Gentle Subversive: Rachel Carson and the Rise of the Environmental Movement Book

Rachel Carson is a fascinating figure who died too young and influenced the world in unexpected ways. I have trouble imagining how anyone could not find her amazing. A born writer, she was a scientist before women could really claim that title. She was a close observer and wrote the very influential The Sea Around Us and Silent Spring. The latter book almost on its own started the environmental movement. Great stuff.

This isn't a traditional biography, as Lytle makes clear. There are already a couple of good biographies available. What he's trying to do here is show how Carson marked a moment in history and how she did that by developing her skills as a writer. Deeply concerned about all living things, knowing that a web of life encompassed all of us, Carson campaigned against the use of DDT when male scientists claimed it was harmless to humans. Her books had such an impact that people like Newt Gingrich still attack her today. In my book that means she was absolutely right!

Brief, accessible, and sympathetic, this is a good introduction to a most compelling personality and underrated hero in American history. I comment further on it on my blog, for those interested: Sects and Violence in the Ancient World.