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Rachel Carson

American marine biologist and conservationist (1907-1964) · United States · Scientists · Died at 56

Rachel Carson is read about 1,050 times a day, in 95 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026

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She wrote a book that made the government ban a chemical. Silent Spring landed in 1962 like a grenade in the pesticide industry, and before long DDT was illegal and the EPA existed - all because a marine biologist decided to connect the dots between what we sprayed and what was dying.

ScientistsWriter / AuthorLiteratureBiologyUnited StatesAmericas20th Century

A life in dates

1985Maryland Women's Hall of FameAward1980Presidential Medal of FreedomAward1973National Women's Hall of FameAward1964Died14 April 19641963Audubon MedalAwardCullum Geographical MedalAward1959“In our modern world nothing may be taken for granted-not even the spring songs that herald the return of the birds.”In their words"Vanishing Americans (1959) in Rachel Carson: Silent Spring & Other Writings on the Environment

1958“Only within the 20th Century has biological thought been focused on ecology, or the relation of the living creature to its environment.”In their words"Essay on the Biological Sciences" in Good Reading (1958)

1956“Writing is a lonely occupation at best.”In their wordsAcceptance speech of the Achievement Award of the American Association of University Women, Washington, D.C., June 22, (1956)

1953“The real wealth of the Nation lies in the resources of the earth - soil, water, forests, minerals, and wildlife.”In their wordsLetter to the editor, Washington Post (1953); quoted in Lost Woods: The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson (1999) edited by Linda Lear, p.

1952“The aim of science is to discover and illuminate truth. And that, I take it, is the aim of literature, whether biography or history or fiction.”In their wordsAcceptance speech of the National Book Award for Nonfiction (1952) for The Sea Around Us; also in Lost Woods: The Discovered Writing of

“Mankind has gone very far into an artificial world of his own creation.”In their wordsApril 1952Speech accepting the John Burroughs Medal (April 1952); also in Lost Woods: The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson (1999) edited by Linda

John Burroughs MedalAwardNational Book Award for NonfictionAward1951Guggenheim FellowshipAward1950AAAS Kavli Science Journalism AwardAward1907Born27 May 1907

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Rachel-CarsonRachel-CarsonRobert Hines and Rachel CarsonRobert Hines and Rachel CarsonRachel Carson Conducts Marine Biology Research with Bob HinesRachel Carson Conducts Marine Biology Research with Bob HinesCarsonprojectCarsonprojectEdible Book Contest Silent Spring 1Edible Book Contest Silent Spring 1Edible Book Contest Silent Spring 2Edible Book Contest Silent Spring 2Finishing Touches (6893710486)Finishing Touches (6893710486)Historical Black and White (20120106-OC-AMW-0645)Historical Black and White (20120106-OC-AMW-0645)

In their own words 10

,
Rachel Carson
,
10 statements, newest first

  1. To many of us, this sudden silencing of the song of birds, this obliteration of the color and beauty and interest of bird life, is sufficient cause for sharp regret.

    Apr 10, 1959, Washington Post, April 10, 1959 (In Rachel Carson: Silent Spring & Other Writings on the Environment), Own words

  2. In our modern world nothing may be taken for granted-not even the spring songs that herald the return of the birds.

    1959, "Vanishing Americans (1959) in Rachel Carson: Silent Spring & Other Writings on the Environment, Own words

  3. Only within the 20th Century has biological thought been focused on ecology, or the relation of the living creature to its environment.

    1958, "Essay on the Biological Sciences" in Good Reading (1958), Own words

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Awards

Maryland Women's Hall of Fame1985
Presidential Medal of Freedom, Jimmy Carter1980
National Women's Hall of Fame1973
Cullum Geographical Medal1963
Audubon Medal1963
John Burroughs Medal1952
National Book Award for Nonfiction1952
Guggenheim Fellowship1951
AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award1950

About this person

Rachel Louise Carson spent the 1940s as an aquatic biologist at the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, writing on the side. Her 1951 breakout The Sea Around Us won a National Book Award and became a bestseller, which let her quit and write full-time. She followed with Under the Sea Wind (republished in 1952) and The Edge of the Sea in 1955 - a trilogy charting ocean life from surface to floor, all bestsellers. Late in the 1950s she turned from celebrating nature to defending it, focusing on synthetic pesticides. Silent Spring arrived in 1962 to fierce opposition from chemical companies, but it shifted national policy: DDT was banned, and a grassroots environmental movement rose that led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Carson died in 1964. Jimmy Carter awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously.

Country
United States
Category
Scientists
Type
Scientist
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1907 to 1964 · aged 56

Scientists from the United States 6

Linus Pauling69.4Wernher von Braun68.7Destin Sandlin69.9Lawrence M. Krauss68.2Larry Page70.0John Bardeen68.2

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