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“Carson’s Clarion Call: The Noisy Response to Silent Spring” - Mark Barrow, Virginia Tech
The publication of Silent Spring (1962) generated a firestorm of controversy and helped catalyze the modern environmental movement. Why did Rachel Carson’s critique of modern pesticides have such a far-reaching impact? This lecture argues that its influence grew out of a convergence of Carson’s authority as both scientist and bestselling author, a cultural climate of heightened anxiety about postwar chemical and nuclear technologies, and the aggressive strategies of her critics. A trained biologist and accomplished writer with access to a broad network of scientific experts, Carson offered readers a compelling, accessible synthesis of the risks associated with the postwar embrace of synthetic pesticides. Equally important, Silent Spring appeared at a moment of growing public concern over widely publicized chemical and pharmaceutical safety scandals and radioactive fallout from atmospheric nuclear testing. Finally, the response of Carson’s critics—including chemical companies, economic entomologists, and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials—proved largely counterproductive: their concerted efforts to discredit Carson only amplified her message, ensuring that the reaction to Silent Spring was anything but silent.
Mark V. Barrow, Jr. is a professor of history at Virginia Tech whose work spans environmental, animal, and American cultural history, as well as the history of biology, natural history, and wildlife conservation. A prizewinning teacher and scholar, he is the author of A Passion for birds: American Ornithology after Audubon (Princeton University Press, 1998), Nature's Ghosts: Confronting Extinction from the Age of Jefferson to the Age of Ecology (University of Chicago Press, 2009), and Gator!: The Making of America's Iconic Reptile, from First Encounters to Florida Man (University of Chicago Press, forthcoming). His research has been supported by the American Philosophical Society, the National Science Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:30 PM, lectures start at 8:00 PM.
