

Loading... Silent Springby Rachel Carson
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1960s (29) » 15 more Unread books (314) Política - Clásicos (12) Penguin Random House (46) Top Five Books of 2013 (1,599) Folio Society (637) I Can't Finish This Book (135) No current Talk conversations about this book. A scientifically passionate exposure of the effects of indiscriminate crop-dusting with insecticides, of the destruction of wild life and of the balance of nature, of man's progressive poisoning of his own habitat. This is an amazing book: it really makes you think about what you can do to sustain our natural resources. Given my interests and the timing of this book being published, one would think I would have read this book decades ago. It was certainly well known already when I was deep into my higher education pursuits so many years ago. I had always assumed it would be rather dated and much overshadowed by more modern research, if I were to read it now. Plus, I don't recall the last time the title of this book and DDT were not directly connected in comments I read about one or the other of the two. As it turns out, the book is startling in its applicability to today's world, especially one in which environmental protections are exuberantly being stripped off like so many layers of skin on a human being by a stunningly misguided government administration. (Can someone please pass a law requiring all candidates be able to read?) True, DDT is not much in the news now, but this book speaks directly and fluently about the very same issues that face the world now as to those it faced back in 1962. I have read other books that were more adept at stating their case about the intricacies of trying to manage our environment, but this book does a fine job of it and is well worth the read even now. Carson invented the basic vocabulary of environmental awareness. A historically important book. no reviews | add a review
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(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 12 Mar 2015 17:58:38 -0400)
First Published in 1962, Silent Spring alerted a large audience to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides, spurring revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. "Silent Spring became a runaway bestseller, with international reverberations ... Even if she had not inspired a generation of activists, Carson would prevail as one of the greatest nature writers in American letters" (Peter Matthiessen, for Time's "100 Most Influential People of the Century"). This fortieth anniversary edition celebrates Rachel Carson's watershed book with new essays by the author and scientist Edward O. Wilson and the acclaimed biographer Linda Lear, who tells the story of Carson's courageous defense of her truths in the face of ruthless assault from the chemical industry in 1963, the year following the publication of Silent Spring and before her untimely death. First published by Houghton Mifflin in 1962, Silent Spring alerted a large audience to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides, spurring revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. "Silent Spring became a runaway bestseller, with international reverberations . . . [It is] well crafted, fearless and succinct . . . Even if she had not inspired a generation of activists, Carson would prevail as one of the greatest nature writers in American letters" (Peter Matthiessen, for Time's 100 Most Influential People of the Century). This fortieth anniversary edition celebrates Rachel Carson's watershed book with a new introduction by the author and activist Terry Tempest Williams and a new afterword by the acclaimed Rachel Carson biographer Linda Lear, who tells the story of Carson's courageous defense of her truths in the face of ruthless assault from the chemical industry in the year following the publication of Silent Spring and before her untimely death in 1964.… (more)
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2 editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia.
Editions: 0141184949, 0141391529
An edition of this book was published by Recorded Books.
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It never ceases to amaze me how destructive Mankind is, the complete disregard for all life that is not human. (and then of course, some human life is more important than others.) I don't have much more to say - in truth, I really had to push to finish this and constantly kept looking at how many pages I had left. I think for me that is the biggest fault of this book - not particularly engaging. At one point I accidentally read a chapter through almost twice before I was sure that I had read it. It was that monotonous at times. Monotonous destruction . . . maybe that was her point. (