Silent Spring is not a typical literature book written for bedside-entertainment, but for a purpose of not only informing the public about the hazardous effects of pesticides and herbicides, but to change the mentality of the average American, and for new bills in the senate to be considered. It started as her personal war in a magazine, to a full-blown bestseller book that took more than 4 years of research to make.
At first glance it might sound like the author has a personal vendetta against pesticides by her harsh language, as she may seem biased writing from a subjective perspective, but I personally think it was her only option to attract attention from the public and to be heard.
The author seems to be ahead of her time, warning the public about excessive use of chemicals like pesticides and herbicides harming not only the surrounding nature and animals, but every living thing, including us humans. It took several years to prove that these chemicals cause severe health effect like birth defects, fetal death, neurological disorders, and lately proven to be very carcinogenic.
Nowadays there are many alternative manners of pest control. It surely wasn’t the author who produced these less harmful methods; nonetheless, I believe we should be thankful to her alerting the public about the ugly truth of pesticides and the consequences of their excessive and irresponsible use.
A.K
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/history/lecture31/r_31-3.html
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