Misplaced Pages

#436563

139-514: There are many ethical decisions that human beings make with respect to the environment. These decision raise numerous questions. For example: The academic field of environmental ethics grew up in response to the works of Rachel Carson and Murray Bookchin and events such as the first Earth Day in 1970, when environmentalists started urging philosophers to consider the philosophical aspects of environmental problems. Two papers published in Science had

278-532: A mutualistic connection between virtuous human flourishing, and environmental flourishing. Anthropocentrism is the position that humans are the most important or critical element in any given situation; that the human race must always be its own primary concern. Detractors of anthropocentrism argue that the Western tradition biases homo sapiens when considering the environmental ethics of a situation and that humans evaluate their environment or other organisms in terms of

417-462: A "scarcity value" as they diminish over time. Their preservation is a bequest for future generations as they have been inherited from human's ancestors and should be passed down to future generations so they can have the opportunity to decide whether to enjoy unspoilt countryside or an entirely urban landscape. A good example of a world heritage site would be the tropical rainforest , a very specialist ecosystem that has taken centuries to evolve. Clearing

556-601: A U.S. National Book Award , recognition as a gifted writer and financial security. Its success prompted the republication of her first book, Under the Sea Wind (1941), in 1952, which was followed by The Edge of the Sea in 1955 — both were also bestsellers. This sea trilogy explores the whole of ocean life from the shores to the depths. Late in the 1950s, Carson turned her attention to conservation, especially some problems she believed were caused by synthetic pesticides . The result

695-450: A believe-it-or-not and a breezy travelogue." However, she discovered that her right to review the script did not extend to any control over its content. This led to many scientific inconsistencies inside the film. Despite Carson's requests to resolve these problems, Allen went forward with the script. He succeeded in producing a very successful documentary. It went on to win the 1953 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature . However, Carson

834-416: A book calling into question the paradigm of scientific progress that defined post-war American culture." The overriding theme of Silent Spring is the powerful—and often adverse—effect humans have on the natural world. Carson's main argument is that pesticides have detrimental effects on the environment; they are more properly termed biocides , she argues, because their effects are rarely limited to

973-671: A book. Several years of writing resulted in Under the Sea Wind (1941), which received excellent reviews but sold poorly. In the meantime, Carson's article-writing success continued with her features appearing in Sun Magazine , Nature , and Collier's . Carson attempted to leave the Bureau (by then transformed into the United States Fish and Wildlife Service ) in 1945. However, few jobs for naturalists were available, since most money for science

1112-488: A broad audience and helped to focus opposition to DDT use. In 1994, an edition of Silent Spring was published with an introduction written by Vice President Al Gore . In 2012 Silent Spring was designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society for its role in the development of the modern environmental movement. Starting in the mid-1940s, Carson had become concerned about

1251-640: A chapter, "The Birth of an Island," which won the American Association for the Advancement of Science 's George Westinghouse Science Writing Prize. Beginning in June 1951, nine chapters were serialized in The New Yorker . On July 2, 1951, the book was published by Oxford University Press. The Sea Around Us remained on The New York Times Bestseller List for 86 weeks, was abridged by Reader's Digest , won

1390-459: A classical problem for the philosophy of language concerning how words convey meaning, there is debate over its validity mostly from two angles of criticism: opposition to compositionality and, especially, instability of meaning. The first claims that meaning holism conflicts with the compositionality of language. Meaning in some languages is compositional in that meaning comes from the structure of an expression's parts. Meaning holism suggests that

1529-442: A commitment to extending equal rights to all members of a community). In environmentalism, the community is generally thought to consist of non-humans as well as humans. Andrew Brennan was an advocate of ecologic humanism (eco-humanism), the argument that all ontological entities, animate and inanimate, can be given ethical worth purely on the basis that they exist. The work of Arne Næss and his collaborator Sessions also falls under

SECTION 10

#1732858973437

1668-599: A consequentialist framework, however it is disputed whether this was intentional. Other consequentialist views such as that of Peter Singer tend to emphasis the inclusion of non-human sentient beings into ethical considerations. This view argues that all sentient creates which are by nature able to feel pleasure and pain, are of equal moral consideration for their intrinsic value. Nevertheless, non-sentient beings, such as plants, rivers and ecosystems, are considered to be merely instrumental. Deontological theories state that an action should be based on duties or obligations to what

1807-454: A crucial impact: Lynn White 's "The Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis" (March 1967) and Garrett Hardin 's "The Tragedy of the Commons" (December 1968). Also influential was Garett Hardin's later essay called "Exploring New Ethics for Survival", as well as an essay by Aldo Leopold in his A Sand County Almanac , called "The Land Ethic", in which Leopold explicitly claimed that the roots of

1946-540: A dissertation on the embryonic development of the pronephros in fish. In June 1932, she earned a master's degree in zoology. She had intended to continue for a doctorate, however in 1934 Carson was forced to leave Johns Hopkins to search for a full-time teaching position to help support her family during the Great Depression . In 1935, Carson's father died suddenly, worsening their already critical financial situation and leaving Carson to care for her aging mother. At

2085-417: A glib summary of this proposal. The concept of holism can inform the methodology for a broad array of scientific fields and lifestyle practices. When applications of holism are said to reveal properties of a whole system beyond those of its parts, these qualities are referred to as emergent properties of that system. Holism in all contexts is often placed in opposition to reductionism , a dominant notion in

2224-409: A group of biodynamic agriculture organic market gardeners, their adviser, Dr. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer , other contacts, and their suite of legal actions (1957–1960) against the U.S. Government. According to recent research by Paull (2013), this may have been the primary and (for strategic reasons) uncredited source for Carson's book. Marjorie Spock and Mary T. Richards of Long Island, New York, contested

2363-419: A handful of new pesticides. However, further health troubles slowed the final revisions in 1961 and early 1962. While writing the book, Carson chose to hide her illness so that the pesticide companies could not use it against her (she worried that if the companies knew, they would use it as ammunition to make her book look untrustworthy and biased). Finding a title for the book proved difficult; "Silent Spring"

2502-457: A higher order. Those that may critique this point of view may ask the same question that John Muir asks ironically in a section of his novel A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf , why are there so many dangers in the natural world in the form of poisonous plants, animals and natural disasters , The answer is that those creatures are a result of Adam and Eve 's sins in the garden of Eden. Since the turn of

2641-453: A human perspective. Peter Vardy distinguished between two types of anthropocentrism. A strong anthropocentric ethic argues that humans are at the center of reality and it is right for them to be so. Weak anthropocentrism, however, argues that reality can only be interpreted from a human point of view, thus humans have to be at the centre of reality as they see it. Another point of view has been developed by Bryan Norton, who has become one of

2780-548: A long and well-paid article on the topic from Carson, she began considering writing more than simply the introduction and conclusion as planned; soon, it was a solo project. (Diamond would later write one of the harshest critiques of Silent Spring ). As her research progressed, Carson found a sizable community of scientists who were documenting the physiological and environmental effects of pesticides. She also took advantage of her connections with many government scientists, who supplied her with confidential information. From reading

2919-478: A meaningful analysis of one system is indistinguishable from that of the other. There are different conceptions of nonseparability in physics and its exploration is considered to broadly present insight into the ontological problem. In one sense, holism for physics is a perspective about the best way to understand the nature of a physical system. In this sense, holism is the methodological claim that systems are accurately understood according to their properties as

SECTION 20

#1732858973437

3058-418: A nature as a whole beyond its parts. His examples include atoms , cells , or an individual's personality . Smuts discussed this sense of holism in his claim that an individual's body and mind are not completely separated but instead connect and represent the holistic idea of a person. In his second sense, Smuts referred to holism as the cause of evolution. He argued that evolution is neither an accident nor

3197-489: A new living situation and studying specific environmental threats. By late 1957, Carson was closely following federal proposals for widespread pesticide spraying; the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) planned to eradicate fire ants . Other spraying programs involving chlorinated hydrocarbons and organophosphates were on the rise. For the rest of her life, Carson's main professional focus would be

3336-452: A new publisher). By this time, Carson's reputation for clear and poetical prose was well established; The Edge of the Sea received highly favorable reviews, if not quite as enthusiastic as for The Sea Around Us . Through 1955 and 1956, Carson worked on several projects—including the script for an Omnibus episode, "Something About the Sky"—and wrote articles for popular magazines. Her plan for

3475-480: A number of their own 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 endorsing the book by William O. Douglas). American Cyanamid biochemist Robert White-Stevens and former Cyanamid chemist Thomas Jukes were among

3614-477: A political reflection of the natural world, ecologic extension is best thought of as a scientific reflection of the natural world. Ecological Extension is roughly the same classification of Smith's eco-holism, and it argues for the intrinsic value inherent in collective ecological entities like ecosystems or the global environment as a whole entity. Holmes Rolston, among others, has taken this approach. This category might include James Lovelock 's Gaia hypothesis ;

3753-415: A protection against this type of intervention. Environmental deontologists such as Paul W. Taylor , for example, have argued for a Kantian approach to issues of this kind. Taylor argues that all living things are 'teleological centres of life' deserving of rights and respect. His view uses a concept of ' universalizability ', to argue that one ought to act only on actions which could be rationally willed as

3892-416: A universal law. Val Plumwood has criticised this approach by noting that the universalisation framework, is not necessarily based on 'respect' for the other, as it's based on duty and 'becoming' part of the environment. Virtue ethics states that some character traits should be cultivated, and others avoided. This framework avoids problems of defining what is of intrinsic value, by instead arguing that what

4031-519: A whole system to creatively respond to environmental stressors, a process in which parts naturally work together to bring the whole into more advanced states. Smuts used Pavlovian studies to argue that the inheritance of behavioral changes supports his idea of creative evolution as opposed to purely accidental development in nature. Smuts believed that this creative process was intrinsic within all physical systems of parts and ruled out indirect, transcendent forces . Finally, Smuts used holism to explain

4170-434: A whole. A methodological reductionist in physics might seek to explain, for example, the behavior of a liquid by examining its component molecules, atoms, ions or electrons. A methodological holist, on the other hand, believes there is something misguided about this approach; one proponent, a condensed matter physicist, puts it: “the most important advances in this area come about by the emergence of qualitatively new concepts at

4309-521: A year or so of publication, the attacks on the book and Carson had largely lost momentum. In one of her last public appearances, Carson testified before President John F. Kennedy 's Science Advisory Committee. The committee issued its report on May 15, 1963, largely backing Carson's scientific claims. Following the report's release, she also testified before a United States Senate subcommittee to make policy recommendations. Though Carson received hundreds of other speaking invitations, she could not accept

Environmental ethics - Misplaced Pages Continue

4448-583: Is biological organization which models biological systems and structures only in terms of their component parts. "The reductionist approach has successfully identified most of the components and many of the interactions but, unfortunately, offers no convincing concepts or methods to understand how system properties emerge...the pluralism of causes and effects in biological networks is better addressed by observing, through quantitative measures, multiple components simultaneously and by rigorous data integration with mathematical models." The objective in systems biology

4587-454: Is right , instead of what is good . In strong contrast to consequentialism, this view argues for principles of duty based not on a function of value, but on reasons that make no substantive reference to the consequences of an action. Something of intrinsic value, then, has to be protected not because its goodness would maximise a wider good, but because it is valuable in itself; not as a means towards something, but as an end in itself. Thus, if

4726-481: Is also sometimes used in the context of various lifestyle practices, such as dieting , education, and healthcare, to refer to ways of life that either supplement or replace conventional practices. In these contexts, holism is not necessarily a rigorous or well-defined methodology for obtaining a particular lifestyle outcome. It is sometimes simply an adjective to describe practices which account for factors that standard forms of these practices may discount, especially in

4865-431: Is an extension of use-value into the non-human biological world. It focuses only on the worth of the environment in terms of its utility or usefulness to humans. It contrasts the intrinsic value ideas of 'deep ecology,' hence is often referred to as 'shallow ecology,' and generally argues for the preservation of the environment on the basis that it has extrinsic value – instrumental to the welfare of human beings. Conservation

5004-469: Is important is to act in accordance with the correct character trait. The Golden mean formulation, for example, states that to be 'generous' (virtue), one should neither be miserly (deficiency) or extravagant (excess). Unlike deontology and consequentialism, theories of virtue focus their formulations on how the individual has to act to live a flourishing life . This presents a 'subjective flexibility' which seems like an adequate position to hold considering

5143-456: Is independent and so there are no emergent properties within a language. Additionally, there is meaning molecularism which states that a change in one word alters the meaning of only a relatively small set of other words. The linguistic perspective of meaning holism is traced back to Quine but was subsequently formalized by analytic philosophers Michael Dummett , Jerry Fodor , and Ernest Lepore . While this holistic approach attempts to resolve

5282-412: Is it brought about by the actions of some transcendent force, such as a God. Smuts criticized writers who emphasized Darwinian concepts of natural selection and genetic variation to support an accidental view of natural processes within the universe. Smuts perceived evolution as the process of nature correcting itself creatively and intentionally. In this way, holism is described as the tendency of

5421-519: Is morally right and wrong, and how moral standards are determined. Superficially, this approach may seem intrinsically anthropocentric. However, theoretical frameworks from traditional normative ethical theories are abundant within contemporary environmental ethics. Consequentialist theories focus on the consequences of actions, this emphasizes not what is 'right', but rather what is of 'value' and 'good'. Act Utilitarianism , for example, expands this formulation to emphasize that what makes an action right

5560-411: Is not necessarily specified in meaning holism, but typically such a change is taken straightforwardly to affect the meaning of every word in the language. In scientific disciplines, reductionism is the opposing viewpoint to holism. But in the context of linguistics or the philosophy of language , reductionism is typically referred to as atomism. Specifically, atomism states that each word's meaning

5699-518: Is therefore a means to an end and purely concerned with mankind and inter-generational considerations. It could be argued that it is this ethic that formed the underlying arguments proposed by Governments at the Kyoto summit in 1997 and three agreements reached in the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Peter Singer advocated the preservation of " world heritage sites", unspoilt parts of the world that acquire

Environmental ethics - Misplaced Pages Continue

5838-474: Is to advance models of the interactions in a system. Holistic approaches to modelling have involved cellular modelling strategies, genomic interaction analysis, and phenotype prediction. Systems medicine is a practical approach to systems biology and accepts its holistic assumptions. Systems medicine takes the systems of the human body as made up of a complete whole and uses this as a starting point in its research and, ultimately, treatment. The term holism

5977-602: 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 by controlling insect vectors of infection. However, 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. Carson further noted that "Malaria programmes are threatened by resistance among mosquitoes" and emphasized

6116-422: Is whether it maximises well-being and reduces pain. Thus, actions that result in greater well-being are considered obligatory and permissible. It has been noted that this is an 'instrumentalist' position towards the environment, and as such not fully adequate to the delicate demands of ecological diversity. Rule-utilitarianism is the view that following certain rules without exception is the surest way to bring about

6255-670: The Book of the Month for October; as she put it, this would "carry it to farms and hamlets all over that country that don't know what a bookstore looks like—much less The New Yorker ." Other publicity included a positive editorial in The New York Times and excerpts of the serialized version in Audubon magazine, with another round of publicity in July and August as chemical companies responded. The story of

6394-480: The Chesapeake Bay , based on her research for the series, to local newspapers and magazines. Carson's supervisor, pleased with the success of the radio series, asked her to write the introduction to a public brochure about the fisheries bureau; he also worked to secure her the first full-time position that became available. Sitting for the civil service exam, she outscored all other applicants and, in 1936, became

6533-609: The Cullum Geographical Medal (from the American Geographical Society ), and induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters . Holism Holism is the interdisciplinary idea that systems possess properties as wholes apart from the properties of their component parts. The aphorism "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts", typically attributed to Aristotle , is often given as

6672-599: The University of Greifswald has recently established an international program in Landscape Ecology & Nature Conservation with a strong focus on environmental ethics. In 2009, the University of Munich and Deutsches Museum founded the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society , an international, interdisciplinary center for research and education in the environmental humanities. Differing conceptions of

6811-556: The University of North Texas . In 1991, Schumacher College of Dartington , England, was founded and now provides an MSc in Holistic Science. These programs began to offer a master's degree with a specialty in environmental ethics/philosophy. Beginning in 2005 the Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies at the University of North Texas offered a PhD program with a concentration in environmental ethics/philosophy. In Germany,

6950-631: 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 New Yorker serialization. Among many others, Carson also sent a proof copy to Supreme Court Associate Justice William O. Douglas , a longtime environmental advocate who had argued against the court's rejection of the Long Island pesticide spraying case (and who had provided Carson with some of

7089-547: The ecological crisis were philosophical (1949). The first international academic journals in this field emerged from North America in the late 1970s and early 1980s – the US-based journal Environmental Ethics in 1979 and the Canadian-based journal The Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy in 1983. The first British based journal of this kind, Environmental Values , was launched in 1992. Some scholars have tried to categorise

SECTION 50

#1732858973437

7228-569: The philosophy of science that systems containing parts contain no unique properties beyond those parts. Proponents of holism consider the search for emergent properties within systems to be demonstrative of their perspective. The term "holism" was coined by Jan Smuts (1870–1950) in his 1926 book Holism and Evolution . While he never assigned a consistent meaning to the word, Smuts used holism to represent at least three features of reality. First, holism claims that every scientifically measurable thing, either physical or psychological, does possess

7367-419: The "Lost Woods." In early 1957, a family tragedy struck for the third time when one of her nieces she had cared for since the 1940s died at the age of 31, leaving her 5-year-old son, Roger Christie, an orphan. Carson took on the responsibility for Roger when she adopted him, along with caring for her aging mother. Carson moved to Silver Spring, Maryland to care for Roger and spent much of 1957 putting together

7506-533: The 1952 National Book Award for Nonfiction and the John Burroughs Medal , and resulted in Carson being awarded two honorary doctorates. She licensed a documentary film based on it, The Sea , whose success led to republication of Under the Sea Wind , which became a bestseller. With success, came financial security; in 1952, Carson was able to give up her job in order to concentrate on writing full-time. Carson

7645-519: The 20th century coincided with the gradual development of quantum mechanics . Holism in physics is the nonseparability of physical systems from their parts, especially quantum phenomena. Classical physics cannot be regarded as holistic, as the behavior of individual parts represents the whole. However, the state of a system in quantum theory resists a certain kind of reductive analysis. For example, two spatially separated quantum systems are described as " entangled ," or nonseparable from each other, when

7784-489: The 20th century, the application of theology in environmentalism diverged into two schools of thought. The first system of understanding holds religion as the basis of environmental stewardship. The second sees the use of theology as a means to rationalize the unmanaged consumptions of natural resources. Lynn White and Calvin DeWitt represent each side of this dichotomy. John Muir personified nature as an inviting place away from

7923-508: The USDA's Agricultural Research Service responded to the criticism by Carson and others with a public service film, Fire Ant on Trial ; Carson characterized it as "flagrant propaganda " that ignored the dangers that spraying pesticides (especially dieldrin and heptachlor ) posed to humans and wildlife. That spring, Carson wrote a letter, published in The Washington Post , that attributed

8062-404: 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." Carson and the others involved with the publication of Silent Spring expected fierce criticism. They were particularly concerned about

8201-432: The aerial spraying of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). They compiled their evidence and shared it with Carson, who used it, their extensive contacts, and the trial transcripts as a primary input for Silent Spring . Carson wrote of the content as "a gold mine of information" and says, "I feel guilty about the mass of your material I have here" and makes multiple references to Pfeiffer and his correspondence. By 1959,

8340-542: 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." Research at the Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health brought Carson into contact with medical researchers investigating

8479-465: The argument she made in Silent Spring was that even if DDT and other insecticides had no environmental side effects, their indiscriminate overuse was counter-productive because it would create insect resistance, making them useless in eliminating the target insect populations: No responsible person contends that insect-borne disease should be ignored. The question that has now urgently presented itself

SECTION 60

#1732858973437

8618-420: The best consequences. This is an important update to act-utilitarianism because agents do not need to judge about the likely consequences of each act; all they must do is determine whether or not a proposed course of action falls under a specific rule and, if it does, act as the rule specifies. Aldo Leopold 's Land Ethic (1949) tries to avoid this type of instrumentalism by proposing a more holistic approach to

8757-706: The birth defect-causing drug thalidomide broke just before the book's publication as well, 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. In the weeks leading up to the September 27, 1962, publication, there was strong opposition to Silent Spring from the chemical industry. DuPont (a main manufacturer of DDT and 2,4-D ) and Velsicol Chemical Corporation (exclusive manufacturer of chlordane and heptachlor ) were among

8896-667: The book's scientific claims; public opinion soon turned Carson's way as well. The chemical industry campaign backfired, as the controversy greatly increased public awareness of potential pesticide dangers, as well as Silent Spring book sales. Pesticide use became a major public issue, especially after the CBS Reports TV special The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson that aired April 3, 1963. The program included segments of Carson reading from Silent Spring and interviews with several other experts, mostly critics (including White-Stevens); according to biographer Linda Lear , "in juxtaposition to

9035-405: The composition of its physical parts, but that there are concrete properties aside from those of its basic physical parts. Theoretical physicist David Bohm (1917-1992) supports this view head-on. Bohm believed that a complete description of the universe would have to go beyond a simple list of all its particles and their positions, there would also have to be a physical quantum field associated with

9174-522: The concrete (nontranscendent) nature of the universe in general. In his words, holism is "the ultimate synthetic, ordering, organizing, regulative activity in the universe which accounts for all the structural groupings and syntheses in it." Smuts argued that a holistic view of the universe explains its processes and their evolution more effectively than a reductive view. Professional philosophers of science and linguistics did not consider Holism and Evolution seriously upon its initial publication in 1926 and

9313-446: The conservation of such in their natural state, rather than in an artificial manner. Consider for example, issues in climate engineering ; Ocean fertilisation aims to expand marine algae in order to remove higher levels of CO 2 . A complication from this approach is that it creates salient disruptions to local ecosystems. Furthermore, an environmental ethical theory based on the rights of marine animals in those ecosystems, would create

9452-470: The cover. The final writing was the first chapter, A Fable for Tomorrow , which Carson intended as a gentle introduction to what might otherwise be a forbiddingly serious topic. By mid-1962, Brooks and Carson had essentially finished the editing and were laying the groundwork for promoting the book by sending the manuscript out to select individuals for final suggestions. Biographer Mark Hamilton Lytle writes that Carson "quite self-consciously decided to write

9591-412: The cult of the balance of nature," while former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson , in a letter to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower , reportedly concluded that because she was unmarried despite being physically attractive, she was "probably a Communist ." Many critics repeatedly asserted that she was calling for the elimination of all pesticides. However, Carson had made it clear she

9730-435: The dangers of pesticide overuse. Silent Spring , Carson's most influential book, was published by Houghton Mifflin on September 27, 1962. The book described the harmful effects of pesticides on the environment, and is widely credited with helping launch the environmental movement . Carson was not the first or the only person to raise concern about DDT, but her combination of "scientific knowledge and poetic writing" reached

9869-427: The definite rating of a "chemical carcinogen." Carson predicted increased consequences in the future, especially as targeted pests develop pesticide resistance . At the same time, weakened ecosystems fall prey to unanticipated invasive species . The book closes with a call for a biotic approach to pest control as an alternative to chemical pesticides. Regarding DDT, Carson never called for an outright ban. Part of

10008-457: The essential actors of environmental ethics by launching environmental pragmatism, now one of its leading trends. Environmental pragmatism refuses to take a stance in disputes between defenders of anthropocentrist and non-anthropocentrist ethics. Instead, Norton distinguishes between strong anthropocentrism and weak-or-extended-anthropocentrism and argues that the former must underestimate the diversity of instrumental values humans may derive from

10147-437: 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 . By 1960, Carson had more than enough research material, and the writing was progressing rapidly. In addition to the thorough literature search, she had investigated hundreds of individual incidents of pesticide exposure and

10286-449: 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 unless the planned Silent Spring features were canceled. Chemical industry representatives and lobbyists also lodged a range of non-specific complaints, some anonymously. Chemical companies and associated organizations produced

10425-594: The first two years of their friendship..." According to one reviewer, the pair "fit Carolyn Heilbrun 's characterization of a strong female friendship, where what matters is 'not whether friends are homosexual or heterosexual, lovers or not, but whether they share the wonderful energy of work in the public sphere.'" According to her biographer, Linda Lear , there was a disagreement about the final arrangements for Rachel. Her brother, Robert Carson, insisted that her cremated remains be buried beside their mother in Maryland. This

10564-500: The fluctuating demands of sustainability. However, as a consequence, it can also be said that this is an inherently anthropocentric standpoint. Some Ecofeminist theories such as that of Val Plumwood , have been categorised as a form of virtue ethics. Plumwood argues that a virtue-based ethical framework adapts more fittingly to environmental diversity, as virtues such as 'respect', 'gratitude', and 'sensitivity', are not only suitable to ecological subjectivity but also more applicable to

10703-439: The future of life on cosmological scales. In particular, humans can continue sentient life that enjoys its existence, adding further motivation to propagate life. Humans can secure the future of life, and this future can give human existence a cosmic purpose. Only after 1990 did the field gain institutional recognition as programs such as Colorado State University , the University of Montana , Bowling Green State University , and

10842-403: The gamut of cancer-causing chemicals. Of particular significance was the work of National Cancer Institute researcher and environmental cancer section founding director 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,

10981-542: The government's exact spraying practices and the related research. Carson began the four-year project of what would become Silent Spring by gathering examples of environmental damage attributed to DDT. She also attempted to enlist others to join the cause, such as essayist E. B. White and several journalists and scientists. 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

11120-542: The great majority of them. Her health was steadily declining as her cancer outpaced the radiation therapy, with only brief periods of remission. She spoke as much as she was physically able, however, including a notable appearance on The Today Show and 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 ),

11259-533: The human sickness and ecological damage that resulted. However, in January, a duodenal ulcer followed by several infections kept her bedridden for weeks, greatly delaying the completion of Silent Spring . As she was nearing full recovery in March (just as she was completing drafts of the two cancer chapters of her book), she discovered cysts in her left breast, one of which necessitated a mastectomy . Though her doctor described

11398-446: The idea as a thought experiment that should not be understood as a call for action. Baruch Spinoza reasoned that if humans were to look at things objectively, they would discover that everything in the universe has a unique value. Likewise, it is possible that a human-centred or anthropocentric/androcentric ethic is not an accurate depiction of reality, and there is a bigger picture that humans may or may not be able to understand from

11537-462: The instability of meaning holism is an acceptable feature from several different angles. In one example, contextual holists make this point simply by suggesting we often do not actually share identical inferential assumptions but instead rely on context to counter differences of inference and support communication. Scientific applications of holism within biology are referred to as systems biology . The opposing analytical approach of systems biology

11676-582: The intermediate or macroscopic levels—concepts which, one hopes, will be compatible with one's information about the microscopic constituents, but which are in no sense logically dependent on it.” This perspective is considered a conventional attitude among contemporary physicists. In another sense, holism is a metaphysical claim that the nature of a system is not determined by the properties of its component parts. There are three varieties of this sense of physical holism. The metaphysical claim does not assert that physical systems involve abstract properties beyond

11815-464: The libertarian extension, although they preferred the term " deep ecology ". Deep ecology is the argument for the intrinsic value or inherent worth of the environment – the view that it is valuable in itself. Their argument falls under both the libertarian extension and the ecologic extension. Peter Singer 's work can be categorized under Marshall's 'libertarian extension'. He reasoned that the "expanding circle of moral worth" should be redrawn to include

11954-492: The loudness of urban centers. "For Muir and the growing number of Americans who shared his views, Satan's home had become God's Own Temple." The use of Abrahamic religious allusions assisted Muir and the Sierra Club to create support for some of the first public nature preserves. Authors like Terry Tempest Williams as well as John Muir build on the idea that "...God can be found wherever you are, especially outside. Family worship

12093-487: The love of Christ controlling (2 Corinthians 5.14f) and dealing with the underlying spiritual disease of sin, which shows itself in selfishness and thoughtlessness. In many countries this relationship of accountability is symbolised at harvest thanksgiving. (B.T. Adeney : Global Ethics in New Dictionary of Christian Ethics and Pastoral Theology 1995 Leicester) Abrahamic religious scholars have used theology to motivate

12232-587: The material included in her chapter on herbicides). Though Silent Spring had generated a relatively high level of interest based on pre-publication promotion, this became much more intense with the serialization in The New Yorker , which began on June 16, 1962, issue. This brought the book to the attention of the chemical industry and its lobbyists and a wide swath of the American populace. Around that time, Carson also learned that Silent Spring had been selected as

12371-409: The meaning of individual words depends on the meaning of other words, forming a large web of interconnections. In general, meaning holism states that the properties which determine the meaning of a word are connected such that if the meaning of one word changes, the meaning of every other word in the web changes as well. The set of words that alter in meaning due to a change in the meaning of some other

12510-467: The meaning of other words, then in order to communicate a message, the sender and the receiver must share an identical set of inferential assumptions or beliefs. If these beliefs were different, meaning may be lost. Many types of communication would be directly affected by the principles of meaning holism such as informative communication, language learning, and communication about psychological states. Nevertheless, some meaning holists maintain that

12649-544: The meaning of words plays an inferential role in the meaning of other words: "pet fish" might infer a meaning of "less than 3 ounces." Since holistic views of meaning assume meaning depends on which words are used and how those words infer meaning onto other words, rather than how they are structured, meaning holism stands in conflict with compositionalism and leaves statements with potentially ambiguous meanings. The second criticism claims that meaning holism makes meaning in language unstable. If some words must be used to infer

12788-518: The most aggressive critics, especially of Carson's analysis of DDT. 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." Others went further, attacking Carson's scientific credentials (because her training was in marine biology rather than biochemistry) and her character. White-Stevens labeled her "...a fanatic defender of

12927-553: The natural environment is categorised as intrinsically valuable, any destruction or damage to such would be considered wrong as a whole rather than merely due to a calculated loss of net value. It can be said that this approach is more holistic in principle than one of consequentialist nature, as it fits more adequately with the delicate balance of large ecosystems. Theories of rights, for example, are generally deontological. That is, within this framework an environmental policy that gives rights to non-human sentient beings, would prioritise

13066-565: The natural world. A recent view relates anthropocentrism to the future of life. Biotic ethics are based on the human identity as part of gene/protein organic life whose effective purpose is self-propagation. This implies a human purpose to secure and propagate life. Humans are central because only they can secure life beyond the duration of the Sun, possibly for trillions of eons. Biotic ethics values life itself, as embodied in biological structures and processes. Humans are special because they can secure

13205-692: The next book was to address evolution . However, the publication of Julian Huxley 's Evolution in Action —and her own difficulty in finding a clear and compelling approach to the topic—led her to abandon the project. Instead, her interests were turning to conservation. She considered an environment-themed book project tentatively titled Remembrance of the Earth and became involved with The Nature Conservancy and other conservation groups. She also made plans to buy and preserve from development an area in Maine she and Freeman called

13344-517: The possibility of being sued for libel . Carson was also undergoing radiation therapy to combat her spreading cancer and expected to have little energy to devote to defending her work and responding to critics. In preparation for the anticipated attacks, Carson and her agent attempted to amass as many prominent supporters as possible before the book's release. Most of the book's scientific chapters were reviewed by scientists with relevant expertise, among whom Carson found strong support. Carson attended

13483-473: The procedure as precautionary and recommended no further treatment, by December, Carson discovered that the tumor was malignant and the cancer had metastasized . 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 . Most of the research and writing was done by the fall of 1960, except for the discussion of recent research on biological pest controls and investigations of

13622-1138: The properties of those particles guiding their trajectories. Bohm's ontological holism concerning the nature of whole physical systems was literal. But Niels Bohr (1885-1962), on the other hand, held ontological holism from an epistemological angle, rather than a literal one. Bohr saw an observational apparatus to be a part of a system under observation, besides the basic physical parts themselves. His theory agrees with Bohm that whole systems were not merely composed of their parts and it identifies properties such as position and momentum as those of whole systems beyond those of its components. But Bohr states that these holistic properties are only meaningful in experimental contexts when physical systems are under observation and that these systems, when not under observation, cannot be said to have meaningful properties, even if these properties took place outside our observation. While Bohr claims these holistic properties exist only insofar as they can be observed, Bohm took his ontological holism one step further by claiming these properties must exist regardless . Semantic holism suggests that

13761-647: The public. John L. O'Sullivan , who coined the term manifest destiny , and other influential people like him used Abrahamic ideologies to encourage action. These religious scholars, columnists and politicians historically have used these ideas and continue to do so to justify the consumptive tendencies of a young America around the time of the Industrial Revolution . In order to solidify the understanding that God had intended for humankind to use earths natural resources, environmental writers and religious scholars alike proclaimed that humans are separate from nature, on

13900-519: The rainforest for farmland often fails due to soil conditions, and once disturbed, can take thousands of years to regenerate. The Christian world view sees the universe as created by God, and humankind accountable to God for the use of the resources entrusted to humankind. Ultimate values are seen in the light of being valuable to God. This applies both in breadth of scope – caring for people (Matthew 25) and environmental issues, e.g. environmental health (Deuteronomy 22.8; 23.12-14) – and dynamic motivation,

14039-478: The recent decline in bird populations—in her words, the "silencing of birds"—to pesticide overuse. That was also the year of the "Great Cranberry Scandal": the 1957, 1958, and 1959 crops of U.S. cranberries were found to contain high levels of the herbicide aminotriazole (which caused cancer in laboratory rats), and the sale of all cranberry products was halted. Carson attended the subsequent FDA hearings on revising pesticide regulations; she came away discouraged by

14178-429: The relationship between humans and their 'biotic community', so to create a 'limit' based on the maxim that "a thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community; it is wrong when it tends otherwise." Thus, the use of natural resources is permissible as long as it does not disrupt the stability of the ecosystem. Some philosophers have categorised Leopold's views to be within

14317-608: The relationship, but much of their correspondence was carefully guarded. Some believe Freeman and Carson's relationship was romantic in nature. One of the letters from Carson to Freeman reads: "But, oh darling, I want to be with you so terribly that it hurts!", while in another, Freeman writes: "I love you beyond expression... My love is boundless as the Sea." Carson's last letter to Freeman before her death ends with: "Never forget, dear one, how deeply I have loved you all these years." Shortly before Carson's death, she and Freeman destroyed hundreds of letters. The surviving correspondence

14456-442: The rights of non-human animals, and to not do so would be guilty of speciesism . Singer found it difficult to accept the argument from intrinsic worth of a-biotic or "non-sentient" (non-conscious) entities, and concluded in his first edition of "Practical Ethics" that they should not be included in the expanding circle of moral worth. This approach is essentially then, bio-centric. However, in a later edition of Practical Ethics after

14595-570: The rocky shores of Sheepscot Bay in Maine. Early in 1953, Carson began library and field research on the ecology and organisms of the Atlantic shore. In 1955, she completed the third volume of her sea trilogy, The Edge of the Sea , which focuses on life in coastal ecosystems, particularly along the Eastern Seaboard . It appeared in The New Yorker in two condensed installments shortly before its October 26 book release by Houghton Mifflin (again

14734-400: The scientific literature and interviewing scientists, Carson found two scientific camps when it came to pesticides: 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 . She also found significant support and extensive evidence from

14873-405: The second woman hired by the Bureau of Fisheries for a full-time professional position, as a junior aquatic biologist. Using her research and consultations with marine biologists as starting points, she wrote a steady stream of articles for The Baltimore Sun and other newspapers. However, her family responsibilities further increased in January 1937 when her older sister died, leaving Carson as

15012-611: The sole breadwinner for her mother and two nieces. In July 1937, the Atlantic Monthly accepted a revised version of an essay, The World of Waters , that she originally wrote for her first fisheries bureau brochure. Her supervisor had deemed it too good for that purpose. The essay, published as Undersea , was a vivid narrative of a journey along the ocean floor. It marked a major turning point in Carson's writing career. Publishing house Simon & Schuster , impressed by Undersea , contacted Carson and suggested that she expand it into

15151-553: The spraying of private land. Landowners on Long Island filed a lawsuit to have the spraying stopped, and many in affected regions followed the case closely. Though the suit was lost, the Supreme Court granted petitioners the right to gain injunctions against potential environmental damage in the future; this laid the basis for later successful environmental actions. The Audubon Naturalist Society also actively opposed such spraying programs and recruited Carson to help make public

15290-513: The subject of so much subsequent debate, Carson only briefly mentions the topic: 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. Hueper [author of Occupational Tumors and Allied Diseases ] now gives DDT

15429-471: The subject unappealing; she published nothing on DDT until 1962. Carson rose within the Fish and Wildlife Service, and in 1945 was supervising a small writing staff. In 1949, she was appointed chief editor of publications, which allowed her increased opportunities for fieldwork and freedom in choosing her writing projects; however, it also entailed increasingly tedious administrative responsibilities. By 1948, Carson

15568-519: The target pests. DDT is a prime example, but other synthetic pesticides come under scrutiny, many of which are subject to bioaccumulation . Carson also 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. However, four chapters also detail cases of human pesticide poisoning, cancer, and other illnesses attributed to pesticides. Regarding DDT and cancer,

15707-399: The theory that the planet earth alters its geo-physiological structure over time in order to ensure the continuation of an equilibrium of evolving organic and inorganic matter. The planet is characterized as a unified, holistic entity with independent ethical value, compared to which the human race is of no particular significance in the long run. Marshall's category of 'conservation ethics'

15846-581: The top of her class of 44 students. In high school, Carson was said to have been somewhat of a loner. Carson gained admission to Pennsylvania College for Women, now Chatham University , in Pittsburgh , where she originally studied English but switched her major to biology in January 1928. She continued contributing to the school's student newspaper and literary supplement. She was admitted to graduate school at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1928, but

15985-430: The treatment of and obligations towards animals, particularly those living in the wild, within animal ethics and environmental ethics has been a source of controversy between the two ethical positions; some ethicists have asserted that the two positions are incompatible, while others have argued that these disagreements can be overcome. Rachel Carson Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964)

16124-558: The urging of her undergraduate biology mentor Mary Scott Skinker, Carson secured a temporary position with the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries , where she wrote radio copy for a series of weekly educational broadcasts called Romance Under the Waters . The series of 52 seven-minute programs focused on aquatic life and was intended to generate public interest in fish biology and the bureau's work, a task that several writers before Carson had not managed. Carson also began submitting articles on marine life in

16263-504: The use of synthetic pesticides, many of which had been developed through the military funding of science since World War II . However, the United States federal government 's 1957 gypsy moth, now called spongy moth , eradication program prompted Carson to devote her research and her next book to pesticides and environmental poisons. The gypsy moth program involved aerial spraying of DDT and other pesticides mixed with fuel oil , including

16402-410: The utility for them (see speciesism ). Many argue that all environmental studies should include an assessment of the intrinsic value of non-human beings, which would entail a reassessment of humans ecocultural identities. In fact, based on this very assumption, a philosophical article has explored recently the possibility of humans' willing extinction as a gesture toward other beings. The authors refer to

16541-519: The various ways the natural environment is valued. Alan Marshall and Michael Smith are two examples of this, as cited by Peter Vardy in The Puzzle of Ethics . According to Marshall, three general ethical approaches have emerged over the last 40 years: Libertarian Extension, the Ecologic Extension, and Conservation Ethics . Marshall's libertarian extension echoes a civil liberty approach (i.e.

16680-406: The views of indigenous people. Furthermore, what traits would be considered as part of environmental vices ? Ronald Sandler argues that detrimental dispositions to human flourishing such as 'greed', 'intemperance' and 'arrogance', lead to detrimental dispositions to the protection of the environment such as 'apathy', against other species, and 'pessimism' about conservation. Views such as this, create

16819-468: The wild-eyed, loud-voiced Dr. Robert White-Stevens in white lab coat, Carson appeared anything but the hysterical alarmist that her critics contended." Reactions from the estimated audience of ten to fifteen million were overwhelmingly positive, and the program spurred a congressional review of pesticide dangers and the public release of a pesticide report by the President's Science Advisory Committee . Within

16958-436: The work has received criticism for a lack of theoretical coherence. Some biological scientists, however, did offer favorable assessments shortly after its first print. Over time, the meaning of the word holism became most closely associated with Smuts' first conception of the term, yet without any metaphysical commitments to monism , dualism , or similar concepts which can be inferred from his work. The advent of holism in

17097-512: The work of Næss and Sessions, Singer admits that, although unconvinced by deep ecology, the argument from intrinsic value of non-sentient entities is plausible, but at best problematic. Singer advocated a humanist ethics. Alan Marshall's category of ecologic extension places emphasis not on human rights but on the recognition of the fundamental interdependence of all biological (and some abiological) entities and their essential diversity. Whereas Libertarian Extension can be thought of as flowing from

17236-411: The works of Beatrix Potter , the novels of Gene Stratton-Porter , and in her teen years, Herman Melville , Joseph Conrad , and Robert Louis Stevenson . The natural world, particularly that of the ocean, was the common thread of her favorite literature. Carson attended Springdale's small school through tenth grade, and then completed high school in nearby Parnassus, Pennsylvania , graduating in 1925 at

17375-606: The writer as well as the woman." She found this in Freeman. The two women had common interests, nature chief among them, and began exchanging letters regularly while apart. They shared summers for the remainder of Carson's life and met whenever else their schedules permitted. Concerning the depth of their relationship, commentators have said: "the expression of their love was limited almost wholly to letters and very occasional farewell kisses or holding of hands". Freeman shared parts of Carson's letters with her husband to help him understand

17514-430: Was against her wishes to be buried in Maine. In the end, a compromise was reached. Carson's wishes were carried out by an organizing committee, including her agent (Marie Rodell), her editor (Paul Brooks), and Dorothy Freeman. In the spring of 1964, Dorothy received half of Rachel's ashes in the mail sent to her by Robert Carson. In the summer of that year, Dorothy carried out Rachel's final wishes, scattering her ashes along

17653-421: Was an American marine biologist , writer, and conservationist whose sea trilogy (1941–1955) and book Silent Spring (1962) are credited with advancing marine conservation and the global environmental movement . Carson began her career as an aquatic biologist in the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries , and became a full-time nature writer in the 1950s. Her widely praised 1951 bestseller The Sea Around Us won her

17792-400: Was conducted mainly through letters and during summers spent together in Maine. Over 12 years, they exchanged around 900 letters. Many of these were published in the book Always, Rachel , published in 1995 by Beacon Press . Carson's biographer, Linda J. Lear , writes that "Carson sorely needed a devoted friend and kindred spirit who would listen to her without advising and accept her wholly,

17931-460: Was focused on technical fields in the wake of the Manhattan Project . In mid-1945, Carson first encountered the subject of DDT , a revolutionary new pesticide—lauded as the "insect bomb" after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki —that was only beginning to undergo tests for safety and ecological effects. DDT was one of Carson's many writing interests at the time, but editors found

18070-769: Was forced to remain at the Pennsylvania College for Women for her senior year due to financial difficulties; she graduated magna cum laude in 1929. After a summer course at the Marine Biological Laboratory , she continued her studies in zoology and genetics at Johns Hopkins in the fall of 1929. After her first year of graduate school, Carson became a part-time student, taking an assistantship in Raymond Pearl 's laboratory, where she worked with rats and Drosophila , to earn money for tuition. After false starts with pit vipers and squirrels , she completed

18209-486: Was initially suggested as a title for the chapter on birds. By August 1961, Carson finally agreed to the suggestion of her literary agent Marie Rodell: Silent Spring would be a metaphorical title for the entire book, suggesting a bleak future for the whole natural world, rather than a single chapter title about the literal absence of birdsong. With Carson's approval, editor Paul Brooks at Houghton Mifflin arranged for illustrations by Louis and Lois Darling, who also designed

18348-465: Was inundated with requests for speaking engagements, fan mail and other correspondence regarding The Sea Around Us , along with work on the script that she had secured the right to review. She was very unhappy with the final version of the script by writer, director, and producer Irwin Allen ; she found it untrue to the atmosphere of the book and scientifically embarrassing, describing it as "a cross between

18487-545: Was not advocating the banning or complete withdrawal of helpful pesticides but was instead encouraging responsible and carefully managed use with an awareness of the chemicals' impact on the entire ecosystem. In fact, she concludes her section on DDT in Silent Spring not by urging a total ban but with advice for spraying as little as possible to limit the development of resistance. The academic community, including prominent defenders such as H. J. Muller , Loren Eiseley , Clarence Cottam , and Frank Egler , by and large, backed

18626-578: Was not just relegated to Sunday in a chapel." References like these assist the general public to make a connection between paintings done at the Hudson River School , Ansel Adams ' photographs, along with other types of media, and their religion or spirituality. Placing intrinsic value upon nature through theology is a fundamental idea of deep ecology . Normative ethics is a field in Moral Philosophy that investigates how one ought to act. What

18765-740: Was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter . Carson was born on May 27, 1907, on a family farm near Springdale, Pennsylvania , located by the Allegheny River near Pittsburgh . She was the daughter of Maria Frazier (McLean) and Robert Warden Carson, an insurance salesman. She spent a lot of time exploring around her family's 65-acre (26 ha) farm. An avid reader, she began writing stories, often involving animals, at age eight. At age ten, she had her first story published. She enjoyed reading St. Nicholas Magazine , which carried her first published stories,

18904-457: Was published in 1995 as Always, Rachel: The Letters of Rachel Carson and Dorothy Freeman, 1952–1964: An Intimate Portrait of a Remarkable Friendship , edited by Martha Freeman, Dorothy's granddaughter, who wrote at publication: "A few comments in early letters indicate that Rachel and Dorothy were initially cautious about the romantic tone and terminology of their correspondence. I believe this caution prompted their destruction of some letters within

19043-400: Was so embittered by the experience that she never again sold film rights to her work. Carson met Dorothy M. Freeman in the summer of 1953 on Southport Island, Maine . Freeman had written to Carson welcoming her to the area when she had heard that the famous author was to become her neighbor. It was the beginning of a devoted friendship that lasted the rest of Carson's life. Their relationship

19182-450: Was the book Silent Spring (1962), which brought environmental concerns to an unprecedented share of the American people. Although Silent Spring was met with fierce opposition by chemical companies, it spurred a reversal in national pesticide policy, which led to a nationwide ban on DDT and other pesticides. It also inspired a grassroots environmental movement that led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency . Carson

19321-585: Was working on material for a second book and decided to begin a transition to writing full-time. That year, she took on a literary agent, Marie Rodell ; they formed a close professional relationship that would last the rest of Carson's career. Oxford University Press expressed interest in Carson's book proposal for a life history of the ocean, spurring her to complete by early 1950 the manuscript of what would become The Sea Around Us . Chapters appeared in Science Digest and The Yale Review , which published

#436563