As you say in your message on fronter, this does not have to be a summary but can be anything that comes in to my mind by reading this book. And so it is.

Se også: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Spring

I remember that I discussed the main subject of this book with my brother during summer vacation. A good friend, who had listened to this discussion, recommended me Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. This book shows how aggressive chemical pesticides which was used during the 1960s in the agricultural context. More precisely Silent Spring reports major damage to the natural ecosystem caused by pesticides. The book mentions one of the most dangerous pesticides, DDT, short for Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane. but now I’m almost heading into another subject.

Al though this book wasn’t recently published, the content is quite up to date. I was surprised how many details Rachel Carson managed to build in to her book. It may have been one of the reasons why the use of DDT is prohibited since 1972.

However, DDT was still being used even when researchers where able to show traces of this pesticide in the human body. Later in the 60s researchers proved that DDT was causing miscarriage and malformations. It was also proved that DDT promotes the formation of cancer.

Reliable sources say that the Author, Rachel Carson, already was concerned about the use of pesticides in the 1940s. She says in her book that uncontrolled and unexamined use of pesticides such as DDT would not just be of great harm to natural environment but also to humans.

After the publishing of Silent Spring, the US President J.F. Kennedy send his science advisory committee to investigate the claim. The result of this investigation was a strong regulation of pesticides.

I’m not done with the book yet, but I am looking forward to read more. I can strongly recommend this book. Especially to people who are interested in biology, science and environmental politics.

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Original Language: English

Date: September, 27 1962

Country: United States of America

Subject: Environmentalism