Rachel Carson – Female American biologist – Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020

Best known by her full name Rachel Louise Carson, was a well-known American marine biologist. Born on May 27, 1907 in Springdale, Pennsylvania, she was destined to be a gifted writer. She also had efforts in conservationist, especially environmental conservation. Due to this her book “Silent Spring” and work by other authors, pushed and made the public focus on the global environmental movement. Carson was born and raised on a 65-acre farm, so she was surrounded by foliage which grasped her interests in biology. Her work on the farm, directed her research later in life. For example, in her book “Silent Spring” she discussed crop conservation issues caused by synthetic pesticides. This received a lot of backlash by chemical companies, but moreover led to a nationwide ban on DDT and other pesticides.

Marine Biology:

Rachel Carson had other bestselling books that discussed details of life underwater. Under the Sea Wind released in 1941, The Sea Around Us released in 1951 and The Edge of the Sea released in 1955, all talk about marine organisms and their survival. Though her first book sold poorly despite having positive reviews, she kept writing and informing the public of the feeding, survival, predation behaviors and much more on marine organism in her books.

Death:

Rachel Carson’s life was full of struggles of being a female scientist in the 20^th century, and a list of accomplishments such as pesticide bans and her books. Her life came to an end from a list of medical issues caused by breast cancer. She had severe anemia from radiation treatments, but the cancer still spread to her liver. She died of a heart attack April 14, 1964 in Silver Spring, Maryland.