Silent Spring

Rachel Carson; Caroline Lucas (intro.)

ISBN 10: 0141391529 / ISBN 13: 9780141391526

Published by Penguin Classics, London, 2012

About this Item

50th Anniversary ed. 1st printing (2012). 337pp. VG/VG copy, binding square and tight, corners bumped, internally excellent, jacket lightly edge worn with a couple of nicks, now preserved in archival jacket protector.

Seller Inventory # 024120

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Silent Spring
• Publisher: Penguin Classics, London
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0141391529
• ISBN 13: 9780141391526
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Natural History

About this title

Synopsis

Silent Spring is an environmental science book. The book documents the adverse environmental effects caused by the indiscriminate use of pesticides. Carson accused the chemical industry of spreading disinformation, and public officials of accepting the industry's marketing claims unquestioningly.

The book appeared in September 1962 and the outcry that followed its publication forced the banning of DDT and spurred revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. Carson’s book was instrumental in launching the environmental movement.

Review

Silent Spring, released in 1962, offered the first shattering look at widespread ecological degradation and touched off an environmental awareness that still exists. Rachel Carson's book focused on the poisons from insecticides, weed killers, and other common products as well as the use of sprays in agriculture, a practice that led to dangerous chemicals to the food source. Carson argued that those chemicals were more dangerous than radiation and that for the first time in history, humans were exposed to chemicals that stayed in their systems from birth to death. Presented with thorough documentation, the book opened more than a few eyes about the dangers of the modern world and stands today as a landmark work.