History Literature / SilentSpring

-->-- The book's closing statement

* {{Motif}}: From the first chapter on, Carson consistently likens the effects and nature of chemicals to those of radiation--a danger which already loomed large in the public consciousness in the 50s and 60s.

* SterilityPlague: Many of the chemicals discussed interfere with reproduction in animals such as birds; sterility is the main cause of the die-offs such as that of the robins.

The book begins with a short parable called "A Fable for Tomorrow" about an idyllic American town whose plants, animals, and residents suddenly begin to sicken and die, with no discernible cause--revealed to be the consequence of powdered herbicides being dispersed by aircraft. The story is a warning: Carson states at the end of the chapter that, while no such extreme example had occurred yet, every individual element had in one place or another.

The rest of the book describes these events, detailing the proven effects of commonly used chemicals on every level of the environment--from estuaries and rivers to to forests to humans--and compiling numerous cases from around the country where ecosystems had already been seriously damaged. Highlights include the extinction of Dutch elms; the massive die-off of robins in the Midwest when chemicals got into the worms that the robins ate; the tendency for pesticides to kill off natural predators to the pests they target, exacerbating the problem; the use of flower-killing herbicides to clear the view on roads when all that was needed was to cut down trees and scrub; the ease of coming into contact with (and dying of) dangerous chemicals ''by accident''; and the unknown effects of a multitude of compounds mingling and creating new, even more dangerous poisons.

''Silent Spring'' is a 1963 environmental science book by biologist [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Carson Rachel Carson]]. It raises concerns about the rise and widespread use of chemical pesticides and would become a foundational text of the American environmentalist movement, leading among other things to the US banning the dangerous chemical DDT.

The book begins with a short parable called "A Fable for Tomorrow" about an idyllic American town whose plants, animals, and livestock suddenly begin to sicken and die, with no discernible cause--revealed to be the consequence of powdered herbicides being dispersed by aircraft. The story is a warning: Carson states at the end of the chapter that, while no such extreme example had occurred yet, every individual element had in one place or another.

The book begins with a short parable called "A Fable for Tomorrow" about an idyllic town whose plants, animals, and livestock suddenly begin to sicken and die, with no discernible cause--revealed to be the consequence of powdered herbicides being dispersed by aircraft. The story is a warning: Carson states at the end of the chapter that, while no such extreme example had occurred yet, every individual element had in one place or another.

A book by Rachel Carson written in 1963. It helped launch the environmental movement as we know it.

The first chapter is a short story parable about a little town that was losing everything good it had -- its wildlife, its birds and birdsong, its beauty, its scenery, the health of its people -- and had no idea why. It ends with the notice of little white crystals of a herbicide that had just been dropped from a plane over the town...

The most memorable parts of this book are about the horrors of modern chemicals -- well, modern for 1963, but some of them are still on the market, and many of them have long half-lives. She describes what they do to nature, what they do to people, and how they are in the end not as effective at what they're ''supposed'' to do as the methods used before the chemicals were invented. Other environmental issues also come up -- invasive species, for instance.

Highlights include the die-off of robins in the American Midwest, as chronicled in a study on migration and population that started right when the change happened, because chemicals got into the worms that the robins ate; birds and DDT; the tendency for pesticides to kill off the natural predators to the pests more effectively than the pests, which ultimately results in more pests; the extinction of Dutch elms; using herbicides that kill flowers to clear the view for roads when all that would be needed is to cut down trees and scrub; the ease of using, and dying of, dangerous chemicals ''by accident''; and new chemicals spontaneously forming where chemicals have leaked into the water supply.

The final chapter is about how to fix things -- though, given the tone of the previous chapters, it's more on how to keep them from getting even worse.

In short, this book is the 1960s literary version of ''Film/AnInconvenientTruth''.

The banning of DDT and its relatives is probably related to this book.

!!'''Tropes''':
* AnimalWrongsGroup - See StrawmanPolitical below.
* AuthorTract
* CrapsackWorld - The picture here is in some ways bleaker than the one in Film/AnInconvenientTruth.
* LiteraryAllusionTitle - The title refers to a poem that contains a description of a barren land where no birds sing. The first chapter is also titled "And No Birds Sing." Spring is silent because the birds are gone. (This book was written in a quieter age.)
* RuleOfSymbolism - It's one of the first environmental books, so Carson stresses the loss of beautiful things -- birds, flowers, butterflies...
* ScareEmStraight
* StrawmanPolitical - Environmentalists and this book are blamed for millions of malaria deaths, which supposedly "proves" that environmentalists care only about animals and hate people.

In short, this book is the 1960s literary version of ''AnInconvenientTruth''.

* CrapsackWorld - The picture here is in some ways bleaker than the one in AnInconvenientTruth.

A book by Rachel Carson, her MagnumOpus, written in 1963. It helped launch the environmental movement as we know it.

* StrawmanPolitical - Environmentalists and this book are blamed for millions of malaria deaths, which supposedly "proves" that environmentalists care only about animals and hate people. See HateDumb on the [[YMMV/SilentSpring YMMV]] page.