Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature - The Life of the Autor of Silent Spring (1998)

A biography celebrates the accomplishments of the courageous environmentalist and scientist who, through her powerful book Silent Spring, changed the way people think of the environment and the world in which they live. 15,000 first printing."

Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, published in 1962, did more than any other single publication to alert the world to the hazards of environmental poisoning and to inspire a powerful social movement that would alter the course of American history. This definitive, sweeping biography shows the origins of Carson's fierce dedication to natural science—and tells the dramatic story of how Carson, already a famous nature writer, became a brillant if reluctant reformer. Drawing on unprecendented access to sources and interviews, Lear masterfully explores the roots of Carson's powerful connection to the natural world, crafting a " fine portrait of the environmentalist as a human being" (Smithsonian).

Publishers Weekly

Those who know Carson (1907-1964) only as the author of Silent Spring, which raised America's consciousness about the environment and in particular about the negative effects of pesticides, will come away from this comprehensive biography not just with a deeper awareness of what made this woman tick but also with a more thorough understanding of how America's environmental policies evolved. Relying on Carson's extensive letters and on exhaustive interviews with various friends and colleagues, Lear, a research professor of environmental history at George Washington University, traces Carson's life in the most minute detail. We are flies on the wall as Carson, the youngest by far of three children, has her first experiences with nature under the careful tutelage of her mother. We watch as she struggles to overcome gender and social barriers. Carson spent much of her life, until her mid-life literary successes, either poor or the struggling breadwinner for poor relatives to follow her real passion, writing. We stand by as she finds love and solace later in life in the friendship of a married woman, Dorothy Freeman. It is a story that is at once inspirational and poignant. Carson's was no easy life, but she persevered, driven by a need to write and to illuminate the miraculous natural world to just plain folks. It is impossible to read of her trials and tribulations without being moved.

By Drawing On Previously Unavailable Sources And On Interviews With Those Who Knew Her, Linda Lear Gives A Compelling Portrait Of This Heroic Woman, Illuminating The Origin Of Her Connection With Nature And Of Her Determination To Save What She Loved. Lear Reveals The Unexpected Influence Of Carson's Early Experience With Industrial Pollution And Examines Her Life-changing Encounter With The Possibility Of Global Extinction In The Frightening Days Of The Early Cold War. The Book Follows Carson's Efforts To Become A Marine Biologist At A Time When Women Were Unwelcome In The Academic Community. It Shows How Her Connections With Nature Were Confirmed And Strengthened Through Her Work As A Government Scientist And Editor, Where Her Views About The Potential Dangers Of Synthetic Chemical Pesticides Evolved. By The Late 1950s, Carson Had Transformed Colorless Government Research Into Three Brilliant, Popular Books About The Sea, Including The Sea Around Us, And Had Become The Most Respected Science Writer In America. Rachel Carson Challenged The Culture Of Her Time And, In The Process, Shaped A Powerful Social Movement That Altered The Course Of American History. Wild Creatures Are My Friends -- The Vision Splendid -- The Decision For Science -- Something To Write About -- Just To Live By Writing -- Return To The Sea -- Such A Comfort To Me -- A Subject Very Close To My Heart -- Kin This Be Me? -- An Alice In Wonderland Character -- Nothing Lives To Itself -- Between The Tide Lines -- One Must Dream Greatly -- I Shall Rant A Little, Too -- The Red Queen -- If I Live To Be 90 -- A Solemn Obligation -- Rumblings Of An Avalanche -- I Shall Remember The Monarchs. Linda Lear. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [585]-609) And Index. The authoritative biography of the marine biologist and nature writer whose book Silent Spring inspired the global environmentalist movement. In a career that spanned from civil service to unlikely literary celebrity, Rachel Carson became one of the world’s seminal leaders in conservation. The 1962 publication of her book Silent Spring was a watershed event that led to the banning of DDT and launched the modern environmental movement. Growing up in poverty on a tiny Allegheny River farm, Carson attended the Pennsylvania College for Women on a scholarship. There, she studied science and writing before taking a job with the newly emerging Fish and Wildlife Service. In this definitive biography, Linda Lear traces the evolution of Carson’s private, professional, and public lives, from the origins of her dedication to natural science to her invaluable service as a brilliant, if reluctant, reformer. Drawing on unprecedented access to sources and interviews, Lear masterfully explores the roots of Carson’s powerful connection to the natural world, crafting a “fine portrait of the environmentalist as a human being” (Smithsonian). “Impressively researched and eminently readable . . . Compelling, not just for Carson devotees but for anyone concerned about the environment.” —People “[A] combination of meticulous scholarship and thoughtful, often poignant, writing.” —Science “A sweeping, analytic, first-class biography of Rachel Carson.” —Kirkus Reviews

Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, published in 1962, did more than any other single publication to alert the world to the hazards of environmental poisoning and to inspire a powerful social movement that would alter the course of American history. This definitive, long-overdue biography shows how Carson, already a famous nature writer, became a reluctant reformer. It is a compelling portrait of the determined woman behind the publicly shy but brilliant scientist and writer.

A biography celebrates the accomplishments of the courageous environmentalist and scientist who, through her powerful book __Silent Spring,__ changed the way people think of the environment and the world in which they live. 15,000 first printing." A portrait of the environmental advocate and author of Silent Spring reveals the origins of Carson's fierce dedication to natural science, tracing her journey from a famous nature writer to a reluctant reformer. Reprint. A compelling portrait of a heroic woman, illuminating the origin of Rachel Carson's connection with nature and of her determination to save what she loved A biography of the environmentalist chronicles her development from biologist and nature writer to muckraker and champion of ecological causes