Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Biography 14.1. RACHEL CARSON
The positive influence of Rachel Carson may exceed that of any academic aquatic
ecologist. In 1962, she published a topic titled
Silent Spring
that became a best-
seller and had a tremendous impact on public awareness of the pollution caused
by pesticides. Her ability to take a technical subject and make it accessible to the
general public led to some of the first laws enacted to control the release of pesti-
cides into the natural environment. Lear (1997) chronicles her life in an informa-
tive biography.
Carson's undergraduate studies in biology at the Pennsylvania College for Women
(now Chatham College) were followed by a master's degree at Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity. Her research on the developmental biology of catfish eventually led to a job
writing for the Bureau of Fisheries. She wrote her first topic in 1941
(Under the Sea-
Wind),
followed by two critically acclaimed topics and numerous popular articles
that translated scientific concepts into lay terms. Then she published
Silent Spring,
in which she chronicles the wanton use of pesticides and some of their effects on the
environment, including biomagnification, death of wildlife (including the loss of bird
life that leads to a silent spring), and potential influence on human health (toxicity
and carcinogenic properties of toxic pollutants).
The completion of
Silent Spring
was a tremendous professional and personal ac-
complishment. While writing the topic, Carson tended her dying mother, and after
her sister died, she became a single mother to her orphaned nephew. She also began
the battle with breast cancer that claimed her life a few years later.
Her careful attention to scientific detail was crucial because her topic became
the focal point of the debate over pesticide use. The exceptional popular response
to her topic led to strong backlash from many chemical companies, entomologists,
and government officials; the detractors generally had a financial or professional
stake in maintaining indiscriminant pesticide use. Carson documented her facts so
well that her critics turned to personal attacks in their attempts to discredit
Silent
Spring.
The life and work of Rachel Carson prove that aquatic ecologists can make a
difference in the world. She demonstrated that traditional academic and management
careers are not the only ways to have a positive impact, and that combining two dis-
parate strengths (in her case, excellent popular writing and science) can yield im-
pressive results.
for drinking, production of fish that are not safe to eat, or being unsafe for
swimming (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997).
Pristine aquatic habitats no longer exist. Pollutants are transported
throughout the world in our atmosphere (Ramade, 1989). The question is
no longer if the pollutants are present, but rather in what quantities, and
what are their effects?
There is much we do not know about chemical pollution. For exam-
ple, of the more than 72,000 chemicals in commercial use, only about 10%
have been screened for toxicity and only 2% screened as carcinogens. In
the United States, only about 0.5% of these chemicals are regulated by fed-
eral and state governments (Miller, 1998). This chapter discusses some gen-
Search WWH ::
Custom Search