September 17, 2020

Name: Arfaida A. Ladja MS in Environmental Science I

Summary of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

“Man has lost the capacity to foresee and to forestall. He will end by destroying the earth.”
This book is a cry warning of the effects of using pesticides
dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). This matter is a mass scale poisoning of the land with
pesticides and with thousands of farmers committing suicide. Rachel Carson, a biologist, linked
human and nature as symbiotic in which not everyone knows it at that time. A cry warning for
people to know about the rapid changes in the environment and to take an effective part in the
battle that may shape the future of all life on earth. This book which was published in 1962
contains a seventeen (17) subtitles or seventeen chapters; (1) A Fable for Tomorrow, (2) The
Obligation to Endure, (3) Elixirs of Death, (4) Surface Waters and Underground Seas, (5)
Realms of the Soil, (6) Earth’s Green Mantle, (7) Needless Havoc, (8) And No Birds Sing, (9)
Rivers of Death, (10) Indiscriminately from the Skies, (11) Beyond the Dreams of the Borgias,
(12) The Human Price, (13) Through a Narrow Window, (14) One in Every Four, (15) Nature
Fights Back, (16) The Rumblings of an Avalanche, and (17) The Other Road.
A fable for tomorrow- It epitomizes that in small town before has a balanced ecosystems
that seem in perfect sync and in perfect harmony. The living animals who survived in nature and
enjoying their surroundings. The birds can still found food in winter; the deer playing in the
misty morning; the fish swimming in the unsullied, clear water. This was life as the perfect
creation of God.
The obligation to endure- It depicts now the relationships between nature and human
beings. Carson argues that human beings are to suffer for their wrongdoings. She emphasized
that there is a strong relationship between living beings and their surroundings. The environment
has shaped physical form and habits of people and animals on earth. This cultivating and
molding took hundreds of thousands of years. The human beings who think highly of themselves
alternate the nature and therefore, must pay a high price. In which the future generations will be
especially the one to pay the greater price. The most significant environmental problems are
water pollution, earth pollution, and air pollution, which are caused by using dangerous and
deadly materials including several inorganic components.

Elixirs of death- It states here that every individual is subjected to elixirs of death. The
writer claims the effects of 20 years of synthetic pesticides is inevitable. Then, she provides
evidence for this claim showing that pesticide residue has been detected in water, soil, and all
types of living creatures, including humans. Next, she explains how this has occurred. As the
chemicals enter living things, this brought changes which are harmful to the living bodies. Since
we are affected by pesticide use, we all have a right to know how we are being affected. Carson
then introduced arsenic as a pesticide. As lethal as arsenic is, "modern insecticides are still more
deadly," she added. She explains two groups of harmful synthetic pesticides: chlorinated
hydrocarbons, including DDT, and organic phosphorus insecticides. She explains in this chapter
the properties of these chemicals and describes how the whole food chain is affected by using
these chemicals. The food chain rises along with the use of DDT that makes the concentration
heavier than the initial application. The full effects of this process are still not known. Those
gaps in our knowledge need to be filled before more harm is done to us. She then added that
herbicides pose similar dangers. She closes with the question, “can we be indifferent to the same
effect in chemicals that we disseminate widely in our environment?”

Surface waters and underground seas- Water is our most precious resource, though it is
abundance on Earth, only a small percentage is drinkable. Humans seem to have forgotten that
we are very dependent on this resource for survival. She illustrates the problem of water
pollution by explaining the balance of nature. Waterways are polluted and all are impacted.
Pesticides are invisible but the effects are real and pervasive. Carson provides evidence of DDT
in fish and birds that were not in areas sprayed, indicating groundwater had been contaminated.
Carson argues, "It is not possible to add pesticides to water anywhere without threatening the
purity of water everywhere." The chemical might be harmless at first but when it is mixed with
groundwater, air and sunlight, it will turn into a new dangerous substance. Additionally water is
where everyone depends on drinking even the living animals. This indicates that those who drink
that water might be subjected to poisoning. She leaves the readers with the question, "But what
of ... the human being who ... has ... caught a string of fish ... and taken them home to fry for his
supper?"
Realms of the soil- In this chapter, she emphasized the importance of soil not just to
humans but to the plants and other animal depending on land. This means that sources of food of
human also depending on soil to survive. Hence, everything at the beginning and the end cycle of
life is soil. At the same time too, the soil depended on the organic and inorganic organisms to
survive. Another portion will be surrendered to the living creatures if a new material were added
to the soil due to the erosion of rock and other, thus constantly changing the chemistry of all
known soil.
Earth’s green mantle- Human beings will not survive without. Ironically, we treat plants
carelessly. If for instances the plants are beneficial, people will plant it exaggeratedly but if not,
they destroy it mercilessly. Plants are part of the intricate interconnections of the world, the
interconnections between plants and the earth, between plants and animals, and among plants
themselves. If people have to interfere in these relationships, they should do so carefully,
recognizing that whatever is changed will have far-reaching consequences. Weed killers are
spreading like wildfire that if not stop, we’ll be doomed. One tragic example of this manmade
activity is in the case of the sagebrush lands of the West. There has been a widespread campaign
to destroy sagebrush altogether so that it can be replaced with grass alone and grazed by cattle.
These people did not consider the history of the land at all. If they did, they would think twice to
remove the sagebrush. The sagebrush land is in the western United States at the uplift of the
Rocky Mountain system. The land sees extremes of climate which leads to one plant only
survived after experiencing the harsh climate. The one plant that survived is the sage. Antelope
and sage grouse are survival too. They survived along with the sage because these two animals
have evolved to fit the conditions of the sagebrush land. These two are like partners or
companions. The sagebrush is considered home by these two animals. Like the sea grouse, this
animal treats sage as its nest and sometimes foods too. But the sea grouse also benefits the
sagebrush. During their mating season or when copulate together with their partner, the grouse
loosen the soil beneath and around the sage. This loosened soil is implanted with grass seeds.
The antelope have also adjusted its body conditions to the sage. During winter and summer, the
antelope then can treat the sage as their primary source of food. Another beneficiary of the
sagebrush is the mule deer, which feeds off the foliage.

Needless Havoc- People have an ambitious goal in conquering the earth fully since from
the beginning. The buffalo were slaughtered, the shorebirds were massacred, and the egrets were
almost exterminated for their feathers. Now with insecticides, people are killing all forms of life
on a massive scale. With the use of too much insecticide, it brought harm to other animals like
robins, domestic cats and pheasants. The citizen who wants to get an idea of what’s happening is
confronted with two very contrary stories. We lose severely and even catastrophically according
to the conservationists and wildlife biologists. The control agencies fight back that the loss is
negligible because the insecticides might harm little on other living creatures which flatly denies
that insecticides hurt other living creatures. Hence, citizens should seek the truthfulness of the
witness. Wildlife biologists are best qualified to discover and interpret wildlife loss.
Entomologists tend to be so specialized that they don’t understand the side effects of their
programs on other creatures and on the earth. Even so, the insect control people are the ones who
are in charge. People can make up their minds by looking at major control programs and seeing
how they’ve worked. Bird watchers, gardeners, hunters and fishermen and women know that
anything that destroys the plants and animals of their interest deprives them of pleasure
And no birds’ sing- This chapter is sad. Due to the excessive use of insecticides and
pesticides, the country birds were being destroyed resulting in a “silent spring”. She gathers
reports from ordinary people as well as experts to document the fate of the bird population. She
recounts the "story of the robin," a bird loved by many but "fatefully linked" to pesticide use.
The deaths of the robins were related to the elm tree. Only few were able to reproduce because of
their diet of earthworms, which feed on fallen elm leaves.
Rivers of death- This chapter talks about the loss of salmon in the Miramichi River in
New Brunswick in 1953. Young salmon feed on a river's insect life. The forest had been sprayed
from the budworm which in fact resulted to the death of many salmon, as well as other fish and
birds. As a result of the DDT spraying, no insects remained for the fish to eat. Because good
records were kept of pre-spraying conditions, the effects of the DDT could be documented. Not
only were fish lost, but "repeated sprayings have now completely altered the stream
environment" by reducing the numbers of insects. This food supply took long years to rebuild.
The younger salmon can be saved slightly by eating the small insects which helps the
reproduction of their population. On the other hand, the bigger salmon have a difficulty in
surviving for they needed larger insects which took longer to find. Ironically, the effects of
removing budworm brought disaster and might terminate all the life on rivers but the budworm
population stays as is it.
Indiscriminately from the skies- In this chapter, it recounted the two examples of
spraying campaigns that become widespread and in the end have devastating consequences.
Before the World War II, all chemicals had been handled cautiously and carefully. But this was
all changed after the World War II in which the origin of widespread spraying of chemicals as a
result of the new organic insecticides and a surplus of airplanes. Chemicals have been dropped
from the sky like rain disregarding the life below.
 Beyond the Dreams of the Borgias- The humans before are unaware and even today as
well, I might add it up that even a little bit dose of chemical poses a threat to us. And in this
chapter, humans are continuously exposed in daily life. Hazardous chemicals like DDT, DDD,
chlordane, dieldrin, and lindane are in common house hold products that are used on a daily
basis. Such products do very little to warn of their harmful nature. The warning labels are written
finely and can be read immediately with a big sign. However, few people only take time to read
the warning caution and follow them heartily. On the survey test, only 15 % of people using
insecticides aerosols were aware of the warning signs on the container. Maybe they were used to
it already and think that it brings no harm to them.
The Human Price- This chapter talks about the price that human need to pay for. First,
humans can see now the drastic changes in public health. Before, people only worried about
smallpox, cholera, and such communicable diseases, now they have to worry about the toxic of
chemical poisoning. There are many types and various health environmental problems. The
people now took notice in the changes of health and live under the fear that their environment is
being corrupted. They are now anxious and will be feared that in their environment brings
environmental diseases that is caused by the pollution of the air. They feel too anxious to breathe
in the air anymore and especially the food they eat.
Through a Narrow Window- It explains here the genetic information of cell to foresee the
greater effects of chemicals on human body. In seeing the universe through a narrow window,
the impacts of cells can be explained properly by making an analogy on this. The toxic chemicals
like DDT will interfere with the energy-production cycle. The energy production is required for
every bodily function, such as growth, reproduction and respiration. If the chemicals strike at the
cell’s production energy, it is tantamount in changing the chromosomes or human will end up
worst. There is a big possibility that the toxic chemicals will interfere with the oxidation process
leading to destroy many bodily processes. Additionally, the chemicals in pesticides can
destroyed the genetic information in a cell like how radiation acts upon the cell. The tragic result
is having mutations and having chromosomal damage.
One in Every Four- This chapter takes up the question of pesticides’ carcinogenic
(cancer-causing) effects. The battle of living things against cancer began so long ago that its
origin is lost in time. But it must have begun in a natural environment, in which whatever life
inhabited the earth was subjected, for good or ill, to influences that had their origin in sun and
storm and the ancient nature of the earth. Some of the elements of this environment created
hazards to which life had to adjust or perish. The first awareness of environmental cancer-
causing agents was in 1775 when Sir Percivall Pott made the link between scrotal cancer in
chimney sweeps and the arsenic laden soot that they interacted with so much as part of their jobs.
Arsenic was also found to cause cancer among copper smelters and mine workers during the
early days of the industrial revolution. As the industrial era progressed, more occupational
exposures to industrial chemicals were identified as cancer-causing.
Nature Fights Back- In this chapter the insects gained resistance to the chemicals we
used. It explains here that the insects will adapt and will naturally fight back the chemicals. In
this way, by disrupting the process of environment, the insects will instead grow stronger day by
the day and be immune to the chemicals, destroying only our ecosystem. Examples of
interrupting nature are field mouse and coyote. In exterminating coyotes, there will be no more
to check on the field which results in overpopulating the field mouse. They killed the coyotes
because it kills their livestock indirectly said that there will be more and more field mouse on the
field.

The rumblings of an avalanche- This chapter depict the quotation “survival of the fittest”.
The intensive use of chemical spraying made the insects resistant including the medical and
agricultural importance. The spraying destroys the weaker of a species, leaving the strongest to
survive and reproduce. Because insects have short life spans and resistance develops over
generations, not within individuals, the insects are much better equipped to become resistant than
humans.
The Other Road- Carson proposes the alternatives way of keeping the insects in check.
One good example is male sterilization technique for insect control. The other way is using of
the lures or attractants. You can also include sound for showing potential to control the insects.
One best solution is insect pathogens compared to the disastrous effects of toxic chemical. Insect
pathogens and using main enemies of insects kills only the specific target. This method is to
respect the web of life and the balance of ecosystem. In a closing statements that “The ‘control of
nature’ is a phrase conceived in arrogance, born of the Neanderthal age of biology and
philosophy, when it was supposed that nature exists for the convenience of man. The concepts
and practices of applied entomology for the most part date from that Stone Age of science. It is
our alarming misfortune that so primitive a science has armed itself with the most modern and
terrible weapons, and that in turning them against the insects it has also turned them against the
earth.” We can say it in a direct way that killing the insects using pesticides or insecticides is like
killing the earth too.

In this work Carson told us that in every action we made in the nature have a
consequence for us to bear upon. Be it a minimal or disastrous effect on humans and all living
organisms. In attempts to control the insect population with chemicals brings death directly or
indirectly the entire web of life, including plants, insects, animals, and humans. Carson's
ecological approach in Silent Spring—which sees life as a web where all parts connect—
precipitated the environmental movement—activism focused on care for the symbiotic
relationship between humans and nature.