Linda Sargent Wood
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195377743
- eISBN:
- 9780199869404
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195377743.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter focuses on nature writer and zoologist Rachel Carson. It offers a short biographical sketch and shows how she formulated and articulated her holistic ethos. Influenced by ...
More
This chapter focuses on nature writer and zoologist Rachel Carson. It offers a short biographical sketch and shows how she formulated and articulated her holistic ethos. Influenced by Presbyterianism, the nature movement, and scientific studies, Carson adopted a holistic understanding of life and popularized it in best‐selling books on the sea and pesticides. She wrote of a world of interconnecting parts that formed a whole. “In the ecological web of life,” she explained, “nothing exists alone.” Life was more than a mere collection of individuated atoms; earth's inhabitants survived in a community of interdependent relationships. The naturalist provided her readers with a compelling vision that emphasized harmony, balance, community, and mutuality, and she struck a chord in American society that resonated with particular appeal. Her books became a catalyst for the modern environmental movement and shaped the way many understood the relationships between humans and nature. This study supports the work of environmental historians who have situated Carson within a holistic paradigm in ecology, and it extends our understanding of Carson by positioning her in the culture more broadly. Alongside architects, psychologists, and social reformers, she invoked holistic frameworks to comprehend the world, question the status quo, express individual needs, and enact change.Less
This chapter focuses on nature writer and zoologist Rachel Carson. It offers a short biographical sketch and shows how she formulated and articulated her holistic ethos. Influenced by Presbyterianism, the nature movement, and scientific studies, Carson adopted a holistic understanding of life and popularized it in best‐selling books on the sea and pesticides. She wrote of a world of interconnecting parts that formed a whole. “In the ecological web of life,” she explained, “nothing exists alone.” Life was more than a mere collection of individuated atoms; earth's inhabitants survived in a community of interdependent relationships. The naturalist provided her readers with a compelling vision that emphasized harmony, balance, community, and mutuality, and she struck a chord in American society that resonated with particular appeal. Her books became a catalyst for the modern environmental movement and shaped the way many understood the relationships between humans and nature. This study supports the work of environmental historians who have situated Carson within a holistic paradigm in ecology, and it extends our understanding of Carson by positioning her in the culture more broadly. Alongside architects, psychologists, and social reformers, she invoked holistic frameworks to comprehend the world, question the status quo, express individual needs, and enact change.
Lorraine Code
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195159431
- eISBN:
- 9780199786411
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195159438.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
This chapter shows how ecology, literally and metaphorically, affords a model for rethinking the established theories of knowledge, and relations between humanity and the other-than-human, that ...
More
This chapter shows how ecology, literally and metaphorically, affords a model for rethinking the established theories of knowledge, and relations between humanity and the other-than-human, that characterize the social imaginary of the post-Enlightenment western world. Ecology figures as a study of habitats where people can live well together; of the ethos and habitus enacted in the customs, social organizations, and creative-regulative principles by which they strive or fail to achieve this end. Focusing on a shift in Rachel Carson’s thinking from geographical to ecological, and drawing on Kristin Shrader-Frechette’s analysis of ecological science, the chapter draws a parallel between Carson’s tacit epistemology and that of biologist Karen Messing to develop the working conception of ecology that informs the argument of the book. A reclamation of testimony as a source of evidence is central to the argument.Less
This chapter shows how ecology, literally and metaphorically, affords a model for rethinking the established theories of knowledge, and relations between humanity and the other-than-human, that characterize the social imaginary of the post-Enlightenment western world. Ecology figures as a study of habitats where people can live well together; of the ethos and habitus enacted in the customs, social organizations, and creative-regulative principles by which they strive or fail to achieve this end. Focusing on a shift in Rachel Carson’s thinking from geographical to ecological, and drawing on Kristin Shrader-Frechette’s analysis of ecological science, the chapter draws a parallel between Carson’s tacit epistemology and that of biologist Karen Messing to develop the working conception of ecology that informs the argument of the book. A reclamation of testimony as a source of evidence is central to the argument.
John P. Herron
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195383546
- eISBN:
- 9780199870523
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195383546.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century, American History: 20th Century
This chapter focuses on the life of Rachel Carson. In late summer of 1929, 22-year-old Rachel Carson arrived at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. A recent graduate ...
More
This chapter focuses on the life of Rachel Carson. In late summer of 1929, 22-year-old Rachel Carson arrived at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. A recent graduate of the Pennsylvania College for Women, Carson came to the MBL as a “beginning investigator”, to study reptilian nerve systems. By the time Carson left Woods Hole, biology and its social implications were well known. When Carson established herself as natural scientist, her role as a scientist defined her social position. Her scientific credibility was (and often still is) debated, an issue greatly affected by the contemporary politics of gender, but her acceptance of the social responsibility of the scientist was not. Promoting a socially engaged understanding of natural science was something she had anticipated and prepared for much of her life.Less
This chapter focuses on the life of Rachel Carson. In late summer of 1929, 22-year-old Rachel Carson arrived at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. A recent graduate of the Pennsylvania College for Women, Carson came to the MBL as a “beginning investigator”, to study reptilian nerve systems. By the time Carson left Woods Hole, biology and its social implications were well known. When Carson established herself as natural scientist, her role as a scientist defined her social position. Her scientific credibility was (and often still is) debated, an issue greatly affected by the contemporary politics of gender, but her acceptance of the social responsibility of the scientist was not. Promoting a socially engaged understanding of natural science was something she had anticipated and prepared for much of her life.
John P. Herron
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195383546
- eISBN:
- 9780199870523
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195383546.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century, American History: 20th Century
This chapter continues the discussion of the life of Rachel Carson. Human interaction with the nonhuman world was at the foundation of Carson's environmental vision. Her childhood nature writing, for ...
More
This chapter continues the discussion of the life of Rachel Carson. Human interaction with the nonhuman world was at the foundation of Carson's environmental vision. Her childhood nature writing, for example, focused on her ordinary surroundings. During her collegiate training, her scientific knowledge of nature increased, but analysis predicated on personal experience, on the beach and in the tide pools, was still most rewarding. Carson expected natural scientists to reveal the social uses of American biology. Her critics, however, labeled her a “generalist” and a “popularizer” and relegated her vision of natural science to the domain of the amateur.Less
This chapter continues the discussion of the life of Rachel Carson. Human interaction with the nonhuman world was at the foundation of Carson's environmental vision. Her childhood nature writing, for example, focused on her ordinary surroundings. During her collegiate training, her scientific knowledge of nature increased, but analysis predicated on personal experience, on the beach and in the tide pools, was still most rewarding. Carson expected natural scientists to reveal the social uses of American biology. Her critics, however, labeled her a “generalist” and a “popularizer” and relegated her vision of natural science to the domain of the amateur.
Lorraine Code
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195159431
- eISBN:
- 9780199786411
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195159438.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
Arguing that ecological thinking can animate an epistemology capable of addressing feminist, multicultural, and other post-colonial concerns, this book critiques the instrumental rationality, ...
More
Arguing that ecological thinking can animate an epistemology capable of addressing feminist, multicultural, and other post-colonial concerns, this book critiques the instrumental rationality, hyperbolized autonomy, abstract individualism, and exploitation of people and places that western epistemologies of mastery have legitimated. It proposes a politics of epistemic location, sensitive to the interplay of particularity and diversity, and focused on responsible epistemic practices. Starting from an epistemological approach implicit in Rachel Carson’s scientific projects, the book draws, constructively and critically, on ecological theory and practice, on (post-Quinean) naturalized epistemology, and on feminist and post-colonial theory. Analyzing extended examples from developmental psychology, from medicine and law, and from circumstances where vulnerability, credibility, and public trust are at issue, the argument addresses the constitutive part played by an instituted social imaginary in shaping and regulating human lives. The practices and examples discussed invoke the responsibility requirements central to this text’s larger purpose of imagining, crafting, articulating a creative, innovative, instituting social imaginary, committed to interrogating entrenched hierarchical social structures, en route to enacting principles of ideal cohabitation.Less
Arguing that ecological thinking can animate an epistemology capable of addressing feminist, multicultural, and other post-colonial concerns, this book critiques the instrumental rationality, hyperbolized autonomy, abstract individualism, and exploitation of people and places that western epistemologies of mastery have legitimated. It proposes a politics of epistemic location, sensitive to the interplay of particularity and diversity, and focused on responsible epistemic practices. Starting from an epistemological approach implicit in Rachel Carson’s scientific projects, the book draws, constructively and critically, on ecological theory and practice, on (post-Quinean) naturalized epistemology, and on feminist and post-colonial theory. Analyzing extended examples from developmental psychology, from medicine and law, and from circumstances where vulnerability, credibility, and public trust are at issue, the argument addresses the constitutive part played by an instituted social imaginary in shaping and regulating human lives. The practices and examples discussed invoke the responsibility requirements central to this text’s larger purpose of imagining, crafting, articulating a creative, innovative, instituting social imaginary, committed to interrogating entrenched hierarchical social structures, en route to enacting principles of ideal cohabitation.
Robert C. Fuller
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195369175
- eISBN:
- 9780199871186
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369175.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The emotion of wonder is among our genetically encoded programs for responding to unexpected features of the environment. Wonder is distinct from other emotions in its ability to foster receptivity, ...
More
The emotion of wonder is among our genetically encoded programs for responding to unexpected features of the environment. Wonder is distinct from other emotions in its ability to foster receptivity, openness, metaphysical thinking, and moral sensitivity. Biological and psychological studies of wonder help us understand the moods and motivations that distinguish aesthetic spirituality or nature religion.Less
The emotion of wonder is among our genetically encoded programs for responding to unexpected features of the environment. Wonder is distinct from other emotions in its ability to foster receptivity, openness, metaphysical thinking, and moral sensitivity. Biological and psychological studies of wonder help us understand the moods and motivations that distinguish aesthetic spirituality or nature religion.
John Gatta
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195165050
- eISBN:
- 9780199835140
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195165055.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
Beginning in the latter half of the nineteenth century, Darwinism had a varied impact on American sensibilities. John Muir, for example, studied science and accepted the transmutative premise of ...
More
Beginning in the latter half of the nineteenth century, Darwinism had a varied impact on American sensibilities. John Muir, for example, studied science and accepted the transmutative premise of evolutionary theory--but retained a biblically colored piety that saw God’s presence inscribed “in magnificent capitals” at places like Yosemite. During this extended period, writings by Mary Austin and Black Elk reflect their encounters with versions of naturalistic piety lying outside Euro-American ethnic traditions. Still, the written form in which Black Elk expressed his ecological vision of holiness, as imaged in the great hoop of the Lakota nation, was decidedly influenced by his contact with non-Indian culture. Although Rachel Carson was a committed scientist whose work presupposed belief in organic evolution, her writing also reflects a robust spirituality founded upon reverence for life and for the mystery of things unseen.Less
Beginning in the latter half of the nineteenth century, Darwinism had a varied impact on American sensibilities. John Muir, for example, studied science and accepted the transmutative premise of evolutionary theory--but retained a biblically colored piety that saw God’s presence inscribed “in magnificent capitals” at places like Yosemite. During this extended period, writings by Mary Austin and Black Elk reflect their encounters with versions of naturalistic piety lying outside Euro-American ethnic traditions. Still, the written form in which Black Elk expressed his ecological vision of holiness, as imaged in the great hoop of the Lakota nation, was decidedly influenced by his contact with non-Indian culture. Although Rachel Carson was a committed scientist whose work presupposed belief in organic evolution, her writing also reflects a robust spirituality founded upon reverence for life and for the mystery of things unseen.
John Gatta
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195165050
- eISBN:
- 9780199835140
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195165055.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
Since colonial times, the sense of encountering an unseen, transcendental Presence within the natural world has been a characteristic motif in American literature and culture. In this book, the ...
More
Since colonial times, the sense of encountering an unseen, transcendental Presence within the natural world has been a characteristic motif in American literature and culture. In this book, the author suggests that the religious import of environmental literature has yet to be fully recognized or understood. Whatever their theology, American writers have perennially construed the nonhuman world to be a source, in Rachel Carson’s words, of “something that takes us out of ourselves.”Reflecting recent practice of “ecocriticism,” Making Nature Sacred explores how the quest for natural revelation has been pursued through successive phases of American literary and intellectual history. And it shows how the imaginative challenge of “reading” landscapes has been influenced by biblical hermeneutics. Though focused on adaptations of Judeo-Christian tradition that view nature as religiously iconic, it also samples Native American, African American, and Buddhist forms of ecospirituality. It begins with Colonial New England writers such Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards, re-examines pivotal figures such as Henry Thoreau and John Muir, and takes account of writings by Mary Austin, Rachel Carson, and many others along the way. The book concludes with an assessment of the “spiritual renaissance” underway in current environmental writing. Such writing is represented by prose writers such as Wendell Berry, Annie Dillard, John Cheever, Marilynne Robinson, Peter Matthiessen, and Barry Lopez; and by noteworthy poets including Patiann Rogers, Wendell Berry, Gary Snyder, Mary Oliver, and Denise Levertov. American writers testify overall that our ecological predicament must be understood not merely as a technical challenge, but as a genuine crisis of spirit and imagination.Less
Since colonial times, the sense of encountering an unseen, transcendental Presence within the natural world has been a characteristic motif in American literature and culture. In this book, the author suggests that the religious import of environmental literature has yet to be fully recognized or understood. Whatever their theology, American writers have perennially construed the nonhuman world to be a source, in Rachel Carson’s words, of “something that takes us out of ourselves.”
Reflecting recent practice of “ecocriticism,” Making Nature Sacred explores how the quest for natural revelation has been pursued through successive phases of American literary and intellectual history. And it shows how the imaginative challenge of “reading” landscapes has been influenced by biblical hermeneutics. Though focused on adaptations of Judeo-Christian tradition that view nature as religiously iconic, it also samples Native American, African American, and Buddhist forms of ecospirituality. It begins with Colonial New England writers such Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards, re-examines pivotal figures such as Henry Thoreau and John Muir, and takes account of writings by Mary Austin, Rachel Carson, and many others along the way. The book concludes with an assessment of the “spiritual renaissance” underway in current environmental writing. Such writing is represented by prose writers such as Wendell Berry, Annie Dillard, John Cheever, Marilynne Robinson, Peter Matthiessen, and Barry Lopez; and by noteworthy poets including Patiann Rogers, Wendell Berry, Gary Snyder, Mary Oliver, and Denise Levertov. American writers testify overall that our ecological predicament must be understood not merely as a technical challenge, but as a genuine crisis of spirit and imagination.
Frederick Rowe Davis
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780300205176
- eISBN:
- 9780300210378
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300205176.003.0006
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Nature
This chapter discusses Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, a bestseller which alerted Americans to the hazards of insecticides. Carson's prose revealed hazards found with the indiscriminate use of DDT and ...
More
This chapter discusses Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, a bestseller which alerted Americans to the hazards of insecticides. Carson's prose revealed hazards found with the indiscriminate use of DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbons. With the exception of malathion, organophosphates posed greater risks to humans and wildlife. However, organophosphates had one notable advantage over DDT and the chlorinated hydrocarbons: organophosphates broke down into relatively harmless components over the course of weeks or even days, whereas chlorinated hydrocarbons accumulated in ecosystems and the bodies of wildlife and humans. In general, Silent Spring painted a sharp picture of toxicological risk in layman's terms.Less
This chapter discusses Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, a bestseller which alerted Americans to the hazards of insecticides. Carson's prose revealed hazards found with the indiscriminate use of DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbons. With the exception of malathion, organophosphates posed greater risks to humans and wildlife. However, organophosphates had one notable advantage over DDT and the chlorinated hydrocarbons: organophosphates broke down into relatively harmless components over the course of weeks or even days, whereas chlorinated hydrocarbons accumulated in ecosystems and the bodies of wildlife and humans. In general, Silent Spring painted a sharp picture of toxicological risk in layman's terms.
SSJ Monica Weis
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813130040
- eISBN:
- 9780813135717
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813130040.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This chapter provides an analysis of Thomas Merton's letter to Rachel Carson and a brief clarification of how these two literary minds were prophets of both revelation and revolution. Rachel Carson ...
More
This chapter provides an analysis of Thomas Merton's letter to Rachel Carson and a brief clarification of how these two literary minds were prophets of both revelation and revolution. Rachel Carson was the author of the recently published Silent Spring. Merton's January 12, 1963, letter is a watershed moment, or “spot of time”, in his developing environmental consciousness. Merton's reading of Silent Spring was an epiphanic event akin to other well-known and powerful moments of spiritual insight in his life. Nearly fifty years later, it can verify that Silent Spring became the catalyst for the current environmental movement. In both writers, there is a sense of responsibility for environmental health that comes from attentiveness to their surroundings and commitment to a coherent vision of the cosmos. There is also what the ecocritic Jonathan Bate has called ecopoesis—a deep longing for belonging.Less
This chapter provides an analysis of Thomas Merton's letter to Rachel Carson and a brief clarification of how these two literary minds were prophets of both revelation and revolution. Rachel Carson was the author of the recently published Silent Spring. Merton's January 12, 1963, letter is a watershed moment, or “spot of time”, in his developing environmental consciousness. Merton's reading of Silent Spring was an epiphanic event akin to other well-known and powerful moments of spiritual insight in his life. Nearly fifty years later, it can verify that Silent Spring became the catalyst for the current environmental movement. In both writers, there is a sense of responsibility for environmental health that comes from attentiveness to their surroundings and commitment to a coherent vision of the cosmos. There is also what the ecocritic Jonathan Bate has called ecopoesis—a deep longing for belonging.
Robert C. Fuller
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807829950
- eISBN:
- 9781469605593
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807889909_fuller.11
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter explores the “rototypical characteristics” of the experience of wonder by looking at one individual whose life was shaped by recurring experiences of wonder: the environmental activist ...
More
This chapter explores the “rototypical characteristics” of the experience of wonder by looking at one individual whose life was shaped by recurring experiences of wonder: the environmental activist Rachel Carson. It examines how emotional experiences of wonder can lead to a lifelong sensibility for what Carson termed “the beauties and mysteries of the earth.” After presenting a brief background on Carson's life, the chapter focuses on her notion of an ethics of appreciation rather than an ethics of obedience to moral authority. It also describes her advocacy of trying not only to help others know about nature but also to teach them how to feel about nature, her argument that wonder is a profoundly functional emotion, and the importance of humility and wonder in her spiritual orientation to life. Finally, it considers Carson's view that it is the sense of wonder that best elicits and sustains a reverence for life.Less
This chapter explores the “rototypical characteristics” of the experience of wonder by looking at one individual whose life was shaped by recurring experiences of wonder: the environmental activist Rachel Carson. It examines how emotional experiences of wonder can lead to a lifelong sensibility for what Carson termed “the beauties and mysteries of the earth.” After presenting a brief background on Carson's life, the chapter focuses on her notion of an ethics of appreciation rather than an ethics of obedience to moral authority. It also describes her advocacy of trying not only to help others know about nature but also to teach them how to feel about nature, her argument that wonder is a profoundly functional emotion, and the importance of humility and wonder in her spiritual orientation to life. Finally, it considers Carson's view that it is the sense of wonder that best elicits and sustains a reverence for life.
John P. Herron
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195383546
- eISBN:
- 9780199870523
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195383546.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century, American History: 20th Century
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the purpose of the book, which is to examine the working world of natural scientists, exploring how they used science within American life and, ...
More
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the purpose of the book, which is to examine the working world of natural scientists, exploring how they used science within American life and, most importantly, illuminating the impact of natural science on American culture. Beginning with the conclusion of the Civil War and the creation of a recognizably modern America, and continuing forward to the emergence of environmentalism as a political force nearly a century later, the book explores the evolving internal paradigms and external forces influencing the design and purpose of American natural science. The chapter also considers the work of Clarence King, Robert Marshall, and Rachel Carson, representatives of the community of natural scientists who blended their work, understanding of politics, and concern for social welfare into a vision of a liberal, cooperative, and scientifically informed America.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the purpose of the book, which is to examine the working world of natural scientists, exploring how they used science within American life and, most importantly, illuminating the impact of natural science on American culture. Beginning with the conclusion of the Civil War and the creation of a recognizably modern America, and continuing forward to the emergence of environmentalism as a political force nearly a century later, the book explores the evolving internal paradigms and external forces influencing the design and purpose of American natural science. The chapter also considers the work of Clarence King, Robert Marshall, and Rachel Carson, representatives of the community of natural scientists who blended their work, understanding of politics, and concern for social welfare into a vision of a liberal, cooperative, and scientifically informed America.
Daniel Worden
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781469638690
- eISBN:
- 9781469638713
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469638690.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
In his essay, “Speculative Ecology: Rachel Carson’s Environmentalist Documentaries,” Daniel Worden argues that Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring is not only a path-breaking work of investigative ...
More
In his essay, “Speculative Ecology: Rachel Carson’s Environmentalist Documentaries,” Daniel Worden argues that Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring is not only a path-breaking work of investigative journalism, but also a daring work of imaginative projection. Rereading this seminal book in light of Carson’s earlier writing about the ocean, which she portrays as vast and indecipherable, Worden reinterprets Carson’s storied career and demonstrates her contribution to contemporary writing about climate change. Tasked with describing catastrophe that unfolds incrementally, Carson’s speculative documentary defamiliarizes nature itself, performing the work of estrangement that survival may require.Less
In his essay, “Speculative Ecology: Rachel Carson’s Environmentalist Documentaries,” Daniel Worden argues that Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring is not only a path-breaking work of investigative journalism, but also a daring work of imaginative projection. Rereading this seminal book in light of Carson’s earlier writing about the ocean, which she portrays as vast and indecipherable, Worden reinterprets Carson’s storied career and demonstrates her contribution to contemporary writing about climate change. Tasked with describing catastrophe that unfolds incrementally, Carson’s speculative documentary defamiliarizes nature itself, performing the work of estrangement that survival may require.
Lorraine Code
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262017404
- eISBN:
- 9780262301770
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262017404.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter focuses on the work of Rachel Carson and its influence on ecological science and environmental activism. Even before the term “ecological” became mainstream in the English language and ...
More
This chapter focuses on the work of Rachel Carson and its influence on ecological science and environmental activism. Even before the term “ecological” became mainstream in the English language and in the language of professional scientific circles, Carson’s work was undeniably ecological, even if peppered with social and political commitments. Carson’s legacy is her work’s potential to unsettle the settled assumptions of an epistemological orthodoxy that sustains a conviction in the value of individual, detached, and depersonalized mastery and control. This chapter, in developing an epistemological approach referred to as “ecological naturalism,”, draws heavily from Carson’s works, specifically Silent Spring. This chapter discusses knowledge as being “acquired” for manipulation of nature and human nature, and knowledge as a valuable commodity that legitimizes possession of power as these possessors recast “the natural world” as a resource for human gratification.Less
This chapter focuses on the work of Rachel Carson and its influence on ecological science and environmental activism. Even before the term “ecological” became mainstream in the English language and in the language of professional scientific circles, Carson’s work was undeniably ecological, even if peppered with social and political commitments. Carson’s legacy is her work’s potential to unsettle the settled assumptions of an epistemological orthodoxy that sustains a conviction in the value of individual, detached, and depersonalized mastery and control. This chapter, in developing an epistemological approach referred to as “ecological naturalism,”, draws heavily from Carson’s works, specifically Silent Spring. This chapter discusses knowledge as being “acquired” for manipulation of nature and human nature, and knowledge as a valuable commodity that legitimizes possession of power as these possessors recast “the natural world” as a resource for human gratification.
Janet Browne
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226569871
- eISBN:
- 9780226570075
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226570075.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Rachel Carson was an American marine biologist who began her career at the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, and became a full-time nature writer in the 1950s, most known for Silent Spring, published in ...
More
Rachel Carson was an American marine biologist who began her career at the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, and became a full-time nature writer in the 1950s, most known for Silent Spring, published in 1962. Alarmed by the damage done to the environment by synthetic pesticides, Carson wrote passionately, and effectively, about the need for developing a culture and ethic of conservation. Meeting fierce opposition by chemical companies, Carson became more even more emboldened. Ultimately, Carson’s vision proved highly influential, spurring a reversal in national policy on pesticides, and inspiring a grassroots environmental movement that led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Few books in the history of the twentieth century can be said to have exercised such an impact as Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. What was it about this woman’s vision and conviction that allowed it to bring about such revolutionary results? What was it about her times? This contribution seeks to provide answers to these and other questions.Less
Rachel Carson was an American marine biologist who began her career at the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, and became a full-time nature writer in the 1950s, most known for Silent Spring, published in 1962. Alarmed by the damage done to the environment by synthetic pesticides, Carson wrote passionately, and effectively, about the need for developing a culture and ethic of conservation. Meeting fierce opposition by chemical companies, Carson became more even more emboldened. Ultimately, Carson’s vision proved highly influential, spurring a reversal in national policy on pesticides, and inspiring a grassroots environmental movement that led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Few books in the history of the twentieth century can be said to have exercised such an impact as Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. What was it about this woman’s vision and conviction that allowed it to bring about such revolutionary results? What was it about her times? This contribution seeks to provide answers to these and other questions.
John P. Herron
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195383546
- eISBN:
- 9780199870523
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195383546.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century, American History: 20th Century
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts from the author. It argues that nature continues to serve as a foundation for American political values, with natural science acting as guide. Key to ...
More
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts from the author. It argues that nature continues to serve as a foundation for American political values, with natural science acting as guide. Key to its modern appeal is an understanding of science as an objective form of knowledge located within the authoritative natural world. The challenge for scientists and citizens alike is to recognize how much of our search for answers in the physical environment is not based on the ability of science to reveal what nature intended but is, rather, a necessary product of human relations in a social environment.Less
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts from the author. It argues that nature continues to serve as a foundation for American political values, with natural science acting as guide. Key to its modern appeal is an understanding of science as an objective form of knowledge located within the authoritative natural world. The challenge for scientists and citizens alike is to recognize how much of our search for answers in the physical environment is not based on the ability of science to reveal what nature intended but is, rather, a necessary product of human relations in a social environment.
SSJ Monica Weis
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813130040
- eISBN:
- 9780813135717
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813130040.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This chapter traces the steps of an emerging ecological consciousness—from Thomas Merton's letter to Rachel Carson in 1963 until his last published book review a few months before his death in 1968. ...
More
This chapter traces the steps of an emerging ecological consciousness—from Thomas Merton's letter to Rachel Carson in 1963 until his last published book review a few months before his death in 1968. The assortment of letters, journal entries, reading notebooks, and published book reviews written during these five years reveals Thomas Merton on the cutting edge of environmental thinking and developing what Aldo Leopold—and later Merton—called an ecological conscience. Embedded in Merton's letter to Carson are three strands of his deepening spirituality: awareness and a keen eye for the beauty and the holiness or “sacramentality” of nature, a deepening realization of kinship and harmony with nature, and a growing sense of compassion and responsibility for all creation. Although these strands have been looked at individually in a somewhat biographical way, it can also be discerned how they become part of the fabric of Merton's spirituality particularly in the last years of his life. In general, the letters and published book reviews during the last five years of his life document an evolving and more intensely felt commitment to environmental integrity—a new consciousness motivated by justice for all creatures.Less
This chapter traces the steps of an emerging ecological consciousness—from Thomas Merton's letter to Rachel Carson in 1963 until his last published book review a few months before his death in 1968. The assortment of letters, journal entries, reading notebooks, and published book reviews written during these five years reveals Thomas Merton on the cutting edge of environmental thinking and developing what Aldo Leopold—and later Merton—called an ecological conscience. Embedded in Merton's letter to Carson are three strands of his deepening spirituality: awareness and a keen eye for the beauty and the holiness or “sacramentality” of nature, a deepening realization of kinship and harmony with nature, and a growing sense of compassion and responsibility for all creation. Although these strands have been looked at individually in a somewhat biographical way, it can also be discerned how they become part of the fabric of Merton's spirituality particularly in the last years of his life. In general, the letters and published book reviews during the last five years of his life document an evolving and more intensely felt commitment to environmental integrity—a new consciousness motivated by justice for all creatures.
Marla Cone
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231159319
- eISBN:
- 9780231500586
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231159319.003.0005
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This essay reviews the book Silent Spring (1962), by Rachel Carson. Silent Spring alerted readers to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides and other toxic ...
More
This essay reviews the book Silent Spring (1962), by Rachel Carson. Silent Spring alerted readers to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides and other toxic pollutants, spurring revolutionary changes in U.S. laws affecting our air, land, and water. What Carson called the “chain of evil”—the buildup of chemicals in our environment—continues unbroken to this day. And even though the political firestorm Silent Spring stirred up forty-three years ago burns with just as much intensity today, most of Carson's science remains sound and her warnings prescient. If we take a mental snapshot of what we know now about the dangers of chemical exposure, the questions still outnumber the answers. Yet one thing remains as certain as it was in 1962: we are leaving a toxic trail that will outlive us. Carson described in great scientific detail the dangers of DDT and its sister chlorinated chemicals, and her writings transformed how people felt about pesticides.Less
This essay reviews the book Silent Spring (1962), by Rachel Carson. Silent Spring alerted readers to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides and other toxic pollutants, spurring revolutionary changes in U.S. laws affecting our air, land, and water. What Carson called the “chain of evil”—the buildup of chemicals in our environment—continues unbroken to this day. And even though the political firestorm Silent Spring stirred up forty-three years ago burns with just as much intensity today, most of Carson's science remains sound and her warnings prescient. If we take a mental snapshot of what we know now about the dangers of chemical exposure, the questions still outnumber the answers. Yet one thing remains as certain as it was in 1962: we are leaving a toxic trail that will outlive us. Carson described in great scientific detail the dangers of DDT and its sister chlorinated chemicals, and her writings transformed how people felt about pesticides.
Finis Dunaway
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780226169903
- eISBN:
- 9780226169934
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226169934.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Environmental History
This chapter presents three sets of images as together constituting a prehistory of environmental icons: advertisements against nuclear testing produced by SANE (the National Committee for a Sane ...
More
This chapter presents three sets of images as together constituting a prehistory of environmental icons: advertisements against nuclear testing produced by SANE (the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy); the Daisy Girl and other TV commercials produced for the 1964 Lyndon Baines Johnson presidential campaign; and pesticide imagery that followed publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) and culminated with the 1972 federal ban on DDT. These images depicted the temporality of the environmental crisis by portraying the long-term risks of radioactive fallout and pesticides to the environment and the human body. This chapter explains how popular images challenged the Cold War emotional style by picturing innocent children as the prime victims of environmental danger. From SANE ads to the DDT ban, images helped popularize notions of the ecological body by explaining the ways that Strontium-90 and pesticides could enter the food chain and thereby threaten fragile ecosystems and human health.Less
This chapter presents three sets of images as together constituting a prehistory of environmental icons: advertisements against nuclear testing produced by SANE (the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy); the Daisy Girl and other TV commercials produced for the 1964 Lyndon Baines Johnson presidential campaign; and pesticide imagery that followed publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) and culminated with the 1972 federal ban on DDT. These images depicted the temporality of the environmental crisis by portraying the long-term risks of radioactive fallout and pesticides to the environment and the human body. This chapter explains how popular images challenged the Cold War emotional style by picturing innocent children as the prime victims of environmental danger. From SANE ads to the DDT ban, images helped popularize notions of the ecological body by explaining the ways that Strontium-90 and pesticides could enter the food chain and thereby threaten fragile ecosystems and human health.
John Wills
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748626014
- eISBN:
- 9780748670673
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748626014.003.0013
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
John Wills begins this chapter by contrasting the place of the environment for Henry David Thoreau in the 1840s with its status in the early twenty-first century, in which the preservation of ...
More
John Wills begins this chapter by contrasting the place of the environment for Henry David Thoreau in the 1840s with its status in the early twenty-first century, in which the preservation of national parks sits alongside the heavy toll on the natural world caused by 150 years of industrialisation and commerce. Exploring the United States as a place of extremes and contradictions when it comes to environmental issues, the chapter focuses in particular on the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 and related issues of global warming and energy consumption. Wills moves on to consider the growing environmental consciousness of the new century, green-branded commerce, the new commitment to green technology amongst major manufacturers, and national environmental policies. The chapter ends with a consideration of Al Gore’s environmental film An Inconvenient Truth (2006) as a contemporary take on Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) for promoting the environmental message.Less
John Wills begins this chapter by contrasting the place of the environment for Henry David Thoreau in the 1840s with its status in the early twenty-first century, in which the preservation of national parks sits alongside the heavy toll on the natural world caused by 150 years of industrialisation and commerce. Exploring the United States as a place of extremes and contradictions when it comes to environmental issues, the chapter focuses in particular on the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 and related issues of global warming and energy consumption. Wills moves on to consider the growing environmental consciousness of the new century, green-branded commerce, the new commitment to green technology amongst major manufacturers, and national environmental policies. The chapter ends with a consideration of Al Gore’s environmental film An Inconvenient Truth (2006) as a contemporary take on Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) for promoting the environmental message.
