Rachel Carson

1907-1964

American Biologist and Nature Writer
Author of Silent Spring

RACHEL LOUISE CARSON WAS BORN on May 27, 1907, in Springdale, Pennsylvania. Her parents were Robert Warden Carson and Maria McLean Carson. She was the youngest of three children in her family.

RACHEL CARSON GREW UP in Springdale, a small town about 20 miles north of Pittsburgh. Her family owned 65 acres of land outside of town. They kept horses, cows, and chickens. Rachel loved exploring the natural areas near her home. "As a child I spent long days out-of-doors in fields and woods, happiest with wild birds and creatures as companions," she remembered.

Rachel’s other love was writing stories and poems. She showed talent as a writer from an early age. One of her stories was published in a national magazine when she was just ten years old.

RACHEL CARSON WENT TO SCHOOL at the Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham College) in Pittsburgh. She planned to study English and become a writer. But then she took a class in biology (the study of living things) taught by Mary Scott Skinker. Carson found the class so interesting that she decided to study biology instead. "Eventually it dawned on me, that by becoming a biologist I had given myself something to write about," she explained. Carson earned her college degree with honors in 1928.

Carson continued her education at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. She earned a master’s degree in zoology (the study of animals) in 1932. During the summers, she studied ocean life at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts. She developed a love for the sea and its creatures that lasted the rest of her life.

FIRST JOBS: After she finished college, Carson taught classes at Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland. In 1936 she got a job with the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries (which later became the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or FWS). The FWS is a government agency that manages the country’s fish and wildlife. It uses laws like the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act to help conserve these natural resources.

Carson worked as a science writer for the agency. She wrote scripts for radio programs, articles for scientific journals, and pamphlets telling people how to cook fish. Carson was a great writer. She used beautiful, flowing language that made dry, scientific topics seem more interesting.

WRITING HER FIRST BOOK: One of Carson's scripts was too fancy for the FWS radio program. Her boss suggested that she turn it into a magazine article. Carson sent the article to the Atlantic Monthly, one of the nation’s top magazines. To Carso's surprise, it was published as "Undersea" in 1937. A publisher saw the article and asked Carson to expand it into a book. She worked on the project in the evenings for three years.

Carson’s first book, Under the Sea-Wind, was finally published in 1941. It told readers all about life along the sea shore and on the ocean bottom. The book got good reviews. Unfortunately, it did not sell many copies. The United States entered World War II a few weeks after it was published. Most Americans lost interest in buying books at that time.

Carson in the lab, looking through a microscope, 1951.

BECOMING A BEST-SELLING AUTHOR: After the war ended in 1945, Carson started working on a new book. The Sea around Us explored the history of the world’s oceans. It was published in 1951 and became a best-seller. Critics said Carson explained complex scientific topics in a clear, understandable way. Many of them praised her lovely, poetic language. The Sea around Us won the National Book Award. Carson became a famous writer. She retired from her job at FWS in 1952.

Carson did lots of traveling for her next book, The Edge of the Sea. It gave readers a close-up look at the coast of the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to Florida. The Edge of the Sea became a best-seller when it was published in 1955. The book was also turned into an award-winning film.

ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT PESTICIDE USE: Around this time, Carson started to worry about the growing use of dangerous chemicals known as pesticides. During the late 1940s and 1950s, pesticides were commonly sprayed on food crops and in homes. People used pesticides to get rid of unwanted "pests" like insects, rodents, and weeds. But these chemicals were often toxic or poisonous to other creatures, including birds, fish, and humans.

The most popular pesticide was Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane (DDT). DDT was very effective in killing mosquitoes and other insects. The U.S. government claimed that DDT helped reduce disease and increase food production. Big chemical companies made lots of money selling DDT. Few people questioned whether using DDT was a good idea.

Carson at Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania, c. 1947.

Carson saw news stories that made her wonder about the safety of pesticides. Sometimes wildlife died in places where the chemicals were sprayed. Carson’s old friends Stuart and Olga Huckins ran a bird sanctuary in Massachusetts. They told her how their birds had disappeared after DDT was sprayed in the area.

Carson decided to take action. 'The more I learned about the use of pesticides, the more appalled [upset] I became," she said. "I realized that here was material for a book. What I discovered was that everything which meant most to me as a naturalist was being threatened, and that nothing I could do would be more important."

SILENT SPRING: For four years, Carson gathered data and talked with scientific experts. She learned that pesticides built up in soil, water, and the bodies of animals over time. "Chemicals sprayed on croplands or forests or gardens lie long in soil, entering into living organisms [creatures], passing from one to another in a chain of poisoning and death," she explained.

The buildup of DDT was especially harmful to predators (animals that eat other animals), like bald eagles. Eagles ate fish that were full of DDT. The toxic chemicals made the eagles' eggshells thin and weak. The eggs often broke before the baby birds were ready to hatch. This problem led to a dangerous drop in the number of bald eagles.

Carson doing research on Cobb Island, Virginia, 1947.

In 1962 Carson published her findings in a book called Silent Spring. She painted a scary picture of what might happen if the reckless use of pesticides continued. Carson warned that the chemicals would poison the soil and water and kill many plants and animals. She imagined a day when no birds would sing in the springtime. "On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of scores of bird voices there was now no sound," she wrote. "Only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh."

Carson pointed out that humans were part of the natural world. She argued that people would suffer the harmful effects of chemical pollution as well. Still, Carson did not call for an end to all pesticide use. She thought the chemicals could be helpful if they were used carefully. But she wanted the American people to know about the dangers involved.

LAUNCHING THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT: Silent Spring became a best-seller. It brought national attention to the dangers of pesticides. Carson's clear writing style helped ordinary readers understand the scientific facts. Millions of people who read the book felt concerned about the environment for the first time. Silent Spring inspired them to take action to protect the Earth and its creatures. Many people believe that the book helped launch the environmental movement in the United States.

Not everyone liked Carson’s book. It became the center of a big argument. The big chemical companies that sold DDT attacked Carson. They questioned her data and her ability as a scientist. Carson bravely defended herself and her book. In 1963 she appeared on a CBS television special called "The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson." She debated a chemical industry spokesman about pesticides. She impressed many viewers with her calm, common-sense answers. In the end, the attacks only drew more attention to Silent Spring.

Carson testifying before the U.S. Congress, June 4, 1963.

The U.S. Congress formed a special committee to investigate the use of pesticides. The committee agreed with all of Carson's findings. It said that DDT and other pesticides had harmful effects on the environment. It recommended passing new laws to control pesticide use. By the end of 1963, 40 states were considering such laws. In 1972 DDT was banned from use in the United States. Many other countries placed strict limits on the chemical as well.

Today, some people want DDT to be legal again. They say it is needed to control mosquitoes in Africa. These mosquitoes carry a deadly disease called malaria. Millions of people in Africa get malaria each year. But many people think DDT is not the answer. They worry that the pesticide might harm as many Africans as malaria does. They say that safer chemicals should be used instead.

INSPIRING OTHERS: While Carson was leading the fight against pesticides, she was also battling breast cancer and heart disease. She died on April 14, 1964, at the age of 56. Carson is remembered as one of the greatest nature writers in American history. She lived long enough to know that Silent Spring had a major impact. "Now I can believe that I have at least helped a little," she said. "It would be unrealistic to believe that one book could bring a complete change."

Carson received many important awards and honors, even after her death. She won the Audubon Medal, and she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1980, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The next year, her picture appeared on a U.S. postage stamp.

Carson's courageous fight against pesticides inspired many future environmental leaders. "Rachel Carson was one of the reasons why I became so conscious of the environment and so involved with environmental issues," said Al Gore, who earned the Nobel Peace Prize for his fight against global warming. "Her picture hangs on my office wall among those of the political leaders, the presidents, and the prime ministers. Carson has had as much or more effect on me than any of them, and perhaps all of them together."

RACHEL CARSON’S HOME AND FAMILY: Carson never married or had children of her own. But she still ended up raising three children. She took care of her sister Marian's two daughters, Marjorie and Virginia Williams, after their mother died in 1937. Years later, when her niece Marjorie died, Carson adopted her young son, Roger Christie.

Carson lived in Silver Spring, Maryland. She also built a summer home on a large piece of land along the coast of Maine. In her spare time, she enjoyed flower gardening and bird watching.

SOME OF RACHEL CARSON’S BOOKS:

Under the Sea-Wind

The Sea around Us

The Edge of the Sea

Silent Spring

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT RACHEL CARSON:

Write: Curator of Special Collections
Connecticut College
270 Mohegan Ave.
New London, CT 06320

WORLD WIDE WEB SITES:

http://www.rachelcarson.org/biography.aspx
http://www.rachelcarsonhomestead.org/
http://www.fws.gov/northeast/rachelcarson/carsonbio.html
http://www.ecotopia.org/ehof/carson/