Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson (1940s). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Perhaps no other scientist of the 20th century was more instrumental in placing humans and their actions within the context of an interconnected natural world than Rachel Carson. While Carson held a graduate degree in zoology, her love of writing preceded her academic training and was arguably more integral to her ability to raise awareness about damage to the environment. Her grand opus, Silent Spring (1962), which precipitated the rise of the modern environmental movement in the United States, is commended as much for its writing style as for its scientific merit.

Carson had been a scientist and editor with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and her book described in vivid detail how the unregulated use of pesticides like DDT introduced toxins into the environment, harming wildlife and, ultimately, human populations. Carson’s book would lead to the banning of DDT in the U.S. and other countries, and to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency, as well. Fittingly, a Life magazine article once referred to Rachel Carson as “the gentle storm center.”

Rachel Carson conducts Marine Biology Research with Bob Hines in the Atlantic (1952).
National Digital Library of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.