ref>
Of Carson, Maria Popova wrote, "Her lyrical writing rendered her not a mere translator of the natural world, but an alchemist transmuting the steel of science into the gold of wonder."<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Popova|first1=Maria|url=https://www.brainpickings.org/2017/01/27/rachel-carson-silent-spring-dorothy-freeman/|title=The Writing of "Silent Spring": Rachel Carson and the Culture-Shifting Courage to Speak Inconvenient Truth to Power|date=27 January 2017| website= Brain Pickings| access-date= 10 September 2019 }}</ref>

==Translations==

The book was translated into many languages including German, French, Dutch, Japanese, Russian and Italian.

*German: ''Der stumme Frühling'', first edition 1963.<ref>1963: Bertelsmann Verlagsgruppe, with an afterword written by Theo Löbsack. 2nd ed. in 1964: Biederstein Verlag; 3rd ed. 1965: Büchergilde Gutenberg. 1968: first paperback edition (dtv).</ref>

*French: ''Printemps silencieux'', first edition 1963.<ref>Plon ed. <!--- http://www.amazon.fr/Printemps-silencieux-Carson-Rachel/dp/B0000DOI76/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408862964&sr=1-3&keywords=Le+printemps+silencieux ---></ref>

*Dutch: ''Dode lente'', first edition 1964 or 1962<ref>{{cite web |url=http://worldcat.org/ |title=Home |website=Worldcat.org |access-date=2022-08-07 |archive-date=2010-05-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100501181110/http://www.worldcat.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

*Japanese: ''生と死の妙薬'', first edition 1964.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Rachel |first1=Carson |url=https://iss.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000039-I000754355-00 |title=生と死の妙薬 : 自然均衡の破壊者化学薬品 |last2=簗一 |first2=青樹 |date=1964 |publisher=新潮社 |location=東京 |archive-date=2022-05-14 |access-date=2022-05-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514103557/https://iss.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000039-I000754355-00 |url-status=live }}</ref> Successive prints post-2001 titled ''沈黙の春''

*Russian: ''{{lang|ru|Безмолвная весна}}'', first edition 1965.<ref>{{cite book |last=Карсон |first=Рахиль |date=1965 |title=Безмолвная весна : пер. с англ. |trans-title=Silent Spring |language=ru |location=Москва |publisher=Прогресс }}</ref>

*Swedish: ''Tyst vår'', first edition 1963.

*Chinese: ''寂静的春天'', first edition 1979.<ref name="finance.sina.cn 2022 t182">{{cite web | title=《寂静的春天》出版琐记 | website=finance.sina.cn | date=10 Jun 2022 | url=https://finance.sina.cn/tech/2022-06-10/detail-imizirau7546728.d.html | language=zh | access-date=1 Jan 2024 | archive-date=1 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240101172123/https://finance.sina.cn/tech/2022-06-10/detail-imizirau7546728.d.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

*Italian: ''Primavera silenziosa''.<ref>Feltrinelli, 2 edizione, YYYY</ref> 

*Spanish: ''Primavera silenciosa''.<ref>Editorial Crítica, 2010, {{ISBN|978-8498920918}}</ref>

*Danish: ''Det Tavse Forår''.

*Finnish: ''Äänetön kevät'', first edition 1962, after parts of the book were published in an 8-part article series by the largest subscription newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat (Helsinki times/news), earlier that year.

==Impact==

===Grassroots environmentalism and the EPA===
Carson's work had a powerful impact on the environmental movement. ''Silent Spring'' became a rallying point for the new social movement in the 1960s. According to environmental engineer and Carson scholar H. Patricia Hynes, "''Silent Spring'' altered the balance of power in the world. No one since would be able to sell [[pollution]] as the necessary underside of progress so easily or uncritically."<ref>{{harvnb|Hynes|1989|p=3}}</ref> Carson's work and the activism it inspired are partly responsible for the [[deep ecology]] movement and the strength of the grassroots environmental movement since the 1960s. It was also influential to the rise of [[ecofeminism]] and to many [[feminist]] scientists.<ref>{{harvnb|Hynes|1989|pp=8–9}}</ref> Carson's most direct legacy in the environmental movement was the campaign to ban the use of DDT in the United States, and related efforts to ban or limit its use throughout the world. The 1967 formation of the [[Environmental Defense Fund]] was the first major milestone in the campaign against DDT. The organization brought lawsuits against the government to "establish a citizen's right to a clean environment", and the arguments against DDT largely mirrored Carson's. By 1972, the Environmental Defense Fund and other activist groups had succeeded in securing a phase-out of DDT use in the United States, except in emergency cases.<ref>{{harvnb|Hynes|1989|pp=46–47}}</ref>

The creation of the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] by the [[Nixon Administration]] in 1970 addressed another concern that Carson had written about. Until then, the USDA was responsible both for regulating pesticides and promoting the concerns of the agriculture industry; Carson saw this as a [[conflict of interest]] (COI), since the agency was not responsible for effects on wildlife or other environmental concerns beyond farm policy. Fifteen years after its creation, one journalist described the EPA as "the extended shadow of ''Silent Spring''". Much of the agency's early work, such as enforcement of the 1972 [[Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act]], was directly related to Carson's work.<ref>{{harvnb|Hynes|1989|pp=47–48, 148–163}}</ref> Contrary to the position of the pesticide industry, the DDT phase-out action taken by the EPA (led by [[William Ruckelshaus]]) implied that there was no way to adequately regulate DDT use. Ruckelshaus' conclusion was that DDT could not be used safely.<ref>George M. Woodwell, Broken Eggshells, ''Science 84'', November.</ref> History professor Gary Kroll wrote, "Rachel Carson's ''Silent Spring'' played a large role in articulating ecology as a 'subversive subject'{{mdash}}as a perspective that cuts against the grain of materialism, [[scientism]], and the technologically engineered control of nature."<ref>Gary Kroll, [http://onlineethics.org/CMS/profpractice/exempindex/carsonindex/kroll.aspx "Rachel Carson-''Silent Spring''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715160311/http://onlineethics.org/CMS/profpractice/exempindex/carsonindex/kroll.aspx |date=2007-07-15 }}: A Brief History of Ecology as a Subversive Subject". Onlineethics.org: National Academy of Engineering. Retrieved November 4, 2007.</ref>

In a 2013 interview, Ruckelshaus briefly recounted his decision to ban DDT except for emergency uses, noting that Carson's book featured DDT and for that reason the issue drew considerable public attention.<ref>EPA Alumni Association: EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus and some of his closest aides recall the DDT ban decision, [http://www.epaalumni.org/history/video/interview.cfm?id=16 Video] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011072603/http://www.epaalumni.org/history/video/interview.cfm?id=16 |date=2016-10-11 }}, [http://www.epaalumni.org/userdata/pdf/605EA9C8EF2DD115.pdf#page=13 Transcript] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011224944/http://www.epaalumni.org/userdata/pdf/605EA9C8EF2DD115.pdf#page=13 |date=2016-10-11 }} (see pages 13, 14).</ref>

Former [[Vice President of the United States]] and environmentalist [[Al Gore]] wrote an introduction to the 1992 edition of ''Silent Spring''. He wrote: "''Silent Spring'' had a profound impact&nbsp;...&nbsp;Indeed, Rachel Carson was one of the reasons that I became so conscious of the environment and so involved with environmental issues &nbsp;...&nbsp; [she] has had as much or more effect on me than any, and perhaps than all of them together."<ref name="McLaughlin" />

===Debate over environmentalism and DDT restrictions===
Carson has been targeted by some organizations opposed to the environmental movement, including [[Roger Bate]] of the pro-DDT advocacy group [[Africa Fighting Malaria]] and the libertarian [[think tank]] [[Competitive Enterprise Institute]] (CEI); these sources oppose restrictions on DDT, attribute large numbers of deaths to such restrictions, and argue that Carson was responsible for them.<ref name="Erik"/><ref name="Slate"/><ref>{{harvnb|Lytle|2007|p=217}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Baum|first=Rudy M.|date=June 4, 2007|title=Rachel Carson|journal=Chemical and Engineering News|volume=85|issue=23|page=5|url=http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/cen/85/i23/html/8523editor.html}}</ref> These arguments have been dismissed as "outrageous" by former [[World Health Organization]] scientist Socrates Litsios. May Berenbaum, [[University of Illinois]] entomologist, says, "to blame environmentalists who oppose DDT for more deaths than Hitler is worse than irresponsible".<ref name="salon">{{cite news |first=Kirsten |last=Weir |title=Rachel Carson's birthday bashing |url=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/06/29/rachel_carson/ |work=Salon.com |date=June 29, 2007 |access-date=July 1, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415165815/http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/06/29/rachel_carson/ |archive-date=April 15, 2008 }}</ref> Investigative journalist Adam Sarvana and others characterize this notion as a "myth" promoted principally by Bate.<ref name="NRNS">{{cite news|url=http://www.nrns.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51:bate-and-switch-how-a-free-market-magician-manipulated-two-decades-of-environmental-science-|title=Bate and Switch: How a free-market magician manipulated two decades of environmental science|last=Sarvana|first=Adam|date=May 28, 2009|publisher=Natural Resources New Service|access-date=June 2, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524144406/http://www.nrns.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51%3Abate-and-switch-how-a-free-market-magician-manipulated-two-decades-of-environmental-science-|archive-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Guts">{{cite book|last=Gutstein|first=Donald|title=Not a Conspiracy Theory: How Business Propaganda Hijacks Democracy|publisher=Key Porter Books|date= 2009|isbn=978-1-55470-191-9}}. Relevant excerpt at {{cite magazine |url=https://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2010/01/22/DDTPropaganda/ |title=Inside the DDT Propaganda Machine |last=Gutstein |first=Donald |date=January 22, 2010 |magazine=The Tyee |access-date=January 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100125172424/http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2010/01/22/DDTPropaganda/ |archive-date=January 25, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

In the 1990s and 2000s, campaigns against the book intensified, in part due to efforts by the [[tobacco industry]] to cast larger doubt on science-driven policy as a way of contesting bans on smoking.<ref name="quig"/><ref name="Erik">{{harvnb|Oreskes|Conway|2010|p=217}}</ref> In 2009, the heavily corporate-funded<ref>{{cite news|last1=Eilperin|first1=Juliet|title=Anatomy of a Washington dinner: Who funds the Competitive Enterprise Institute?|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2013/06/20/anatomy-of-a-washington-dinner-who-funds-the-competitive-enterprise-institute/|access-date=25 September 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=June 20, 2013|archive-date=25 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160925054110/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2013/06/20/anatomy-of-a-washington-dinner-who-funds-the-competitive-enterprise-institute/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Guardian 2015">{{cite news|last1=Goldenberg|first1=Suzanne|last2=Bengtsson|first2=Helena|title=Secretive donors gave US climate denial groups $125m over three years|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/09/secretive-donors-gave-us-climate-denial-groups-125m-over-three-years|access-date=30 November 2016|work=The Guardian|date=June 9, 2015|archive-date=30 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130234026/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/09/secretive-donors-gave-us-climate-denial-groups-125m-over-three-years|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/23/AR2006052301305_pf.html |title=The Tempest |work=Washingtonpost.com |date=2006-05-23 |access-date=2015-03-11 |archive-date=2020-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200304033454/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/23/AR2006052301305_pf.html |url-status=live }}</ref> CEI set up a website falsely blaming Carson for deaths to malaria. This triggered a point-by-point rebuttal by biographer William Souder, who reviewed the distortions used by campaigners against ''Silent Spring''.<ref name="Erik"/><ref name="Slate">{{cite news |last= Souder |first= William |date= Sep 4, 2012 |title= Rachel Carson Didn't Kill Millions of Africans |url= http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2012/09/silent_spring_turns_50_biographer_william_souder_clears_up_myths_about_rachel_carson_.html |newspaper= Slate |access-date= March 30, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140422025120/http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2012/09/silent_spring_turns_50_biographer_william_souder_clears_up_myths_about_rachel_carson_.html |archive-date= April 22, 2014 |url-status= live |df= mdy-all }}</ref>

A 2012 review article in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' by Rob Dunn<ref name="dunn_2012">{{cite journal |author=Dunn |first=R. |year=2012 |title=In retrospect: Silent Spring |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=485 |issue=7400 |pages=578–579 |bibcode=2012Natur.485..578D |doi=10.1038/485578a |doi-access=free}}</ref> commemorating the 50th anniversary of ''Silent Spring'' and summarizing the progressive environmental-policy changes made since then, prompted a response in a letter written by [[Anthony Trewavas]] and co-signed by 10 others, including [[Chris J. Leaver|Christopher Leaver]], [[Bruce Ames]] and [[Peter Lachmann]], who quote estimates of 60 to 80 million deaths "as a result of misguided fears based on poorly understood evidence".<ref name="trewavas_2012">{{cite journal | last1=Trewavas |first1=Anthony|author1-link = Anthony Trewavas|first2=Chris J.|last2=Leaver|author2-link=Chris J. Leaver|first3=Bruce|last3=Ames|author3-link=Bruce Ames|last4=Lachmann|first4=Peter|author4-link=Peter Lachmann|last5=Tren|first5=R.|last6=Miller|first6=Henry|author6-link=Henry I. Miller | display-authors = et al | year = 2012 | title = Environment: Carson no 'beacon of reason' on DDT | journal = [[Nature (journal)|Nature]] | volume = 486 | issue = 7404 | page = 473 | doi = 10.1038/486473a | bibcode = 2012Natur.486..473T | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Biographer Hamilton Lytle believes these estimates are unrealistic, even if Carson can be "blamed" for worldwide DDT policies.<ref>{{harvnb|Lytle|2007|pp=220–228}}</ref> [[John Quiggin]] and Tim Lambert wrote, "the most striking feature of the claim against Carson is the ease with which it can be refuted". DDT was never banned for anti-malarial use, and its ban for agricultural use in the United States in 1972 did not apply outside the US nor to anti-malaria spraying.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eac.int/health/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=95%3Aclassification-system&catid=15%3Adiseases&Itemid=32 |title=Malaria Prevention and Control |publisher=East African Community Health |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150108233412/http://www.eac.int/health/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=95%3Aclassification-system&catid=15%3Adiseases&Itemid=32 |archive-date=2015-01-08 }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Oreskes|Conway|2010|p=226}}</ref> The international treaty that banned most uses of DDT and other organochlorine pesticides{{mdash}}the 2001 [[Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants]] (which became effective in 2004){{mdash}}included an exemption for the use of DDT for malaria control until affordable substitutes could be found.<ref name="quig"/> Mass outdoor spraying of DDT was abandoned in poor countries subject to malaria, such as Sri Lanka, in the 1970s and 1980s; this was not because of government prohibitions but because the DDT had lost its ability to kill the mosquitoes.<ref name="quig">{{cite journal |last1=Quiggin |first1=John |last2=Lambert |first2=Tim |date=24 May 2008 |title=Rehabilitating Carson |url=http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2008/05/rehabilitatingcarson/ |url-status=live |journal=Prospect |issue=146 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512125536/http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2008/05/rehabilitatingcarson/ |archive-date=12 May 2012 |access-date=17 March 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Because of insects' very short breeding cycle and large number of offspring, the most resistant insects survive and pass on their genetic traits to their offspring, which replace the pesticide-slain insects relatively rapidly. Agricultural spraying of pesticides produces [[pesticide resistance]] in seven to ten years.<ref>{{harvnb|Oreskes|Conway|2010|pp=223–224}}</ref>

Some experts have said that restrictions placed on the agricultural use of DDT have increased its effectiveness for malaria control. According to pro-DDT advocate [[Amir Attaran]], the result of the (activated in 2004) [[Stockholm Convention]] banning DDT's use in agriculture "is arguably better than the status quo&nbsp;...&nbsp;For the first time, there is now an insecticide which is restricted to vector control only, meaning that the selection of resistant mosquitoes will be slower than before."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome malaria.org - BlueHost.com |url=http://www.malaria.org/DDTpage.html |access-date=2023-07-02 |website=www.malaria.org |archive-date=2010-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101026080133/http://www.malaria.org/DDTpage.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Legacy===
''Silent Spring'' has been featured in many lists of the best nonfiction books of the twentieth century. It was fifth in the [[Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Nonfiction]] and number 78 in the ''[[National Review]]''{{'s}} 100 best non-fiction books of the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1999-05-03 |title=The Non-Fiction 100 |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/1999/05/non-fiction-100/ |access-date=2023-07-02 |website=National Review |language=en-US |archive-date=2015-02-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215165349/http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/215718/non-fiction-100 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2006, ''Silent Spring'' was named one of the 25 greatest science books of all time by the editors of ''[[Discover Magazine]]''.<ref name="discovermagazine.com"/> In 2012, the American Chemical Society designated the legacy of ''Silent Spring'' a [https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/rachel-carson-silent-spring.html National Historic Chemical Landmark] at Chatham University in Pittsburgh.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Historic Chemical Landmarks – American Chemical Society |url=http://www.acs.org/landmarks |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907083641/http://www.acs.org/landmarks |archive-date=September 7, 2008 |access-date=2016-08-24 |website=American Chemical Society}}</ref>

In 1996, a follow-up book, ''Beyond Silent Spring'', co-written by H.&nbsp;F. van Emden and [[David Peakall]], was published.<ref name="Chapman & Hall">{{cite book |title=Beyond silent spring: integrated pest management and chemical safety |publisher=Chapman & Hall |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-412-72810-5 |editor1=Peakall, David B. |location=London |editor2=Van Emden, Helmut Fritz}}</ref><ref name="Richards H 269–270">{{cite journal |author=Richards |first=H. |date=September 1999 |title=Beyond Silent Spring: Integrated Pest Management and Chemical Safety. Edited by H.F. van Emden and D.B. Peakall |journal=Integrated Pest Management Reviews |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=269–270 |doi=10.1023/A:1009686508200 |s2cid=83433090}}</ref>

In 1967, [[George Newson]] composed the tape composition ''Silent Spring'' using birdsong recorded at [[London Zoo]] as source material. It was premiered at the [[Queen Elizabeth Hall]] in January 1968.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.hastingsindependentpress.co.uk/arts/meeting-the-old-master/ |title=Gareth Stevens. 'Meeting the Old Master', ''Hastings Independent'', 25 March, 2022 |access-date=2022-10-20 |archive-date=2022-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020085140/https://www.hastingsindependentpress.co.uk/arts/meeting-the-old-master/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

''Silent Spring'' is mentioned in the 2008 science fiction novel ''[[The Three-Body Problem (novel)|The Three-Body Problem]]'' by [[Liu Cixin]], as well as its [[Three-Body|Tencent 2023]] and [[3 Body Problem (TV series)|Netflix 2024 television series]] adaptations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-22 |title=Is the book Silent Spring, as seen in 3 Body Problem, real? |url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/a60275117/netflix-3-body-problem-silent-spring/ |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]] |archive-date=2024-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240418192501/https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/a60275117/netflix-3-body-problem-silent-spring/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2011, the American composer [[Steven Stucky]] wrote the eponymously titled [[symphonic poem]] [[Silent Spring (composition)|''Silent Spring'']] to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the book's publication. The piece was given its world premiere in [[Pittsburgh]] on February 17, 2012, with the [[Conducting|conductor]] [[Manfred Honeck]] leading the [[Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Druckenbrod |first=Andrew |title=PSO takes hard look at turmoil, both environmental and human |work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |date=February 18, 2012 |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/music-reviews/2012/02/18/PSO-takes-hard-look-at-turmoil-both-environmental-and-human/stories/201202180463 |access-date=May 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518083632/http://www.post-gazette.com/music-reviews/2012/02/18/PSO-takes-hard-look-at-turmoil-both-environmental-and-human/stories/201202180463 |archive-date=May 18, 2015 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Kanny |first=Mark |title=Offerings of 'Silent Spring', venerated material excel |work=[[Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]] |date=February 18, 2012 |url=http://triblive.com//x/pittsburghtrib/ae/music/s_782327.html#axzz3ZoO1ke3V |access-date=May 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518090430/http://triblive.com//x/pittsburghtrib/ae/music/s_782327.html#axzz3ZoO1ke3V |archive-date=May 18, 2015 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Kozinn |first=Allan |title=Capping Off Prokofiev With 'New York, New York' |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 27, 2012 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/arts/music/pittsburgh-symphony-orchestra-at-avery-fisher-hall.html |access-date=May 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150519024239/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/arts/music/pittsburgh-symphony-orchestra-at-avery-fisher-hall.html |archive-date=May 19, 2015 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

Naturalist [[David Attenborough]] has stated that ''Silent Spring'' was probably the book that had changed the scientific world the most, after the ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'' by [[Charles Darwin]].<ref name="BI2014">{{cite web | last=Thomsen | first=Simon | title=Sir David Attenborough Did A Reddit Q&A: Worst Thing He's Seen? Chimps Killing Monkeys | website=Business Insider Australia | date=2014-01-09 | url=http://www.businessinsider.com.au/sir-david-attenborough-did-a-qa-on-reddit-worst-thing-hes-ever-seen-is-chimps-killing-monkeys-2014-1 | access-date=2016-03-01 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306110225/http://www.businessinsider.com.au/sir-david-attenborough-did-a-qa-on-reddit-worst-thing-hes-ever-seen-is-chimps-killing-monkeys-2014-1 | archive-date=March 6, 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
<!-- Please keep entries in alphabetical order & add a short description [[WP:SEEALSO]] -->
{{div col|colwidth=25em|small=no}}
* ''[[Blessed Unrest]]'' (2007), by [[Paul Hawken]]
* ''[[Our Stolen Future]]'' (1996), by [[Theo Colburn]], et al.
* ''[[Our Synthetic Environment]]'' (1962), by [[Murray Bookchin]]
* ''[[Pandora's Box (British TV series)|Pandora's Box]]'' (1992), by [[Adam Curtis]]
* ''[[The Closing Circle]]'' (1971), by [[Barry Commoner]]
* ''[[The Everglades: River of Grass]]'' (1947), by [[Marjory Stoneman Douglas]]
* [[Bioaccumulation]]
* [[Biomagnification]]
* [[Chemosterilant]]
* [[Earth Strike]]
* [[Silent Spring Institute]]
* [[Sterile insect technique]]
* [[Toxins]]
{{div col end}}
<!-- please keep entries in alphabetical order -->

==References==
{{Reflist|25em}}

==Sources and further reading==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* Berry-Cabán, Cristóbal S. "DDT and silent spring: fifty years after". ''Journal of Military and Veterans' Health''  19 (2011): 19–24. [https://jmvh.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/JMVH-Vol19-No4_Cristobal.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308140633/https://jmvh.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/JMVH-Vol19-No4_Cristobal.pdf |date=2021-03-08 }}
* Brinkley, Douglas. ''[[Silent Spring Revolution|Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening]]'' (2022) [https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Spring-Revolution-Environmental-Awakening/dp/0063212919/ excerpt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221217203428/https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Spring-Revolution-Environmental-Awakening/dp/0063212919 |date=2022-12-17 }}
* {{cite book |last=Carson |first=Rachel |date=1962 |title=Silent Spring |url=https://archive.org/details/silentspring0000cars |url-access=registration |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company }}
** ''Silent Spring & Other Writings'' (Library of America, 2018)
** {{cite book |author=Carson, Rachel |title=Silent Spring |publisher=Mariner Books |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-618-24906-0 |orig-year=1st. Pub. Houghton Mifflin, 1962 |url=https://archive.org/details/silentspring00cars_1 }} ''Silent Spring'' initially appeared serialized in three parts in the June 16, June 23, and June 30, 1962, issues of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' magazine
* Dunlap, Thomas, ed. ''DDT, Silent Spring, and the Rise of Environmentalism'' (University of Washington Press, 2008),
* {{cite book |author=Graham, Frank |title=Since Silent Spring |url=https://archive.org/details/sincesilentsprin00grahrich |url-access=registration |publisher=Fawcett |year=1970 |isbn=978-0-449-23141-8 |orig-year=1st. Pub. Houghton Mifflin, 1970 }}
* {{cite book |last=Hynes |first=H. Patricia |title=The Recurring Silent Spring |publisher=Pergamon Press |location=New York |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-08-037117-7 |series=Athene series |url=https://archive.org/details/recurringsilents00hyne |url-access=registration }}
* {{cite book |last=Lytle |first=Mark Hamilton |title=The Gentle Subversive: Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, and the Rise of the Environmental Movement |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-19-517246-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/gentlesubversive00lytl |url-access=registration }}
* {{cite book |last=Lear |first=Linda |title=Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature |url=https://archive.org/details/rachelcarsonwitn00lear |url-access=registration |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |location=New York |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-8050-3428-8 }}
* {{cite book |last=Murphy |first=Priscilla Coit |title=What A Book Can Do: The Publication and Reception of Silent Spring |publisher=University of Massachusetts Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-55849-476-3 }}
* {{cite book |author1=Litmans, Brian |author2=Miller, Jeff |title=Silent Spring Revisited: Pesticide Use And Endangered Species |publisher=Diane Publishing Co |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7567-4439-7 }}
* [[United States Environmental Protection Agency]] [https://archive.today/20121212111635/http://www.epa.gov/pbt/pubs/ddt.htm "What is DDT?"]. Retrieved April 26, 2006
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.nsc.org/library/chemical/ddt.htm |title='DDT Chemical Backgrounder', ''National Safety Council'' |access-date=May 30, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051226062122/http://www.nsc.org/library/chemical/ddt.htm |archive-date=December 26, 2005 |url-status=dead }}. Retrieved May 30, 2005
* [https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/?objectid=72016262-BDB7-CEBA-FA60E922B18C2540 ''Report on Carcinogens''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608205825/https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/index.cfm?objectid=72016262-BDB7-CEBA-FA60E922B18C2540 |date=2011-06-08 }}, [https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/?objectid=03C9AF75-E1BF-FF40-DBA9EC0928DF8B15 12th Edition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250731150429/https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/?objectid=03C9AF75-E1BF-FF40-DBA9EC0928DF8B15 |date=2025-07-31 }}; [[United States Department of Health and Human Services|US Department of Health and Human Services]], [[United States Public Health Service|Public Health Service]], [https://www.niehs.nih.gov/ National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250716005344/https://www.niehs.nih.gov/ |date=2025-07-16 }}, [https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ National Toxicology Program] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222011524/http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/ |date=2012-02-22 }} (June 10, 2011)
* {{cite book |last1=Oreskes |first1=Naomi |author-link1=Naomi Oreskes |last2=Conway |first2=Erik M. |author-link2=Erik M. Conway |title=Merchants of Doubt |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=New York |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-59691-610-4 |title-link=Merchants of Doubt }}
* {{cite book |author=American Chemical Society |author-link=American Chemical Society |title=Silent Spring Revisited |year=1986 |isbn=0-317-59798-1}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* {{FadedPage|id=20151002|name=Silent Spring}}
* ''[[The New York Times]]'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20040803170226/http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Rachel-Carson-Silent-Spring.htm July 22, 1962 report of chemical industry's campaign against] the [https://www.newyorker.com/archive/1962/06/16/1962_06_16_035_TNY_CARDS_000271256 16] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703121135/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1962/06/16/1962_06_16_035_TNY_CARDS_000271256 |date=July 3, 2014 }}, [https://www.newyorker.com/archive/1962/06/23/1962_06_23_031_TNY_CARDS_000273049 23] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527215921/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1962/06/23/1962_06_23_031_TNY_CARDS_000273049 |date=May 27, 2014 }}, [https://www.newyorker.com/archive/1962/06/30/1962_06_30_035_TNY_CARDS_000271125 30] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527215053/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1962/06/30/1962_06_30_035_TNY_CARDS_000271125 |date=May 27, 2014 }} June 1962 serial in ''[[The New Yorker]]''
* [https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/10/05/reviews/carson-spring.html ''New York Times'' book review] September 23, 1962
* [http://mag.audubon.org/authors/frank-graham-jr Graham, Frank Jr.]; [https://books.google.com/books?id=MOHaAAAAMAAJ Since ''Silent Spring'':] [http://www.audubonmagazine.org/articles/conservation/silent-spring-reflecting-rachel-carsons-legacy rebuttal to the attack by chemical-agribusiness companies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417060050/http://www.audubonmagazine.org/articles/conservation/silent-spring-reflecting-rachel-carsons-legacy |date=April 17, 2014 }}; ''[[Audubon Magazine]]''
* [http://www.pophistorydig.com/?tag=since-silent-spring Doyle, Jack “Power in the Pen”: ''Silent Spring'': 1962 (Publishing, Politics, Ecology) pophistorydig.com]
* [http://www.nrdc.org/health/pesticides/hcarson.asp Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): The Story of ''Silent Spring''] – [[Natural Resources Defense Council|NRDC]]
* [http://www.mansionbooks.com/BookDetail.php?bk=210 Photos of the first edition of ''Silent Spring'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130616234117/http://knowledgenetwork.alumni.msu.edu/msu-museum/silentspring.html ''Silent Spring'', A Visual History] curated by the [[Michigan State University Museum]]
* [https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/06/rachel-carsons-silent-spring-turns-50/258926/ Rachel Carson's ''Silent Spring'' Turns 50 – Elizabeth Grossman – ''The Atlantic'']
* [[Eliza Griswold|Griswold, Eliza]]; [http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/magazine/how-silent-spring-ignited-the-environmental-movement.html?pagewanted=all How ''Silent Spring'' Ignited the Environmental Movement] ''[[The New York Times]]'' September 21, 2012
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070301215712/http://www.rachelcarsoncouncil.com/ The Rachel Carson Council]
{{Pesticides}}
{{Rachel Carson}}
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[[Category:1962 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Books by Rachel Carson]]
[[Category:Pesticides]]
[[Category:Environmental non-fiction books]]
[[Category:DDT]]
[[Category:1962 in the environment]]
[[Category:Houghton Mifflin books]]