Silent Spring was Rachel Carson's best seller and started a wave of American environmentalism. The 1972 decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ban the use of the pesticide DDT was influenced by it. It will be 60 years ago this June that the public was introduced to Carson. The coming anniversary is a good time to consider whether the book achieved one of her major goals: protecting birds.
The damaging effects of persistent pesticides were expressed in one simple, poetic image: a spring in which no birds sang. Imagine waking up to a world without these songs. She made us feel the loss by writing with grace. How well have we acted on the warnings?
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