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Portrait of Rachel Carson

Science · Biology

Rachel Carson

1907–1964 · American

Marine biology; environmental science and nature writing

Rachel Carson was an American marine biologist and writer who worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Her lyrical books about the ocean made her famous, and "Silent Spring" (1962), which documented the harm done by synthetic pesticides such as DDT, is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement. She died of cancer in 1964, less than two years after its publication.

How to spot them

  • ▸'Silent Spring' (1962) and the dangers of DDT and other pesticides
  • ▸The sea trilogy: 'Under the Sea-Wind', 'The Sea Around Us', 'The Edge of the Sea'
  • ▸US Fish and Wildlife Service biologist and writer
  • ▸Born in Springdale, Pennsylvania

Key discoveries & works

Silent Spring (1962)

Exposé of the environmental damage caused by synthetic pesticides, especially DDT

The Sea Around Us (1951)

Bestselling natural history of the oceans; won the US National Book Award for Nonfiction

Under the Sea-Wind (1941)

Her first book, following sea creatures along the Atlantic coast

The Edge of the Sea (1955)

Guide to the life of the Atlantic seashore, completing her sea trilogy

Key ideas

  • Indiscriminate use of pesticides poisons food chains, harms wildlife and threatens human health
  • Humans are part of nature, not its masters

Quick-fire facts

  • •Born in Springdale, Pennsylvania, in 1907; died in Silver Spring, Maryland, in 1964
  • •Studied at the Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University) and Johns Hopkins University
  • •'Silent Spring' opens with 'A Fable for Tomorrow', imagining a town where no birds sing
  • •Her work is credited with helping lead to the US ban on DDT for agricultural use in 1972 and the founding of the Environmental Protection Agency
  • •Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 1980
  • •Suffered from breast cancer while writing 'Silent Spring'

Drill it — 6 cards

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Sources