Still relevant in a chemical dominated age, 13 Oct 2008
Silent Spring (Penguin Modern Classics)
Some people may think this book is no longer relevant in a world where DDT is mainly consigned to history, but, unless we learn from history we will make the mistakes over again.
This classic from the early 1960s explains how the various parts of nature are all affected when man tries to eliminate a pest with what is effectively a universal poison. Despite all of the evidence of the reducing efficacy of these poisons and the damage caused to the rest of the ecosystem, the spraying continued for years. The author provides numerous examples of the destruction caused by the use of these chemicals despite following the manufacturer's guidelines.
Whilst this book can be heavy going and occasionally a little disjointed in places it is worth reading if only to remind you that not all official advice is correct or impartial. We still have the potential to make similar mistakes today, only perhaps the threat is more concealed by the large variety of man made substances in use or added to our food and its packaging every day.

Hard Work, 28 Oct 2007
One can only applaud Carson's work and marvel at her determination to be heard and the research she did. This must have been a very shocking book at the time it was published, even now it is horrifying to look back and see what wholesale garbage the American public was being sold by those supposed to be looking after their health and welfare. It is however, a dated book which I found hard to read and difficult to sustain. I believe it was first written as a series of articles for journals and magazines, which makes sense, as each chapter is very much isolated from the others in terms of style and content, so there is little sense of flow or continuity, other than the continuation of the bad news Carson imparts. It tends to jerk from quite florid poetic writing with lyrically drawn pictures of nature which give way to horrific apocalyptic style visions into bunches of data and facts which are so dry they sit hard up against the narrative and make for difficult reading. It's still a book to recommend, particularly in today's climate and with the emphasis on green issues, but you really have to want to read it rather than just having an idle interest.

The book they tried to dismiss, 02 Sep 2006
In "Any Questions" on BBC Radio 4 a panel of politicians were quizzed in turn as to one person they thought would be regarded as an important person in the future from the 20th century who improved the lot of us humans. Of about four panelists one said Nelson Mandela. Important though Mandela is, none of the other panelists had anyone else to suggest so they also ended up saying Nelson Mandela. I would have mentioned Rachel Carson representing as yet an unsung heroine - the pioneer of the "Deep Ecology" movement.

Unfortunately a lot of what she had to say is still ignored by mainstream politicians though enough has trickled through to create a stream of people who think in the context of concern for all life on Earth rather than how best one group of us can dominate and manipulate our human and environmental resources at irreplaceable cost to life as we know it.

This is the book that started it all - showing us that science and technology unrestrained were not the solution to all our problems. The EPA at least owes its very existence to Carson.

I salute Carson and her book as a lighthouse that guided our thinking from the cliffs of short sighted destructiveness. Long may the beacon prevail.

This is an important book. Perhaps dated, Carson's voice is not shrill but reasoned and strident. A classic worth sharing and upgrading.


Mighty oaks from small acorns grow, 06 Aug 2006
Reading some of the reviews here I can't help but feel they are reading 'Silent Spring' out of context. Being written in 1962 in will never be a current and up to date account of our pesticide use today. However I recommend it as a pioneering piece of literature, and a period piece that will stand the test of time.

Now that our bookshelves are stacked with Ecological titles, it is all the more important to re-read 'Silent Spring' and to judge for ourselves a book that actually did make a difference. For instance, this book greatly influenced my parents into becoming founder members of 'Friends of the Earth'.

What stands is an inspirational and at times poetic cry for ecological common sense. What has aged and dated stands to keep our contemporary rhetoric in check. Rachel Carson has a searching and inquisitive mind. Let this book be the document that she would want it to be - A step towards understanding our continued place in the world.

Mighty oaks from small acorns grow, 14 Jul 2006
This book helped inspire the movement that had DDT banned worldwide including Africa. As a result millions of Africans died of mosquito-transmitted malaria. Yay, Environmentalism...