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emmaas_bookshelf's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Great facts, quite dry
rolypolyreading's review against another edition
I'm glad I listened to this because I think I would've been bored if I sat down to read this; only because this was all review for me (teehee environmental degree).
Rachel Carson was an amazing writer. She truly is the blueprint for persuasive writing. She wrote very accessible, I think anyone could read this book and understand the science. And I think anyone reading couldn't help but feel moved by the issues. While chemicals like DDT are restricted today, and many wildlife populations affected in Silent Spring have since recovered, we all know environmental contamination is still a huge problem. (Understatement of the year.) There will always be bigger and worse chemicals. And ourselves, our wildlife, our planet will always suffer if we don't change.
I absolutely would've been frothing at the mouth for this in the 60's if I was someone reading this as a serialization in the New Yorker in the.
Rachel Carson was an amazing writer. She truly is the blueprint for persuasive writing. She wrote very accessible, I think anyone could read this book and understand the science. And I think anyone reading couldn't help but feel moved by the issues. While chemicals like DDT are restricted today, and many wildlife populations affected in Silent Spring have since recovered, we all know environmental contamination is still a huge problem. (Understatement of the year.) There will always be bigger and worse chemicals. And ourselves, our wildlife, our planet will always suffer if we don't change.
I absolutely would've been frothing at the mouth for this in the 60's if I was someone reading this as a serialization in the New Yorker in the.
jhobble10's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.25
This was an interesting and very informative read. I feel like I’ve learned a ton on the main topic, being the history of pesticides and how damaging they were/are to the environment and humans, but also on ecology, entomology, etc. It was interesting hearing about the state of the art research and non-pesticide solutions being proposed in 1962 and I would be interested to follow up on the progress of the field in the last 60 years. However interesting, I struggled to get through the book due to its exorbitant amount of details and examples. I feel like Carson was really beating a dead horse throughout much of the book. Maybe that was the point, though.
graciemxl's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.0
katieinca's review against another edition
4.0
The thing I wondered most about while reading this is "whatever happened with that?" I wanted an anniversary edition. Barring that, I recommend reading this book with wikipedia at your side (not, as I did, as an audiobook while driving 70 MPH). There are books like "Silent Spring at 50," but from what I can tell they're focused on things like trying to blame Carson for harming the war on malaria, when in fact if you read the book she devotes considerable time to the seriousness of human disease vectors, and explains that large populations of mosquitoes had already become DDT-resistant by the time she wrote the book. I'd prefer a Silent Spring Wiki that goes chapter by chapter with updates on when various things were banned or when and where they're still allowed, and how various alternative approaches have progressed. But I'm not about to start it.
The thing I wondered about the second most was how we, as a species, have not yet managed to render ourselves extinct.
An excellent companion for those interested in the environment, agriculture, and the relationship between science and policy, but at times a slow read for those of us living in the 21st century.
The thing I wondered about the second most was how we, as a species, have not yet managed to render ourselves extinct.
An excellent companion for those interested in the environment, agriculture, and the relationship between science and policy, but at times a slow read for those of us living in the 21st century.