The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson, Part 2
Bea’s Books
And so we continue our journey with Rachel Carson. Welcome back to my two part review of “On a Farther Shore: The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson” by William Souder. The second part of the book opens as Carson navigates the publication and success of her new book “The Edge of the Sea” while examining the ups and downs of her personal life, including her romance with Dorothy Freeman, the death of her sister, Marjorie and multiple health complications.
“The Sea Around Us,” Carson’s launch to success, put her writing into the hands of a multitude of American readers, allowing them a glimpse into the curious mind of Rachel Carson, who spun the interconnectedness of the sea into mesmerizing prose. “Then in my thoughts these shores, so different in their nature and the inhabitants they support, are made one by the unifying touch of the sea,” she writes.
As the section goes on, it explores the everlasting and lethal environmental consequences of atomic and hydrogen bombs, namely one that had unheard of effects on the crew of a Japanese fishing boat. Not only was radiation from nuclear bombs a serious health threat, but the emergence of DDT, a prominent insecticide, imperiled nature’s processes and inhabitants; including humans in a time where many had learned to constantly fear for their lives. In a way, radiation and DDT mirrored each other, as they were both deemed perfectly safe, yet were found to be health hazards that put nature’s balance in danger. In multiple instances across the country, DDT significantly lowered the population of wildlife. In a DDT spraying targeting gypsy moths, 83% of the area’s bird population was killed, with 15% less birds the following year. In another instance, over 90% of the local salmon population was wiped out by the insecticide. In other situations, unknowing humans died within a matter of hours after fatal DDT exposure or ingestion.
Atomic and hydrogen bomb testing and the introduction of DDT to the United States largely caused the country to turn its back on conservation efforts. “In the new age of environmentalism the species that most needed our help would be us,” Souder writes.
The ever present and divisive topics of nuclear bombs and pesticides intrigued Carson as she set out to write another book, this time moving her attention away from the sea and towards the pesticide-ridden land. “Silent Spring”, Carson’s last and most famous book, was published in the last years of Carson’s life and cracked the scientific community in two. “Silent Spring” caught the attention of the US government, influencing policy while generating outrage. The uproar that Carson’s book ignited was coupled with the author’s cancer and other health issues, complicating her day to day life and making it difficult to attend engagements and accept awards for her work.
The second part of Souder’s book captures the life of Rachel Carson in a captivating way, deliberating the reverberations of “Silent Spring” carefully and with great detail. Although I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I did not lack grievances, which lay in the unnecessary and winding detours Souder took and sometimes confusing timeline. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed “On a Farther Shore” and look forward to diving deeper into the movements that Rachel Carson’s legacy inspires.
