alexis grassoMay 27
AkaSci 🛰️

Happy Birthday to Rachel Carson, marine biologist, author and environmentalist extraordinaire, who was born on this day on May 27, 1907, in Springdale, PA. Her book Silent Spring and other writings are credited with igniting the global environmental movement. Shining a light on the dangers of chemical pesticides, the book led to a nationwide ban on DDT and other pesticides and ultimately led to the creation of the EPA.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Carson
Photo: CBS via Getty Images//Getty Images
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May 27 at 8:20pmWeb
Show threadAkaSci 🛰️May 27

A life-sized bronze statue of Rachel Carson, by sculptor David Lewis, was unveiled on July 14, 2013 in the Marine Biological Laboratory’s (MBL) Waterfront Park at Woods Hole, Mass.

https://capecodwave.com/the-story-of-the-rachel-carson-statue/
https://www.mbl.edu/news/rachel-carson-statue-be-dedicated-woods-hole-july-14
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Show threadAkaSci 🛰️May 27

Rachel Carson from her book "Silent Spring" -

"As crude a weapon as the cave man’s club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the fabric of life—a fabric on the one hand delicate and destructible, on the other miraculously tough and resilient, and capable of striking back in unexpected ways.

The question is whether any civilization can wage relentless war on life without destroying itself, and without losing the right to be called civilized."

https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/15332.Rachel_Carson
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Rachel Carson Quotes (Author of Silent Spring)

197 quotes from Rachel Carson: 'The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.', 'Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.', and 'It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist; the threat is rather to life itself.'

Show threadAkaSci 🛰️May 27

Rachel Carson in her book "Silent Spring" -

“We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost's familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road — the one less traveled by — offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth.”

https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/15332.Rachel_Carson
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Show threadAkaSci 🛰️May 27

Rachel Carson on writing:

"Writing is a lonely occupation at best. Of course there are stimulating and even happy associations with friends and colleagues, but during the actual work of creation the writer cuts himself off from all others and confronts his subject alone. He moves into a realm where he has never been before — perhaps where no one has ever been. It is a lonely place, even a little frightening."

More at https://www.themarginalian.org/2017/08/28/rachel-carson-house-of-life-writing-loneliness/
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Rachel Carson on Writing and the Loneliness of Creative Work

“If you write what you yourself sincerely think and feel and are interested in… you will interest other people.”

The Marginalian
Show threadNicole ParsonsMay 28

@AkaSci

The billionaires backing opposition to Rachel Carson's environmentalism:
https://www.eenews.net/articles/billionaire-kelcy-warren-invests-in-pipelines-and-trump/

https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/big-oil-greed-v-the-truth-greenpeace-on-trial-over-standing-rock/

https://www.desmog.com/2025/01/21/mapped-donald-trump-transatlantic-anti-green-network/

https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/greenpeace-is-under-attack-from-big-oil-giant-energy-transfer-but-we-wont-be-silenced/

https://www.desmog.com/2024/10/28/mapped-how-big-ag-pharma-pesticides-and-other-industries-hope-to-sway-the-un-biodiversity-talks/

https://www.desmog.com/2023/10/18/mapped-the-deep-ties-between-big-ag-and-europes-right-wing-politicians/

https://www.desmog.com/2024/10/25/project-2025-trump-mapped-how-6-billionaire-family-fortunes-fund-climate-denial/

https://www.desmog.com/2021/05/18/companies-banks-making-funding-the-worlds-single-use-plastic-trash/

https://www.desmog.com/2021/12/09/network-agribusiness-chemicals-pesticides-lobbying-eu-sustainable-climate-farming/

https://www.desmog.com/2020/11/18/pesticides-industry-climate-change-marketing-pr/

Billionaire Kelcy Warren invests in pipelines — and Trump

The Energy Transfer boss' political strategy can yield big returns.

E&E News by POLITICO
Show threadscribblerMay 28
@AkaSci so if Amazon-owned goodreads is the easy route to destruction of the earth, what alternative option does the opposite?
Show threadJust Tom...May 27
@AkaSci - my introduction (many many years ago) to environmentalism, I've never looked back.
Show threadFeike 🇪🇺🇳🇱May 27
@AkaSci thank you for the ban on DDT.
Show threadFeike 🇪🇺🇳🇱May 28

@AkaSci I live in the Netherlands but I'm sure that Carlen, by her effort to ban DDT in the US, has inspired many countries to do the same.

I've heart that in the '50ies people lay DDT along site the baby's bed to keep away flies. I don't know if that is true though...

Show threadKB SezMay 27

@AkaSci

What an amazing person. We owe her so much.... and I'm sad to say I'm glad she's not around to see the madness running this country and the war on science

Show threadm04May 28
@AkaSci she was also a lesbian!!!
Show threadJenniferMay 28
@AkaSci Silent Spring is one of the most important books I've ever read! She's one of my heroes.