Natural history in America. From Mark Catesby to Rachel Carson

The Other Side of Silence: Rachel Carson’s Views of Animals

The publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962 is widely regarded as one of the major events that launched the modern environmental movement. Silent Spring is a compelling blend of stories, natural history, human values, and biological facts. In this essay we consider Carson’s attitude toward animals in Silent Spring and in other texts. Despite the facts that she was raised to love Na...

The emergence of use of biological herbicides

Serious attention to hazardous chemical pesticides began with publication of the book “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson in 1962. Scientists believe that agriculture had the greatest impact on the environment. The most reliable evidence comes from application of million tons of chemical fertilizers and pesticides with short or long adverse effects on ecosystem. Therefore, it is essential to imple...

Recycling of Scrap Tires

As Rachel Louise Carson (1907-1964) successfully noted in her phrase “The human race is challenged more than ever before to demonstrate our mastery not over nature but of ourselves”, we are challenged to find ways to produce more energy, reduce our waste production while minimizing use of limited natural resources. Although recycling of materials has a history going back to the times of Plato B...

Proceedings of the Workshop History of the Organic Movement held at the 88 th ASHS Annual Meeting

"The Development of the Pronephros during the Embryonic and Early Larval Life of the Catfish(Ictalurus punctatus)" (1932), by Rachel L. Carson

Rachel L. Carson studied biology at Johns Hopkins University [4] in Maryland and graduated in 1933 with an MA upon the completion of her thesis, "The Development of the Pronephros during the Embryonic and Early Larval Life of the Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)." The research that Carson conducted for this thesis project grounded many of the claims and observations she presented in her 1962 book,...