The "Silent Springs" of Rachel Carson: Mass media and the origins of modern environmentalism

Public Understanding of Science

Volumn 10, Issue 4, 2001, Pages 403-420

  Kroll, Gary ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; BIOLOGY; BOOK; ENVIRONMENT; HISTORY; HISTORY OF MEDICINE; MASS MEDIUM; UNITED STATES;

BIOLOGY; BOOKS; ENVIRONMENT; HISTORY OF MEDICINE, 20TH CENT.; MASS MEDIA; UNITED STATES;

EID: 0035488410     PISSN: 09636625     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1088/0963-6625/10/4/304     Document Type: Article

References (99)

1. For instance, Time Magazine included Carson on a list of the top hundred "scientists and thinkers" of the century. Peter Matthiessen, "Environmentalist: Rachel Carson," Time Magazine (March 29, 1999), 187.
2. The most detailed exposition of this history can be found in Linda Lear, Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature (New York: Henry Holt, 1997), 313-346.
3. For the importance of the televised "Silent Spring," see Linda Lear, "Bombshell in Beltsville: the USDA and the challenge of "Silent Spring," Agricultural History 66 (Spring 1992): 151-170.
4. Maurie J. Cohen, "Science and the environment: assessing cultural capacity for ecological modernization, Public Understanding of Science 7 (1998): 149-167; Sally Eden, "Public participation in environmental policy: considering scientific, counter-scientific and non-scientific contributions," Public Understanding of Science 5 (1996): 183-204; and Craig Trumbo, "Constructing climate change: claims and frames in US news coverage of an environmental issue," Public Understanding of Science 5 (1996): 269-283.
5. Maurie J. Cohen, "Science and the environment: assessing cultural capacity for ecological modernization, Public Understanding of Science 7 (1998): 149-167; Sally Eden, "Public participation in environmental policy: considering scientific, counter-scientific and non-scientific contributions," Public Understanding of Science 5 (1996): 183-204; and Craig Trumbo, "Constructing climate change: claims and frames in US news coverage of an environmental issue," Public Understanding of Science 5 (1996): 269-283.
6. Maurie J. Cohen, "Science and the environment: assessing cultural capacity for ecological modernization, Public Understanding of Science 7 (1998): 149-167; Sally Eden, "Public participation in environmental policy: considering scientific, counter-scientific and non-scientific contributions," Public Understanding of Science 5 (1996): 183-204; and Craig Trumbo, "Constructing climate change: claims and frames in US news coverage of an environmental issue," Public Understanding of Science 5 (1996): 269-283.
7. Robert Darnton continuously asks this question in unique ways. See, for instance, The Business of Enlightenment: a Publishing History of the Encyclopedie, 1775-1800 (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1979) and Mesmerism and the End of the Enlightenment in France (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1968). Publishing histories now abound in intellectual history as well as the history of science, and while this essay does not pretend to be one, it does partake of the wider project of criticizing the myth that books are point sources of information.
8. Robert Darnton continuously asks this question in unique ways. See, for instance, The Business of Enlightenment: a Publishing History of the Encyclopedie, 1775-1800 (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1979) and Mesmerism and the End of the Enlightenment in France (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1968). Publishing histories now abound in intellectual history as well as the history of science, and while this essay does not pretend to be one, it does partake of the wider project of criticizing the myth that books are point sources of information.
9. While this essay presumes the heterogeneity of the "public," it does not explain the public in all of its colors and classes. Recent work on environmental racism, for instance, implies that events such as the pesticide controversy were sure to provoke different responses from different people of color. See Ellen Stroud, "Troubled waters in ecotopia: environmental racism in Portland, Oregon," Radical History Review 74 (Spring 1999): 65-95; and Giovanna De Chiro, "Nature as community: the convergence of environmental and social justice," in Uncommon Ground: Toward Reinventing Nature, ed. William Cronon (New York: W.W. Norton, 1995) 298-320.
10. While this essay presumes the heterogeneity of the "public," it does not explain the public in all of its colors and classes. Recent work on environmental racism, for instance, implies that events such as the pesticide controversy were sure to provoke different responses from different people of color. See Ellen Stroud, "Troubled waters in ecotopia: environmental racism in Portland, Oregon," Radical History Review 74 (Spring 1999): 65-95; and Giovanna De Chiro, "Nature as community: the convergence of environmental and social justice," in Uncommon Ground: Toward Reinventing Nature, ed. William Cronon (New York: W.W. Norton, 1995) 298-320.
11. Samuel P. Hays Beauty, Health, and Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States, 1955-1985 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987); Hal K. Rothman, The Greening of a Nation?: Environmentalism in the United States Since 1945 (Troy: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1998); Robert Gottlieb, Forcing the Spring: The Transformation of the American Environmental Movement (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1993); Victor B. Scheffer, The Shaping of Environmentalism in America (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1991); David Pepper The Roots of Modern Environmentalism (London: Croom Helm, 1984).
12. Samuel P. Hays Beauty, Health, and Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States, 1955-1985 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987); Hal K. Rothman, The Greening of a Nation?: Environmentalism in the United States Since 1945 (Troy: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1998); Robert Gottlieb, Forcing the Spring: The Transformation of the American Environmental Movement (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1993); Victor B. Scheffer, The Shaping of Environmentalism in America (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1991); David Pepper The Roots of Modern Environmentalism (London: Croom Helm, 1984).
13. Samuel P. Hays Beauty, Health, and Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States, 1955-1985 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987); Hal K. Rothman, The Greening of a Nation?: Environmentalism in the United States Since 1945 (Troy: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1998); Robert Gottlieb, Forcing the Spring: The Transformation of the American Environmental Movement (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1993); Victor B. Scheffer, The Shaping of Environmentalism in America (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1991); David Pepper The Roots of Modern Environmentalism (London: Croom Helm, 1984).
14. Samuel P. Hays Beauty, Health, and Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States, 1955-1985 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987); Hal K. Rothman, The Greening of a Nation?: Environmentalism in the United States Since 1945 (Troy: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1998); Robert Gottlieb, Forcing the Spring: The Transformation of the American Environmental Movement (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1993); Victor B. Scheffer, The Shaping of Environmentalism in America (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1991); David Pepper The Roots of Modern Environmentalism (London: Croom Helm, 1984).
15. Samuel P. Hays Beauty, Health, and Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States, 1955-1985 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987); Hal K. Rothman, The Greening of a Nation?: Environmentalism in the United States Since 1945 (Troy: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1998); Robert Gottlieb, Forcing the Spring: The Transformation of the American Environmental Movement (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1993); Victor B. Scheffer, The Shaping of Environmentalism in America (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1991); David Pepper The Roots of Modern Environmentalism (London: Croom Helm, 1984).
16. Rothman, The Greening of a Nation, p. 46. Also see Scheffer, The Shaping of Environmentalism in America, p. 113, and Gottlieb, Forcing the Spring, p. 113.
17. Rothman, The Greening of a Nation, p. 46. Also see Scheffer, The Shaping of Environmentalism in America, p. 113, and Gottlieb, Forcing the Spring, p. 113.
18. Rothman, The Greening of a Nation, p. 46. Also see Scheffer, The Shaping of Environmentalism in America, p. 113, and Gottlieb, Forcing the Spring, p. 113.
19. Such an approach is similar to those taken by rhetoricians of environmental discourse. See Carl G. Gerndl and Stuart C. Brown, eds., Green Culture: Environmental Rhetoric in Contemporary Rhetoric (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996); Jimmie M. Killingworth and Jacqueline S. Palmer, Ecospeak: Rhetoric and Environmental Politics in America (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992); and Jane Benett and William Chaloupka, eds., In the Nature of Things: Language, Politics, and the Environment (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993). More than anything, my approach has been influenced by the work of Warren Susman who taught historians that analyzing culture can explain political history. See especially, Warren Susman, "The culture of the thirties," in Culture as History: The Transformation of American Society in the Twentieth Century (New York: Pantheon Books, 1984), 150-183.
20. Such an approach is similar to those taken by rhetoricians of environmental discourse. See Carl G. Gerndl and Stuart C. Brown, eds., Green Culture: Environmental Rhetoric in Contemporary Rhetoric (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996); Jimmie M. Killingworth and Jacqueline S. Palmer, Ecospeak: Rhetoric and Environmental Politics in America (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992); and Jane Benett and William Chaloupka, eds., In the Nature of Things: Language, Politics, and the Environment (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993). More than anything, my approach has been influenced by the work of Warren Susman who taught historians that analyzing culture can explain political history. See especially, Warren Susman, "The culture of the thirties," in Culture as History: The Transformation of American Society in the Twentieth Century (New York: Pantheon Books, 1984), 150-183.
21. Such an approach is similar to those taken by rhetoricians of environmental discourse. See Carl G. Gerndl and Stuart C. Brown, eds., Green Culture: Environmental Rhetoric in Contemporary Rhetoric (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996); Jimmie M. Killingworth and Jacqueline S. Palmer, Ecospeak: Rhetoric and Environmental Politics in America (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992); and Jane Benett and William Chaloupka, eds., In the Nature of Things: Language, Politics, and the Environment (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993). More than anything, my approach has been influenced by the work of Warren Susman who taught historians that analyzing culture can explain political history. See especially, Warren Susman, "The culture of the thirties," in Culture as History: The Transformation of American Society in the Twentieth Century (New York: Pantheon Books, 1984), 150-183.
22. Such an approach is similar to those taken by rhetoricians of environmental discourse. See Carl G. Gerndl and Stuart C. Brown, eds., Green Culture: Environmental Rhetoric in Contemporary Rhetoric (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996); Jimmie M. Killingworth and Jacqueline S. Palmer, Ecospeak: Rhetoric and Environmental Politics in America (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992); and Jane Benett and William Chaloupka, eds., In the Nature of Things: Language, Politics, and the Environment (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993). More than anything, my approach has been influenced by the work of Warren Susman who taught historians that analyzing culture can explain political history. See especially, Warren Susman, "The culture of the thirties," in Culture as History: The Transformation of American Society in the Twentieth Century (New York: Pantheon Books, 1984), 150-183.
23. This is not to argue for singular and exclusive readings of each text. A suburban reader could find relevant messages within The New Yorker version as easily as an urban reader could find relevant meanings within the book. The main point is that each medium refocused the central thrust of the critique in powerful and audience-specific ways.
24. See Christopher Sellers, "Body, place and the state: the makings of an 'environmentalist' imaginary in the post-World War II U.S.," Radical History Review 74 (Spring 1999): 31-64.
25. Brendan Gill, Here at The New Yorker (New York: Carroll and Graf, 1975); and E. J. Kahn, Jr., About the New Yorker and Me (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1979).
26. Brendan Gill, Here at The New Yorker (New York: Carroll and Graf, 1975); and E. J. Kahn, Jr., About the New Yorker and Me (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1979).
27. "William Shawn, 85, is Dead, New Yorkers Gentle Despot," The New York Times (December 9, 1992) A1, B15.
28. Rachel Carson, "Undersea," The Atlantic Monthly 78 (September 1937), 55-67. See Rachel Carson, "Guarding our wildlife resources," Conservation in Action 5:2 (Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, 1948) as an example of her writings in an official capacity.
29. Rachel Carson, "Undersea," The Atlantic Monthly 78 (September 1937), 55-67. See Rachel Carson, "Guarding our wildlife resources," Conservation in Action 5:2 (Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, 1948) as an example of her writings in an official capacity.
30. Rachel Carson, "The bat knew it first," Collier's 20 (November 18, 1944), 23; and Rachel Carson, "The bat knew it first," Reader's Digest 34 (August 1945), 45-46.
31. Rachel Carson, "The bat knew it first," Collier's 20 (November 18, 1944), 23; and Rachel Carson, "The bat knew it first," Reader's Digest 34 (August 1945), 45-46.
32. Various letters between Rachel Carson, Marie Rodell, and publishers, (April 1950), Rachel Carson Collection (hereafter RCC), Box 103, Folder 1979, Bienecke Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
33. See for instance, Rachel Carson's National Book Award acceptance speech for The Sea Around Us, delivered January 29, 1952, RCC, Box 18, Folder 491. Printed in Linda Lear, ed., Lost Woods: The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson (Boston: Beacon Press, 1998), 90-92.
34. See for instance, Rachel Carson's National Book Award acceptance speech for The Sea Around Us, delivered January 29, 1952, RCC, Box 18, Folder 491. Printed in Linda Lear, ed., Lost Woods: The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson (Boston: Beacon Press, 1998), 90-92.
35. Lear, Rachel Carson, pp. 394-408.
36. I am indebted to Daniel Jacobi and Bernard Schiele for demonstrating the value of this approach to reading scientific information in magazines. See Daniel Jacobi and Bernard Schiele, "Science in magazines, and its readers," Public Understanding of Science 2 (1993): 31-20.
37. Carson had planned Silent Spring as a short article, after which she intended to write a comprehensive book on the relationship between humans and nature. The two projects seem to have melded into one. See Lear's narrative in Rachel Carson, pp. 312-338.
38. Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987), 223-225.
39. Carson, Silent Spring, pp. 230-235.
40. See Dr. Milton Carleton, "Silent Spring merely science fiction instead of fact," Chicago Sunday Sun-Times (September 23, 1962); RCC, Box 63, Folder 1126.
41. Carson, Silent Spring, p. 277.
42. Rachel Carson, "Silent Spring," The New Yorker, (June 30, 1962), 64.
43. Shortly after the serialization, Lawrence Davies published four articles in The New York Times that warned consumers of the dangers of pesticides in agricultural practices. Lawrence E. Davies, "Man and mite vie for a coast lake," The New York Times (August 23, 1962), 54:1; idem., "Bees shielded in coast pest war," The New York Times (August 24, 1962), 15:2; "Coast dairymen battle pesticides," The New York Times (August 25, 1962), 44:1; "Pheasant danger seen in pest war," The New York Times (August 26, 1962), 81:1. On the Consumer Union printing, see Lear, Rachel Carson, p. 411.
44. Shortly after the serialization, Lawrence Davies published four articles in The New York Times that warned consumers of the dangers of pesticides in agricultural practices. Lawrence E. Davies, "Man and mite vie for a coast lake," The New York Times (August 23, 1962), 54:1; idem., "Bees shielded in coast pest war," The New York Times (August 24, 1962), 15:2; "Coast dairymen battle pesticides," The New York Times (August 25, 1962), 44:1; "Pheasant danger seen in pest war," The New York Times (August 26, 1962), 81:1. On the Consumer Union printing, see Lear, Rachel Carson, p. 411.
45. Shortly after the serialization, Lawrence Davies published four articles in The New York Times that warned consumers of the dangers of pesticides in agricultural practices. Lawrence E. Davies, "Man and mite vie for a coast lake," The New York Times (August 23, 1962), 54:1; idem., "Bees shielded in coast pest war," The New York Times (August 24, 1962), 15:2; "Coast dairymen battle pesticides," The New York Times (August 25, 1962), 44:1; "Pheasant danger seen in pest war," The New York Times (August 26, 1962), 81:1. On the Consumer Union printing, see Lear, Rachel Carson, p. 411.
46. Shortly after the serialization, Lawrence Davies published four articles in The New York Times that warned consumers of the dangers of pesticides in agricultural practices. Lawrence E. Davies, "Man and mite vie for a coast lake," The New York Times (August 23, 1962), 54:1; idem., "Bees shielded in coast pest war," The New York Times (August 24, 1962), 15:2; "Coast dairymen battle pesticides," The New York Times (August 25, 1962), 44:1; "Pheasant danger seen in pest war," The New York Times (August 26, 1962), 81:1. On the Consumer Union printing, see Lear, Rachel Carson, p. 411.
47. Shortly after the serialization, Lawrence Davies published four articles in The New York Times that warned consumers of the dangers of pesticides in agricultural practices. Lawrence E. Davies, "Man and mite vie for a coast lake," The New York Times (August 23, 1962), 54:1; idem., "Bees shielded in coast pest war," The New York Times (August 24, 1962), 15:2; "Coast dairymen battle pesticides," The New York Times (August 25, 1962), 44:1; "Pheasant danger seen in pest war," The New York Times (August 26, 1962), 81:1. On the Consumer Union printing, see Lear, Rachel Carson, p. 411.
48. Gerald Jonas, letter to the editor, The New York Times (July 26, 1962), 26:5. A dry-cleaner shortly responded and wrote that his moth-proofing practices were in line with the Department of Agriculture's Handbook of Toxicology. Louis A. Kinum, letter to the editor, The New York Times (September 6, 1962), 30:6.
49. Gerald Jonas, letter to the editor, The New York Times (July 26, 1962), 26:5. A dry-cleaner shortly responded and wrote that his moth-proofing practices were in line with the Department of Agriculture's Handbook of Toxicology. Louis A. Kinum, letter to the editor, The New York Times (September 6, 1962), 30:6.
50. Gerald Jonas, letter to the editor, The New York Times (July 26, 1962), 26:5. A dry-cleaner shortly responded and wrote that his moth-proofing practices were in line with the Department of Agriculture's Handbook of Toxicology. Louis A. Kinum, letter to the editor, The New York Times (September 6, 1962), 30:6.
51. Letter to the editor, The New Yorker (July 7, 1962), 4.
52. Including these three articles, there were only eight pesticide-related articles through August and the part of September prior to Silent Spring's publication. In the month after publication, there were fifteen pesticide-related articles.
53. Frank Graham, Since Silent Spring (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1970), 62.
54. Vera Norwood, Made from this Earth: American Women and Nature (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993), 146.
55. Lear, Rachel Carson, pp. 15-16.
56. Lear, Rachel Carson, pp. 315-317.
57. Opinion by District Judge Byers, Murphy v. Benson Civ. A. No. 17610, U.S. District Court; Eastern District, New York; 151 F. Supp. 786 (May 24, 1957); and the opinion of District Judge Bruchhausen, Civ. No. 17610, U.S. District Court; Eastern District, New York; 164 F. Supp. 120 (June 23, 1958).
58. Carson, Silent Spring, p. 76.
59. Carson, Silent Spring, p. 86.
60. On American suburbs, see Kenneth Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States (New York: Oxford University Press, 1985).
61. Elaine Tyler May, Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (New York: Harper Collins, 1988). For a reading of the nuclear and military imagery that imbued Silent Spring, see Ralph H. Lutts, "Chemical fallout: Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, radioactive fallout and the environmental movement," Environmental Review 9 (Fall 1985), 214-225.
62. Elaine Tyler May, Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (New York: Harper Collins, 1988). For a reading of the nuclear and military imagery that imbued Silent Spring, see Ralph H. Lutts, "Chemical fallout: Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, radioactive fallout and the environmental movement," Environmental Review 9 (Fall 1985), 214-225.
63. Carson, Silent Spring, p. 90.
64. Quoted in Paul Brooks, The House of Life (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1972), 244.
65. Carson, Silent Spring, p. 23.
66. Quoted in Vera Norwood, Made From This Earth, p. 152.
67. Vera Norwood, Made From This Earth, pp. 143-171.
68. Letter from Paul Brooks to James Rand, (July 1962), RCC, Box 105, Folder 1994.
69. Vera Norwood, Made From This Earth, pp. 148-152; and Vera Norwood, "The nature of knowing: Rachel Carson and the American environment," Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 12 (Summer 1987): 740-760.
70. Vera Norwood, Made From This Earth, pp. 148-152; and Vera Norwood, "The nature of knowing: Rachel Carson and the American environment," Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 12 (Summer 1987): 740-760.
71. Carson, Silent Spring, pp. 72-73.
72. Carson, Silent Spring, pp. 118-126.
73. Lee, The Hidden Public, p. 151. For histories of the Book-of-the-Month Club, see Janice Radway, "The scandal of the middlebrow: the Book-of-the-Month Club, class fracture, and cultural authority," The South Atlantic Quarterly 89 (Fall 1990), 703-736, and Joan Schelley Rubin, The Making of Middlebrow Culture (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992).
74. Lee, The Hidden Public, p. 151. For histories of the Book-of-the-Month Club, see Janice Radway, "The scandal of the middlebrow: the Book-of-the-Month Club, class fracture, and cultural authority," The South Atlantic Quarterly 89 (Fall 1990), 703-736, and Joan Schelley Rubin, The Making of Middlebrow Culture (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992).
75. Lee, The Hidden Public, p. 151. For histories of the Book-of-the-Month Club, see Janice Radway, "The scandal of the middlebrow: the Book-of-the-Month Club, class fracture, and cultural authority," The South Atlantic Quarterly 89 (Fall 1990), 703-736, and Joan Schelley Rubin, The Making of Middlebrow Culture (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992).
76. Survey of Lifetime Readers, Prepared for the Library of Congress, Center for the Book, and Book-of-the-Month Club Project Director: Alicia J. Welch, Information Analysis Systems Inc., (October 19, 1992), 7.
77. Quoted in Lear, Rachel Carson, p. 408.
78. Lear, Rachel Carson, p. 419.
79. Indeed, we can take The New York Times' coverage of pesticide issues to show that after the initial flurry of attention that accompanied the release of the book in September, debate slackened. There were fifteen articles written in September, four in October, four in November, one in December and January each, none in February, and one in March. Some forums of discussion were grinding to a slow halt. For instance, the interdisciplinary Pesticide Committee of the Federal Council for Science and Technology, having been assigned the task of "looking into the activities of government agencies in the field," indicated that "making a definitive judgment on the hazards of pesticides will not be possible soon, however, because key facts lie beyond the knowledge of science today." This committee's work would be eclipsed by the report issued by the President's Science Advisory Committee in early May. Robert C. Toth, "Pesticides study found difficult," The New York Times (December 7, 1963), 41:8. Agriculturists favoring the use of pesticides argued that Carson's message was understood, heeded, and the criticized practices fixed. See "Progress cited on pesticides: scientists report gains in controlling effects," The New York Times (January 10, 1963), 15:1. This is not to argue for the insignificance of the book's publication. The point is that in early 1963, both public debate and government action did not possess the energy that both had shown in the firestorm of controversy that met with the publication of Silent Spring in September. The slowly dying embers would be fanned into flame with "CBS Reports'" coverage of the debate.
80. Indeed, we can take The New York Times' coverage of pesticide issues to show that after the initial flurry of attention that accompanied the release of the book in September, debate slackened. There were fifteen articles written in September, four in October, four in November, one in December and January each, none in February, and one in March. Some forums of discussion were grinding to a slow halt. For instance, the interdisciplinary Pesticide Committee of the Federal Council for Science and Technology, having been assigned the task of "looking into the activities of government agencies in the field," indicated that "making a definitive judgment on the hazards of pesticides will not be possible soon, however, because key facts lie beyond the knowledge of science today." This committee's work would be eclipsed by the report issued by the President's Science Advisory Committee in early May. Robert C. Toth, "Pesticides study found difficult," The New York Times (December 7, 1963), 41:8. Agriculturists favoring the use of pesticides argued that Carson's message was understood, heeded, and the criticized practices fixed. See "Progress cited on pesticides: scientists report gains in controlling effects," The New York Times (January 10, 1963), 15:1. This is not to argue for the insignificance of the book's publication. The point is that in early 1963, both public debate and government action did not possess the energy that both had shown in the firestorm of controversy that met with the publication of Silent Spring in September. The slowly dying embers would be fanned into flame with "CBS Reports'" coverage of the debate.
81. In April 1963, The New York Times published sixteen pesticide-related articles; twelve in May; seven in June; three in July; and nine in August. Perhaps the greatest impact of the show was to highlight what numerous government and industrial scientists "didn't know." Many of these articles either call for, or report evidence of, further research, but they also highlight the stunning limits of science in preserving a healthy environment.
82. Rachel Carson to Marie Rodell, (November 29, 1955), RCC, Box 104, Folder 1987.
83. Carson was at one time worried that too many oppositional scientists had been "weighted against" her on the show. Carson to Dorothy Freeman (March 26, 1963), published in Martha Freeman, ed., Always, Rachel: The Letters of Rachel Carson and Dorothy Freeman, 1952-1964 (Boston: Beacon Press, 1995), 445.
84. Erik Barnouw, Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Television (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), 182.
85. Barnouw, Tube of Plenty, p. 247.
86. Michael Curtin, Redeeming the Wasteland: Television Documentary and Cold War Politics (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1995), 216-245. "The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson," however, seems to have achieved a much larger audience. "CBS Reports" followed up the one-hour show with a half-hour program some six weeks later. Also, among many end-of-the-year retrospectives, the "CBS Reports" coverage of the pesticide issue consistently ranked high on lists of the most important television programs in 1963. The viewer figures on "The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson" come from Lear, Rachel Carson, p. 450.
87. Michael Curtin, Redeeming the Wasteland: Television Documentary and Cold War Politics (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1995), 216-245. "The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson," however, seems to have achieved a much larger audience. "CBS Reports" followed up the one-hour show with a half-hour program some six weeks later. Also, among many end-of-the-year retrospectives, the "CBS Reports" coverage of the pesticide issue consistently ranked high on lists of the most important television programs in 1963. The viewer figures on "The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson" come from Lear, Rachel Carson, p. 450.
88. CBS's efforts here were part of a larger initiative by all the networks to redeem the questionable traits of television (as solely entertaining and profit-driven) through the rebirth of television documentary. Curtin, Redeeming the Wasteland, pp. 1-34.
89. Val Adams, "Two sponsors quit pesticide show," The New York Times, (April 3, 1963), 95:4.
90. "Three sponsors won't sing of spring," Virginia Pilot (April 3, 1963), RCC, Box 75, Folder 1335.
91. Jack Gould, "TV: controversy over pesticide danger weighted," The New York Times (April 4, 1963), 95:2. "CBS Reports" was designed with precisely this aim in mind. In 1959, a special committee of top CBS executives concluded that CBS should attempt to "counteract and, if possible, to overcome the impression that its management does not care enough about any of its responsibilities except making a profit." Quoted in Curtin, Redeeming the Wasteland, p. 120.
92. Jack Gould, "TV: controversy over pesticide danger weighted," The New York Times (April 4, 1963), 95:2. "CBS Reports" was designed with precisely this aim in mind. In 1959, a special committee of top CBS executives concluded that CBS should attempt to "counteract and, if possible, to overcome the impression that its management does not care enough about any of its responsibilities except making a profit." Quoted in Curtin, Redeeming the Wasteland, p. 120.
93. David Pepper, The Roots of Modern Environmentalism, pp. 68-146.
94. Donald Worster, Nature's Economy (Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press, 1977); Paul Sears, "Ecology - a subversive subject," BioScience 14 (July 1964), 11-13.
95. Donald Worster, Nature's Economy (Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press, 1977); Paul Sears, "Ecology - a subversive subject," BioScience 14 (July 1964), 11-13.
96. One reviewer was keenly perceptive regarding the constructed nature of the text. "Then, there's the small matter of cutting from one interviewee to another. The effect, mainly, is to give a viewer the impression that he's watching some kind of debate. Conflict can be made to appear to exist. Obviously, the interviews were filmed separately. The speaker has no way of knowing the context into which his words will be placed. ... By cutting quickly, arguments can be shaded to fit the need for dramatic conflict." Lawrence Laurent, "Filmed interviews made Silent Spring dry hour," Washington D.C. Post-Times Herald, (April 5, 1963), RCC, Box 75, Folder 1336.
97. This reviewer was somewhat confused by the images. The shots of "small children covered with insects" appeared while Dr. White-Stevens was hypothesizing a world without pesticides, i.e., Stevens' reading of the impact of Carson's message. Jack Gould. "TV: controversy over pesticide danger weighted. " On Gould, see Curtin, Redeeming the Wasteland, p. 221.
98. This reviewer was somewhat confused by the images. The shots of "small children covered with insects" appeared while Dr. White-Stevens was hypothesizing a world without pesticides, i.e., Stevens' reading of the impact of Carson's message. Jack Gould. "TV: controversy over pesticide danger weighted. " On Gould, see Curtin, Redeeming the Wasteland, p. 221.
99. For instance, Ruth Desmond, Chairperson of the Federation of Homemakers, contacted the White House after viewing the television program. She urged the President's Science Advisory Committee to publish its report on pesticides mentioned in the program. In her words, "we feel strongly that if the public can 'take' the risks from use of pesticides - then it can also 'take' the knowledge of these risks and the possible extent." Ruth Desmond to Jerome Wiesner of the White House, (April 12, 1963), RCC, Box #43, Folder 788. On May 15, the PSAC released its report, Uses of Pesticides, which lauded Carson's role in enlightening the public to the dangers of pesticides. Upon the report's release, "CBS Reports" devoted a second show to the issue; while this latter program was shorter, it held the PSAC report as a vindication of Carson's claims. Zuoyue Wange, "Responding to Silent Spring: scientists, popular science communication, and environmental policy in the Kennedy years," Science Communication 19 (December 1997): 141-163.