The book Silent Spring written by Rachel Carson was a book of great importance in addressing the use of pesticides such as Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its potential harmful effects on the balance of the ecosystem. It is unfortunate that Rachel Carson has received little acknowledgement for this warning even to this day.
At the time dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) was considered to be a positive type of pesticide for human use, as it functions to kill any type of insects in an indiscriminate matter, this meant killing beneficial insects and insects that were considered as pests. Rachel Carson would point out that the use of these pesticides would not just affect insects when applied to agriculture but would also affect fish and birds in a negative matter, hence Rachel Carson’s book title Silent Spring representing the lack of bird calls.
Despite the warning that Rachel Carson gave to the world about the use of DDT in agriculture, it is unfortunate to mention that some people were angered at the publishing of Silent Spring and its warning of the use of DDT, which to no surprise those that were the most angered by Silent Spring were companies that manufactured DDT for agricultural use
Today it is important to recognize the importance of the role of insects in the balance of the ecosystem and the delicate nature of the food web itself and how that balance can be easily disturbed
To learn more about Rachel Carson and her book, Silent Spring, follow the link https://www.rachelcarson.org/
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 