Courage for the Earth : Writers, Scientists, and Activists Celebrate the Life and Writing of Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson's lyrical, popular books about the sea, includingher best-selling The Sea Around Us,"set a standard for naturewriting for all time to come" (Roger Caras). By the late 1950s,Carson was the most respected science writer in America.She completed Silent Spring (1962) against formidable personalodds, and with it shaped a powerful social movement thathas altered the course of history. In Silent Spring,Carson asserted that "the right of the citizen to be secure in his own home against the intrusion of poisons applied by other persons" must surely be a basic human right. She was the first to challenge the moral vacuity of a government that refused to take responsibility for or to acknowledge evidence of environmental damage. In this volume, today's foremost scientists and writers give compelling evidence that Carson's transformative insights-her courage for the earth- are giving a new generation of activists the inspiration they need to move consumers, industry, and government.The classic that launched the environmental movement.

PETER MATTHIESSEN’s many books include The Snow Leopard and At Play in the Fields of the Lord. He lives in Sagaponack, New York.