Legacy of Rachel Carson

1262 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: An essay about who rachel carson is

Rachel Carson has forever changed the very dynamic of the United States. Her books brought environmental issue to the forefront of public concern. She advocated fiercely and passionately for a change in the government’s policy with the environment. Her work and tireless effort centered on the growing problem of insecticides and pesticides in the general public, namely DDT. The chemical itself was extremely prevalent in the domestic markets but also a popular insecticide used during WWII. In one of life’s great ironies, the creator of DDT, Paul Muller, received the Nobel Prize in Medicine 1948. DDT left a gilded imprint on America’s memory but Rachel Carson was to show the opposite was true. The publication of Silent Spring sent a wave of support for environmental activism through the general public. Her book became a catalyst for ecological change. Her message could not discriminate and disseminated quickly through the US. The word spread far and wide enough to where it reached the highest levels of government, including then President-elect John F Kennedy. Carson led by a powerful conviction, advocated both to Congress and to the public for change. By sheer conviction alone her calls were answered, and in more ways than one. Rachel Carson left behind a truly enviable legacy of charisma, passion, and dedication. But what I believe to be her most important legacy was the fact Rachel Carson proved that one person can make the difference for everyone. As in her case to dramatically alter the way American’s view their environment and the stance of the Federal government on nature.

Rachel Carson worked at the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) as a marine biologist. While at the FWS, Carson produced three books on the ocean’s ecosy...

... middle of paper ...

...s able to do what many people can only dream of completing. While not only fighting a losing battle with breast cancer, Rachel Carson still wrote Silent Spring and continued to campaign against unbearable odds to find success. As one person, she lead the charge against pesticides but was unable to witness much of the advancements she had helped fight for. From one voice came a call, a plea, to rethink our lives as humans and the interaction we have with the earth. The legacy Rachel Carson leaves for all is the example by which others may follow to fight for change because if she could accomplish so much in such little a time frame by herself, just imagine the possibilities if the rest of us followed in her footsteps of advocacy.

Works Cited

Sideris, L. H., & Moore, K. D. (2008). Rachel Carson: legacy and challenge. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Show More
Related

  • Silent Spring Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    532 Words  | 2 Pages

    Silent Spring is one of the most important books of the environmental movement. It was one of the first scientific books to talk about destruction of habitat by humans. As a result, one can imagine that Ms. Rachel Carson needed to be quite persuasive. How does she achieve this? In this excerpt from Silent Spring, Carson utilizes the rhetorical devices of hyperbole, understatement, and rhetorical questions to state the necessity of abolishing the practice of using poisons such as parathion. Carson starts out by using the symbiotic nature of hyperbole and understatement to paint the whole practice as dangerous and unnecessary. She further strengthens her argument by using rhetorical questions to make her readers see the ethical flaws and potential casualties caused by deadly pesticides.

    Read More

  • A Comparison of the Legacy of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and Rachel Carson's Silent Spring

    1714 Words  | 4 Pages

    Rachel Carson, before publishing Silent Spring, would major in marine zoology at Pennsylvania Women's College, where she would develop her interest in the naturalism and conservation going on at the time (Lear, 23). After graduating, she would take a job at the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, where she would write about different issues concerning the environment at the time. After writing several books to some success, she would begin work on Silent Spring, as she would find her naturalist causes to be her impetus. She even later on in her life wrote to her friends, What I discovered was that everything which meant most to me as a naturalist was being threatened, and that nothing I could do would be more important. " (Carson, 17)

    Read More

  • DBQ on Women in Science

    526 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many women scientist upheld and defended their positions as learned, scientific individuals. Marie Meurdrac, a French scientist, in a foreword to a publication stated clearly that women’s and men’s minds, if thought in the same manner would hold no difference.(Doc 2) Similarly, Dorothea Erxleben understood and explained why men and women alike look down on her for studying science because they feel that it is an insult.(Doc 9) Her experiences as a female scientist led her to truly grasp why her persecutors acted as they did towards her although this document shows no signs that she thinks the same. Maria Sibylla Merian, a German entomologist, discussed some of her scientific practices that encompass her dedication and fascination with science.(Doc 5) Another example of this whole-hearted dedication comes from Marquis...

    Read More

  • Rachel Carson's Rhetorical Summary

    695 Words  | 2 Pages

    To conclude, Rachel Carson is a skilled writer who employs many different rhetorical strategies and formats her information in a deliberate way to maximize the effectiveness of her argument. She appeals to emotion, but supplements her points with facts, examples, and expert opinions. Her book, Silent Spring, surely convinced many of the dangers of poisons like parathion, and inspired some to seek alternatives to aerial

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Silent Spring By Rachel Carson

    484 Words  | 1 Pages

    By citing credible organizations and offering her own eco-friendly alternatives, she proves to the reader that she takes a particular interest in the environment and is educated to speak on it. Pairing powerful understatements and hyperboles to contrast with one another show the reader that the practice is both needless and selfish. These rhetorical techniques have a powerful impact on the reader, whose ignorance prior to reading the excerpt can no longer suffices to excuse the lack of action. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring is a deeply persuasive book that not only advocates for an end to pesticides but also speaks to the obligation humans hold to protect their

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Rachel Carson's 'Silent Springs'

    564 Words  | 2 Pages

    You can assume that Rachel Carson is a 57-year-old female who may have gone through an emotional tragedy in her life causing a tragic change in events. Carson states, “A grim specter has crept upon us almost unnoticed, and this imagined tragedy may easily become a stark reality we all shall know” (Carson 9). By including this quote the reader can assume that Carson has faced some event in her life that came in a huge shock to her which drastically changed her life. It shows how her life was completely changed and a unexpected event became a reality.

    Read More

  • Dirty Word Clean Place Summary

    527 Words  | 2 Pages

    He delves into the history of the word “environmental” as well as the history of environmental activism. He pinpoints the beginning of the movement to Rachel Carson. According to Quammen, she began the revolution by publishing her book Silent Spring. He says the negative connotations of the word began with her book, pairing “environment” and “the survival of humankind” as if they go hand in hand. This played a major role in the distortion of the word and the intentions of environmentalists.

    Read More

  • Baby Boomer Generation's Impact On The Environment

    578 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Baby Boomer generation and the time period has a lasting effect on the economy and the environment. The baby boom for the United States was similar to other countries after World War II. Several economies also blossomed, but overall with very little care for the environment. After World War II the use of industrial made chemicals increased in popularity throughout the United States and the world (The “New Environmentalism” OF THE 1960S). The chemical DDT was originally being used widespread to eradicate disease vectors, such as mosquito carrying Malaria ("The DDT Story."). DDT influenced more than just mosquitoes as it had lasting effects in the environment where it noticeably bioaccumulate in the food chain and caused high mortality in young bald eagles ("The DDT Story."). Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring released to the public in 1962 which is the time period in which environmental health and human health were connected (The “New

    Read More

  • Rachel Carson And The Cold War Essay

    756 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1962, the publication of Silent Spring Rachel Carson captivated the American public. Carson wrote about the harmful effects of chemical pesticides in the environment, and her writing was very reflective of the events occurring at the time. There is a strong connection between Carson’s writing and the Cold War. In fact, if it were not for the war, the American public may not have responded in the same way to Carson’s writing. Carson used tone and content as methods of getting her point across to the public. Silent Spring shined a light on the damage done to the environment as a result of the Cold War, and this issue was finally being recognized by American public.

    Read More

  • Rachel Carson's Impact On Society

    701 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the article "The Obligation to Endure", an excerpt from "Silent Spring", Carson focuses on her major concerns with the environment. For millennia, Mother Nature was the lone modifier that possessed the ability to shape the environment. In turn, this caused species to adapt for survival. However, with the birth of man, the delicate balance has shifted. Humans now possess the ability to alter the makeup of their environment. This is a power that shouldn 't be taken lightly or abused. However, humans are often blind to corruption until it 's too late, and so the inevitable happened. Man abused its power and failed to see the consequences. This is an overarching concern of Carson, "The most alarming of all man 's assaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal materials (Carson)." The chemicals dumped into rivers the pollution pumped into the air. The toxic radiation released from nuclear explosions in the form of Strontium 90. The endless pesticides sprayed on crops and trees. All of these are the weapons used in "man 's war against nature

    Read More

  • African American Contributions in Science

    3146 Words  | 7 Pages

    Rossiter, Margaret W. (1982). Women Scientists in America: Struggles and Strategies to 1940. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press

    Read More

  • Environmental Issues In Silent Spring

    2441 Words  | 5 Pages

    Birds dying, leaves covered with deadly powder, chemicals floating through the air. These were all issues faced globally in the 1950’s and 60’s due to the use of dangerous pesticides such as DDT, chlordane, and heptachlor. Though several scientists conducted studies that proved the issues with pesticides, the first person to make a lasting impression on America was Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring. Her writing not only discussed the environmental issues that Americans faced in the 1960’s, but also served as the catalyst for the environmental movement as we know it today.

    Read More

  • Career Path to Becoming a Marine Biologist

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Marine Biology program at UCLA is geared toward students who want to specialize in the field of marine sciences. In addition to learning biology, students gain first-rate experience in such disciplines as oceonography, marine organisms, and the evolutionary processes of lif...

    Read More

  • Nothing Worth Knowing Can Be Taught

    981 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rachel Carson is well known for writing the book, Silent Spring. This book, which was written

    Read More

  • One Person Can Make a Difference

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    I remember when I first thought about the power one person could have to create change. I was a teenager growing up in the South when I read Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring”. This beautifully written book is a powerful indictment of the widespread use of pesticides. Rachel Carson criticized the chemical companies for claiming that pesticides were safe despite mounting evidence to the contrary. And she criticized public officials who accepted the chemical industry’s claims.

    Read More

More about Legacy of Rachel Carson

Open Document