Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson
	Carson in 1943
Born	May 27, 1907; Springdale, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	April 14, 1964 (aged 56); Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.
Occupation	Marine biologist, author and environmentalist
Alma mater	Chatham University (BA); Johns Hopkins University (MS)
Period	1937–1964
Genre	Nature writing
Subject	Marine biology, ecology, pesticides
Notable works	Under the Sea Wind (1941); The Sea Around Us (1951); The Edge of the Sea (1955); Silent Spring (1962)

Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservationist whose sea trilogy (1941–1955) and book Silent Spring (1962) are credited with advancing marine conservation and the global environmental movement.

Carson began her career as an aquatic biologist in the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, and became a full-time nature writer in the 1950s. Her widely praised 1951 bestseller The Sea Around Us won her a U.S. National Book Award,^[2]^[3] recognition as a gifted writer and financial security. Her next book, The Edge of the Sea , and the post-war reissued version of her first book, Under the Sea Wind, were also bestsellers. This sea trilogy explores the whole of ocean life from the shores to the depths.

Late in the 1950s, Carson turned her attention to conservation, especially some problems she believed were caused by synthetic pesticides. The result was the book Silent Spring (1962), which brought environmental concerns to an unprecedented share of the American people. Although Silent Spring was met with fierce opposition by chemical companies, it spurred a reversal in national pesticide policy, which led to a nationwide ban on DDT and other pesticides. It also inspired a grassroots environmental movement that led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.^[4] Carson was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter.

^ Cite error: The named reference lkwdpl was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference nba1952 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Popova, Maria (2022-12-01). "The Poetry of Science and Wonder as an Antidote to Self-Destruction: Rachel Carson's Magnificent 1952 National Book Award Acceptance Speech". The Marginalian. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
^ Paull, John (2013) "The Rachel Carson Letters and the Making of Silent Spring", SAGE Open, 3 (July): 1–12. doi:10.1177/2158244013494861

[lkwdpl-1] Cite error: The named reference lkwdpl was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[nba1952-2] Cite error: The named reference nba1952 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[3] Popova, Maria (2022-12-01). "The Poetry of Science and Wonder as an Antidote to Self-Destruction: Rachel Carson's Magnificent 1952 National Book Award Acceptance Speech". The Marginalian. Retrieved 2024-03-03.

[CarsonPaull-4] Paull, John (2013) "The Rachel Carson Letters and the Making of Silent Spring", SAGE Open, 3 (July): 1–12. doi:10.1177/2158244013494861

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Rachel Carson
Carson in 1943
Born	(1907-05-27)May 27, 1907 Springdale, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	April 14, 1964(1964-04-14) (aged 56) Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.^[1]
Occupation	Marine biologist, author and environmentalist
Alma mater	Chatham University (BA) Johns Hopkins University (MS)
Period	1937–1964
Genre	Nature writing
Subject	Marine biology, ecology, pesticides
Notable works	Under the Sea Wind (1941) The Sea Around Us (1951) The Edge of the Sea (1955) Silent Spring (1962)