Who Was Rachel Carson?

As the author of bestselling nature books, Rachel Carson turned a potential ecological disaster into a global wakeup call. Learn how the author of Silent Spring saved our crops from harmful chemicals and helped launch the environmental movement.

Though she grew up in rural Pennsylvania, Rachel Carson dreamed of the sea. In 1936 she began work with the Bureau of Fisheries and soon after publishedUnder the Sea Wind, her first of many nature books. Her 1962 bestseller,Silent Spring, sent shockwaves through the country and warned of the dangers of DDT and other pesticides. A pioneering environmentalist, Rachel Carson helped awaken the global consciousness for conservation and preservation.