The publication of Silent Spring resulted in Carson experiencing both positive and negative encounters with the public.
Public Criticism
Carson was publicly attacked by both the pesticide industry and her own scientific community.
"Miss Rachel Carson’s reference to the selfishness of insecticide manufacturers probably reflects her Communist sympathies, like a lot of our writers these days. We can live without birds and animals, but, as the current market slump shows, we cannot live without business. As for insects, isn't it just like a woman to be scared to death of a few little bugs! As long as we have the H-bomb everything will be O.K."
-Letter to the editor of the New Yorker [cited in Smith 2001, 741]
"Miss Rachel Carson’s reference to the selfishness of insecticide manufacturers probably reflects her Communist sympathies, like a lot of our writers these days. We can live without birds and animals, but, as the current market slump shows, we cannot live without business. As for insects, isn't it just like a woman to be scared to death of a few little bugs! As long as we have the H-bomb everything will be O.K."
-Letter to the editor of the New Yorker [cited in Smith 2001, 741]
Dr. Robert White Stevens, a former biochemist and assistant director of the Agricultural Research Division of American Cyanamid, was a spokesman for the chemical industry and particularly critical of Carson.
"If man were to follow the teachings of Miss Carson, we would return to the Dark Ages, and the insects and diseases and vermin would once again inherit the earth."
-Dr. Robert White Stevens, CBS Reports |
Dr. J. Gordon Edwards was an established entomologist, professor, author, and critic of Carson.
"As I read the first several chapters I noticed many statements that I realized were false. . . She was carefully omitting everything that failed to support her thesis that pesticides were bad, that industry was bad, and that any scientists who did not support her were bad." -Dr. J. Gordon Edwards, 21st Century Magazine |
Public Praise
In 1963, Rachel Carson became the first woman to win the Audubon Society's Audubon Medal. Previous awards included the National Book Award and John Burroughs Medal.
"...distinguished scientist, gifted writer and sensitive and perceptive interpreter of the ways of nature." -Carl Buchheister, Audubon Society |
"It's impossible to do justice today to Rachel Carson's impact. I was in government at the time, and I remember all over Washington, people were talking about this book."
-Bill Moyers, Bill Moyers Journal "In her new book [Rachel Carson] tries to scare the living daylights out of us and, in large measure, succeeds. Her work tingles with anger, outrage and protest. It is a 20th-century “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
-Walter Sullivan, New York Times |