Silent Spring
Mar.25, 2010 in
home
- ISBN13: 9780618249060
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
First published by Houghton Mifflin in 1962, Silent Spring alerted a large audience to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides, spurring revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. ”Silent Spring became a runaway bestseller, with international reverberations . . . [It is] well crafted, fearless and succinct . . . Even if she had not inspired a generation of activists, Carson would prevail as one of the great… More >>
March 25th, 2010 at 11:14 am
Hurrah for “sustainability” and “biodiversity”! Down with the human race!
Rating: 1 / 5
March 25th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
The book “Silent Spring” By Rachel Carson is not by any means a novel. This book examines the assertion of an early environmentalist (Rachel Carson) that the use of pesticides and poisons for agricultural purposes is destroying the earth’s environment. To the average reader this book will pose a challenge of comprehension and completion. With no interesting characters and/or exciting plot this book is difficult to read. The redeeming value in this book is that we are made to think about the consequences of our actions with chemicals released to the environment. This is good, as it would not always be considered good to sprout a third arm as did Zaphod Beeblebrox. From a moral perspective the courage of the main character to stick to her story, despite everyone trying to discredit her, is impressive. A more responsible (older) person may even use the word “inspiring.” With a name like “Silent Spring” you would think that there would be a story similar to “Tuck Everlasting” where a family drinks from a spring in the forest which gives them eternal life. “Silent Spring” would be like a water spring which turns you invisible or grants you the ability to be absolutely quite no matter what you do. But no, this book is entirely factual with no plot, and not a real cool story.
A word to the wise; do not read this book if you want a good story. If you want a cool story read “Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy” by Douglass Adams. For all you tree huggers out there this story is a good morale booster which should be placed on your tofu table as a conversational piece.
Rating: 2 / 5
March 25th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
As a class assignment in (of all things) language arts, we had to read one chapter of this book and do a research project on it. To me, this book was completely BORING. It’s the first book I haven’t liked, and I’ve read a lot of the classics, including Gone Witht the Wind, and other books thought to be unbearable by many. I slowly waded through my chapter and finally gave up, weary and disgusted, in hopes that my partner had managed to finish the selection. I have a big vocabulary for my age, but some of those words defied explanation. It was extremely difficult, and I am in a language arts class way above average. I am usually interested in science-related items, but this was ridiculous! As you can figure, if this is my reaction to one chapter, imagine the whole book . . . ouch. This is, however, is an EXTREMELY concise book, and is better than any encyclopedia or internet site (believe me, I know) if you’re looking for exact information on pesticides or other environmental issues. But I definitely would not suggest this as a pleasure novel – no way.
Rating: 1 / 5
March 25th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
to save us all time, type this into a search engine: “ddt: a case study in scientific fraud”
Rachel Carson’s work has killed an astonishing number of people.
Rating: 1 / 5
March 25th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Now totally discredited, and would be quite tragic given the loss of life to Maliria as a result. DDT has now been shown to be quite safe and effective in the long term, the evidence to the contrary a result of conjecture and poor science. With no alternative available to developing cultures after the ban, millions that might have been saved died.
However if taken in the same spirit as watching “Reefer Madness” while stoned out of your mind it can be quite funny in hindsight. The fact that it contains an introduction by Al Gore just adds to the silliness.
Comes off like tongue-in-cheek essay by P. J. O’Rourke. If only we had known then what we do now…
Rating: 1 / 5