Rachel Carson Biography

Rachel Carson wrote the groundbreaking ecological book Silent Spring.

Rachel Carson earned her bachelor’s degree in biology at the Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University) in 1929, then earned a master’s degree in zoology from Johns Hopkins in 1932.

She began working for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries as a writer and bureaucrat, while at the same time writing popular science articles for magazines.

In 1941 Carson published Under the Sea-Wind, the first in a series of books about the ocean, and became widely known as a scientist with a flair for writing.

She turned her attention to the “indiscriminate” use of pesticides, and her 1962 book Silent Spring set off a national controversy by suggesting that maybe all the poison being used on forests and crops should be tested more and evaluated differently.

Pilloried at the time and described as a “bunny hugger” (a perjorative in this case), Carson was a major influence on the ecological and conservation movements of the late 20th century.