Author’s Background Study- Rachel Carson undertook this book when she was fifty years old.

She was a marine biologist and writer with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. While she was working for
the government, she and her scientific colleagues had become aware about the widespread use of DDT
and other long-lasting poisons in agricultural control programs. When the spraying of pesticides and
herbicides was causing wholesale destruction of wildlife and its habitat and also endangering human
life, she decided to speak out. She tried to interest these in an article, by then she was a famous writer.
After being turned down by the magazine publishers, she thought of writing the book 'Silent Spring'.
When she was questioned if she could write a salable book on such a deary subject, she said "There
would be no peace for me, if i kept SILENT". This book took over four years to complete and during the
final years she was plagued with what she termed as "a whole catalogue of illnesses". She was attacked
by the chemical industry as she was not only opposing indiscriminate use of poisons but also the basic
irresponsibility of an industrialized, technological society toward the natural world. Hundreds of
thousands of dollars were spent by the chemical industry in an attempt to discredit the book and malign
the author. These attacks were fortunately backfired by creating more publicity about the book. Twenty-
five years later, Silent Spring has more than a historical interest.

Theme of the book:

The humankind is portrayed in a negative way. They are seen as the destroyers. Humans have
influenced the environment from the beginning, whipping out animal species and plant species from
certain areas. Humans have done it from the beginning of humanity and they will never be able to stop
themselves from destroying the planet.

Chapter 1: A Fable for Tomorrow

Objective: To show how such a beautiful and colorful town becomes dead, because of the damages
caused by the human race.

Conclusion: In this chapter, the author shows how once vibrant land turns silent and lifeless. She terms
the first chapter as a fable which is a storytelling device that teaches a moral lesson. So, she starts the
chapter showing the colorful and vibrant environment of a small town in America throughout the year.
Then a sudden mishap happens and all the living things become sick and die. The author says, “ the
people had done it themselves” stating that the reason behind this misfortune is us, the human beings.
The author places a sense of responsibility on her audience to encourage them to stay informed about
the environmental issues the world is facing and to take action to reverse and prevent the horrors she
presented.

Chapter 2: The Obligation to Endure

Objective: In this chapter, the author emphasizes on the fact that the work and nature of humans have
drastically affected the environment in a largely negative way.

Conclusion: The author discusses about the interactions that all living organisms have with their
environment and how one affects the other. She also emphasizes how throughout the past,
environment has always affected the organism but this time it’s the humans who are affecting the
environment. She provide details regarding how life forms adapt to their surrounding environment but
the rate at which humans are destroying the environment is way too fast for organisms to adjust to. One
way that humans have damaged the environment is through the contamination of large sources of life.
Lethal chemicals contaminate our water, our land and even the air that we breathe. From the creation
of biocides such as DDT to the development of atomic bombs, we have neared total destruction of all
life on earth. The developments that were intended to benefit the human race has resulted in large
environmental and genetic impacts that threaten the environment and the world we live in.

Chapter 3: Elixirs of Death

Objective: The author reveals the details of how exposure to dangerous chemicals can and have harmed
our environment.

Conclusion: The development of pesticides have barely been in progress for less than 20 years around
1962, contamination from the chemicals have been found everywhere. Back then the insects were the
guinea pigs for war experiments. Chemicals were tested on them to test the effectiveness of chemicals
that were to be used in WWII and as technology and science advanced, the chemicals became much
more lethal due to the atomic and molecular tampering of man-kind. The effects of these chemicals
have been greatly underestimated, believed to only serve the purpose they were made for when in
reality they have the power to destroy life and its natural balance. She describes the man-made
chemicals such as DDT which have been proven to be incredibly deadly. She states that the intake of
these chemicals, whether through skin contact or through respiration, results in the chemicals being
stored in organisms and when they mix with other chemicals, they show much more dangerous effects.
Most contamination's of chemicals in organisms even have the power to affect the organism genetically
and can lead to cancerous results.

Chapter 4: Surface Waters and Underground Seas

Objective: In this chapter, the author discusses the specific contamination of water, as water makes up
71% of the earth's surface.

Conclusion: This water pollution results from radioactive wastes, chemical wastes, and run-off which
gets into our water sources. Some of this pollution goes unnoticed to the common eye but as soon as
major effects start to show people realize the problem. The water is so deeply contaminated by
numerous chemicals that it easily travels from one water source to the next, being slowly diluted but
still causing dangerous problems. One example she gives of how water contamination affects all is how a
plant located in Colorado was able to contaminate farm wells, miles away, with 2, 4-D. This lethal
chemical was formed from the mixture of other chemicals, showing how the carelessness of humans
with nature and their environment can lead to toxic and dangerous accidents. Furthermore, The author
also provides examples of how deadly the contamination of water is. She does this by giving examples
such as the findings of dead creatures in highly contaminated bodies of water. She claims that humans
must stop their actions and consider the cycle of life and how everything is all connected, if water
resources are made unusable and uninhabitable, then the organisms it supports will all die.

Chapter 5: Realms of the Soil

Objective: To show the impact that the contamination of soil has on the environment as a whole and
how that in turn affects the soil.
Conclusion: The author describes the life of soil and the organisms that make it a main building block in
the environment. She talks about how the organisms such as bacteria, fungi, algae and more are what
helps the cycle of life move. They enrich the soil with numerous minerals, fix nitrogen, and play an
important role in decomposition which all gives rise to the recycling of matter and the creation of new
life. The insects found in soil such as earthworms also help create the richness in soil that helps to
support all life. While this cycle has been maintained throughout the history of life on earth, it has been
disrupted by the spread and contamination of chemicals. The chemicals that are used in pesticides not
only kill the insects it targets but also other organisms. The chemicals affect all forms of life it touches
and when pesticides are used on insects in farms, it travels down to the soil and affects the organisms
and microorganisms there too. As humans continue to poison the life around them, they create a new
and rapid cycle of destruction.

Chapter 6: Earth’s Green Mantle

Objective: To show the ill effects of herbicides and chemical sprays, which creates a complete havoc in
the entire ecosystem.

Conclusion: Plants support the survival of all animals on earth. Vegetation that brings no benefit to
humans or gets in its way usually get destroyed. There is no respect for the great balance of the plant
world so toxic chemicals are made to destroy the weeds that effect crops. The author gives an example
of this with sage, literally the basis of a whole ecosystem. Sadly sagebrush lands are destroyed in favor
of grasslands for farmers to feed cattle, even though sage has evolved to work perfectly in its harsh
environment. Chemical sprays have been used as a weapon to get rid of the sage and once the sage is
eradicated, its whole ecosystem may go along with it. The destruction of this chemical spray caused a
chain reaction throughout the whole area, virtually killing a whole ecosystem. When plants are
destroyed by herbicides, the effect this has on the soil isn’t really thought about. Soil and living things
within it give each other mutual benefits. For example- certain weeds can help keep in check the
populations of pests in the soil, like marigolds and soil nematodes. As the use of herbicides grow there
could be a vegetation shift. Herbicides can be very dangerous, even household ones. There are safer,
cheaper and more effective ways to treat the issues of weeds, like selective spraying, or even more
natural ways in many cases insects have been imported to help eradicate weeds and they have been
extremely effective. The author ends this chapter urging people to pay more attention to more natural
ways of dealing with the issues in nature, because in the end this will be the better way to save
ourselves.

Chapter 7: Needless Havoc

Objective: To show how animals and birds are being affected because the selfishness of humans with
the greatest power, not just animals and birds it has caused trouble to human beings as well. The author
talks about the Michigan incident.

Conclusion: Humans have wanted to rule the earth for a long time. Animals have been abused and taken
advantage of, often leading to endangerment or extinction. Now all forms of life are starting to be killed
on a massive scale with insecticides. Many innocent creatures get killed by insecticides, but agencies
claim these deaths are negligible and that only insects get the full effect of the chemicals. Those in
charge of decision making are looking to individuals who are too specialized in their fields. The people
with the greatest power choose to keep letting these chemicals negatively affect the environment. To
keep insects at bay, spraying is repeated, adding to animal and plant populations having no chance of re-
establishment. In Michigan, 27,000 acres were sprayed with the highly toxic chemical to get rid of the
Japanese beetle. It caused a mass death of animals and birds. Not just animals and birds, even human
beings were affected with symptoms of vomiting, dizziness and chest pains. When biologists studied the
area after the spraying the amount of death was massive. Domestic animals were affected too, house
cats were wiped out. The truth is insecticides have to be used repeatedly and the cost to the
environment and human health is much more expensive than importing some organisms. The author
ends this chapter debating on whether civilization can wage a war on life without killing itself and losing
its humanity in the process.

The quotes I like:

• The people had done it themselves.

• Under the philosophy that now seems to guide our destinies, nothing must get in
the way of the man with the spray gun. The incidental victims of his crusade
against insects count as nothing