Book Review

In Silent Spring, Rachel Carson describes the results and conclusions that she drew from numerous observations of the natural world. The silence of the book's title refers to her observation that the sounds of songbirds, which used to herald the arrival of spring, had become greatly reduced.

Starting with that observation, Carson undertakes an exploration of the possible causes of the disappearance of the spring birds. She examines the possible connections between increasing use of synthetic chemical pesticides and damage to organisms other than the "pests" which they were being used to control or eradicate. We now call the songbirds and other unintended victims of these chemicals, these innocent bystanders, "non target organisms". She confirmed her suspicion that the pesticides were the cause of the problem by searching the scientific literature. The book is about the common denominator and how she found it. Carson drew together literally hundreds of cases from the scientific literature and showed convincingly that synthetic pesticides have grave, unintended environmental consequences.

Even before its publication Carson's message began receiving wide attention. The New Yorker magazine devoted most of an issue to it. It was also a selection of the influential Book-of-the-Month Club. Long a best seller, Silent Spring is widely credited as one of the major forces in the emergence of what is now called the Environmental Movement.

~ Walter Rosen, Ph.D., National Academy of the Sciences, Retired