26 May 2008

Introduction: Pen Against Poison

Renowned author Rachel Carson at her home near Washington, D.C, March 1963. (© AP Images/Bob Schultz)

(The following introduction is taken from the U.S. Department of State publication, Rachel Carson.)

Rachel Carson was a quiet woman who stirred extraordinary controversy that persists decades after her death.

Her 1962 book Silent Spring brought worldwide attention to the harm to human health and the environment wrought by mishandling of a powerful pesticide, fomenting the environmental movement.

In the 100th anniversary year of Carson's birth, this publication examines how occasionally in history a book with a powerful idea can bring about peaceful but dramatic change in a democratic society.