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lau3rie's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.0
This is a hard one to rate as it's a bit of a victim of its own success, the messaging doesn't hit as hard any more in a world that's been changed at least in part by the book itself.
Still, it's very readable and gets a little rating boost by virtue of its significance.
It's interesting that she goes very hard on the negative messaging, it's something that we're trained not to do now, as psychologically it's not a very effective way to generate behaviour change... however history tells us it was at least somewhat effective (or perhaps not, the names have changed but chemical contamination of the environment is still an enormous problem...One in Every Four is more like One in Every Two these days).
It's not wholly negative though, she does do a good job of presenting both tried and tested and emerging alternatives to pesticide use.
It's also fascinating to get perspective on general scientific progress - it seems inconceivable that the cause of Down Syndrome wasn't conclusively known until 1959!
It's still well worth reading, although at this point maybe more as a book with historic and cultural significance than as a scientific resource.
Still, it's very readable and gets a little rating boost by virtue of its significance.
It's interesting that she goes very hard on the negative messaging, it's something that we're trained not to do now, as psychologically it's not a very effective way to generate behaviour change... however history tells us it was at least somewhat effective (or perhaps not, the names have changed but chemical contamination of the environment is still an enormous problem...One in Every Four is more like One in Every Two these days).
It's not wholly negative though, she does do a good job of presenting both tried and tested and emerging alternatives to pesticide use.
It's also fascinating to get perspective on general scientific progress - it seems inconceivable that the cause of Down Syndrome wasn't conclusively known until 1959!
It's still well worth reading, although at this point maybe more as a book with historic and cultural significance than as a scientific resource.
katieagenbroad's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.0
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.