Rachel Carson: An Inspiration For Greta Thunberg?
Biologist and writer Rachel Carson is one of the most important conservationists in history and has been recognized as the “mother” of modern environmentalism. That’s because his writings on the dangers of pesticides marked the beginning of the modern environmental movement.
His approach raised the environmental awareness of the American public and was instrumental in the unprecedented national effort to protect nature from chemical destruction. The impact of your work is due to the use of clear and accessible language that is easy to understand for the common reader.
Rachel Carson’s Childhood, Education and Family Environment
Rachel Carson was born on May 27, 1907 on a farm in Springdale, Pennsylvania, USA. She was the youngest of three children from the marriage between Robert and Maria McLean Carson.
Through maternal influence, she developed her love of nature. This allowed her to become a writer for children’s magazines at age 10 years.
She attended the Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University ), graduating with honors in 1929. She then studied at the Oceanographic Institute in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and at Johns Hopkins University, where she earned her master’s degree in Zoology in 1932.
Financial difficulties forced her to give up a doctorate to help support her mother and, later, two orphaned nieces. In time, after one of his nieces died in early 1957, Carson adopted her son and moved to Silver Spring, Maryland, to care for his mother.
Beginning of your written work
After beating all other candidates on the public service exam in 1936, Carson became the second woman hired by the US Department of Fisheries.
She stayed there for 15 years, writing brochures and other materials for the public. She was promoted to editor-in-chief of all US Fish and Wildlife Service publications.
Meanwhile, he wrote several popular books on aquatic life, including Under the Sea Wind (1941) and The Sea Around Us (1951). The latter was made into a series by the New Yorker and sold around the world.
These books constituted a biography of the ocean and made Carson famous, seen as a naturalistic and scientific writer who could be understood by the general public.
She won a national prize for scientific writing, a scholarship to Guggenheim that, along with the sale of her books, guaranteed her financial independence. She stopped working for the government and moved to Southport Island, Maine, in 1953 to focus on her writing.
Rachel Carson’s Masterpiece
Silent Spring is one of those rare books that made history, not inciting war or violence, but changing the direction of human thought.
The book mainly focuses on the effects of pesticides on ecosystems, but four chapters detail their impact on humans, including cancer.
With this book, the shy writer challenged the practices of agricultural scientists and government and called for a change in the way humanity viewed the natural world.
Outlining the dangers of chemical pesticides, his book led to a national ban on DDT and other pesticides, and sparked the movement that eventually led to the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
In response, the chemical industry accused her of spreading disinformation. Chemical companies tried to discredit her, calling her communist and hysterical.
Carson testified before Congress in 1963, calling for new policies to protect human health and the environment.
A secret love?
In 1955, she began a relationship with Dorothy Freeman. To the outside world, the two women were just close friends. Freeman, in his fifties at the time, married and had children, struggling to hide the nature of their relationship.
Although much of his correspondence was destroyed shortly before Carson’s death, the rest was surfaced by Freeman’s granddaughter in 1995, in a publication entitled: “Forever, Rachel: Letters from Rachel Carson and Dorothy Freeman, 1952- 1964: An Intimate Portrait of Remarkable Friendship”.
Breast cancer, the awards and its legacy
Seriously ill with breast cancer, Carson died two years after the publication of his book. Later, in 1980, she was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His homes are considered national landmarks and currently several awards bear his name.
Seven years later, in 1970, Congress created the Environmental Protection Agency. This became a direct consequence of the environmental movement caused by the book Silent Spring .
Two years later, in 1972, the government banned DDT, the pesticide that had helped make the national symbol of the United States, the bald eagle, and other birds, nearly extinct.
Their testimonies of the beauty and integrity of life continue to inspire new generations to protect the world from the living and all its creatures. For this reason, some believe that Rachel Carson could be one of the great figures who inspired young people like Greta Thunberg.
