1.06.2013

Rachel Carson

And Her Book That Changed The World

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday  hosted today by
Hope Is the Word
and joins It's Monday!
What are you reading?

(pub. 2.1.2012) 32 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Laurie Lawlor
     and Illustrator:  Laura Beingessner

haracter: Rachel Carson

O verview from the jacket flap: 

      "'Once you are aware of the wonder and beauty of earth, you will want to learn about it,' wrote Rachel Carson, the pioneering environmentalist. Rachel found many adventurous ways to study nature. She went diving to investigate coral reefs and tracked alligators on a rumbling 'glades buggy' through the Florida Everglades.
        However, one of the bravest things she did was to write and publish Silent Spring, a book pointing out the dangerous effects of chemicals on the living world... Silent Spring went on to become the book that woke up people to the harmful impact humans were having on our planet."
        
T antalizing taste: 

"As a biologist for fifteen years,
she went places where few women ventured...
counting deep-sea fish in foggy,
dangerous currents south of Nova Scotia;
observing reef animals in a special suit
with an eighty-four-pound diving helmet
off the coast of Florida...
Meanwhile she worked on her own writing in the evening or on weekends.
She began to notice disturbing trends.
What happened to the web of life
when more and more garbage was dumped into the ocean?
How did rising ocean temperatures affect living creatures?"
                       
and something more: I thought the quote from Vice President Al Gore included in the Epilogue perfectly sums up the importance of Rachel Carson's work and book: "Silent Spring came as a cry in the wilderness, a deeply felt, thoroughly researched, and brilliantly written argument that changed the course of history. Without this book, the environmental movement might have been long delayed or never have developed at all."

4 comments:

Amy @ Hope Is the Word said...

This sounds very interesting. I know very little about Rachel Carson, and this book sounds like a good place to begin learning about her. Thanks for sharing this Nonfiction Monday!

Ms. Yingling said...

My daughter was Rachel Carson for a wax museum in 5th grade. Very good person to study.

Jeanne Walker Harvey said...

Hi Amy! Yes, I learned quite a bit about Rachel Carson from this book. Thanks for stopping by and for hosting Nonfiction Monday!

Jeanne Walker Harvey said...

What a great school project idea -- a wax museum. Glad to hear your daughter was Rachel Carson! Thanks for stopping by