Posted on 04/26/2007 1:24:30 PM PDT by SmithL
Now, a two-act play celebrating the life and work of Carson is the highlight of this week's 174-program Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage in Gatlinburg and throughout Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
"A Sense of Wonder," written and performed by Kaiulani Lee, has been touring for more than 10 years - proof Carson still has influence 45 years after "Silent Spring."
When the book came out in 1962, it not only became a best seller, it also put President Kennedy's attention on pesticides. DDT, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, was banned in 1972.
"Silent Spring" forecasted a day when no birds would be alive to sing.
Indiscriminate spraying of DDT was causing bird eggshells to become thin and break before hatching.
"Great blue herons, bald eagles, osprey, falcons, they've all bounced back. That's directly attributable to the work that Rachel Carson did," said John Nolt, professor in the department of philosophy at the University of Tennessee. "The most profound lasting effect, as I see it, is the fact that, through her influence, a great many species of birds that would have gone extinct had we not banned DDT are still here today."
Mark Campen, president of the Knoxville chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society and a professional conservationist, said Carson changed American thought.
"I think if I were to have to put it in one word, it would have to be 'awareness' - making people more aware of our potential impact on the environment," Campen said.
Nolt said there wasn't general interest prior to "Silent Spring."
"In the '60s, when Carson was writing, people just didn't think about the environment at all," Nolt said. "She profoundly changed the attitudes of Americans. It's simply no longer acceptable for an industry to pollute the air and water in ways that it was."
After Carson, there was an explosion of environmental legislation and formation of environmental groups.
"She's been given the title of patron saint of the environmental movement," Campen said.
What helped the philosophical change was the book's popular appeal.
Carson, a credentialed academic and marine biologist, was already famous for her lyrical writings. In "The Sea Around Us," she demonstrated her ability to fascinate people with the beauty of nature - it went 39 weeks as a No. 1 best seller.
"She was a science writer who made the mainstream," said Mark Littmann, who holds the Julia G. and Alfred G. Hill Chair of Excellence in Science, Technology and Medical Writing at UT.
"Whenever I do a course in environmental writing or science writing as literature, we always need to look back and appreciate what she contributed to not only public understanding of science but also to how a good science writer can affect the whole world."
Littmann made a list of ways "Silent Spring" makes points, from analogies to point-blank calls to action, and realized, "She used every kind of rhetorical device that I had ever come across."
It's clear, Littmann said, that Carson set out "to write a convincing argument that would move people to action."
Chemical companies fought back by badly maligning her, something some people still do today.
Nolt said Carson kept on.
"The remarkable thing about the woman was how she persevered under the intense opposition that she had from the chemical industry in particular, but also from politicians and other public figures who belittled her mercilessly in the press," he said. "That's heroic behavior."
Littmann said the book had some inaccuracies and overstated points, but a far greater amount of truth.
"After the fury of some naysayers was vented, ultimately she prevails," Littmann said.
He added that Carson never argued to ban all pesticides.
"She just was pointing out that these things had to be used more wisely," Littmann said. "She was looking for a better way, not an abolition of technology."
Tragically, Carson was diagnosed with cancer just before "Silent Spring" was published and died only two years later. She lived just long enough to see some of her initial victories.
Millions of children are dead because of Rachel Carson.
I wonder how they address that little malaria problem after the DDT ban.
One of the patron saints of the environmental crazies ....
they ignore it. birds are more important than children.
This play should be like lotsa laughs. Bring a Pez dispenser.
Sure. Just ban the ones that work, so that millions will die from insect-borne diseases. Good work, Rachael, and nice revisionist history attempt, Littmann.
Another case of Death By Hippy.
LOL...as a tribute to Rachel, they ought to release a cloud of disease-riddled mosquitos into the theater between acts.
Millions are dead because of her. She has more blood on her hands than the Nazi Party and Stalin...........
There are very few people in this world that should be exhumed, tried, hung and re-buried but she is one. I also nominate Frank Church and Otis Pike - I'll save that for another missive.
Ack - the Face of a Killer!
Oh she certainly still has influence - just look at the records of children dead from malaria because DDT was not used to kill mosquito larvae.
What we men will do for a piece of tail.
Frank Church I know, but Otis Pike?
Another irony is that the places where the little kids are dying of malaria for lack of DDT don’t have bald eagles. You can still get your hands on DDT in Mexico, but you have to disguise it as cocaine if you want to get it back across the border safely.
DDT killed a scientist that was so confident it didn’t cause cancer that he drank it. Fool.
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