"Silence, miss Carson!" Science, gender, and the reception of Silent Spring

Feminist Studies

Volumn 27, Issue 3, 2001, Pages 733-752

  Smith, Michael B ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0039246535     PISSN: 00463663     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/3178817     Document Type: Article

References (68)

1. See Linda Lear, "Bombshell in Beltsville: The USDA and the Challenge of Silent Spring," Agricultural History 66 (spring 1992): 152; and Paul Brooks, The House of Life: Rachel Carson at Work (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1972), 293, for these comparisons.
2. See Linda Lear, "Bombshell in Beltsville: The USDA and the Challenge of Silent Spring," Agricultural History 66 (spring 1992): 152; and Paul Brooks, The House of Life: Rachel Carson at Work (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1972), 293, for these comparisons.
3. See Ralph Lutts, "Chemical Fallout: Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Radioactive Fallout, and the Environmental Movement," Environmental Review 9 (fall 1985): 211-25.
4. See John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, Toxic Waste Is Good for You! Lies, Damn Lies, and the Public Relations Industry (Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 1995), 123-27.
5. See, for example, Lear's "Bombshell in Beltsville," 151-71, and her Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature (New York: Henry Holt, 1997), 396-456; Frank Graham, Since Silent Spring (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1970), 48-81; and Brooks, 293-307.
6. See, for example, Lear's "Bombshell in Beltsville," 151-71, and her Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature (New York: Henry Holt, 1997), 396-456; Frank Graham, Since Silent Spring (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1970), 48-81; and Brooks, 293-307.
7. See, for example, Lear's "Bombshell in Beltsville," 151-71, and her Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature (New York: Henry Holt, 1997), 396-456; Frank Graham, Since Silent Spring (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1970), 48-81; and Brooks, 293-307.
8. See, for example, Lear's "Bombshell in Beltsville," 151-71, and her Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature (New York: Henry Holt, 1997), 396-456; Frank Graham, Since Silent Spring (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1970), 48-81; and Brooks, 293-307.
9. In this context my use of ad hominem is especially apt. Ad hominem, literally meaning "to the man," is significant because in many instances, as we shall see, Carson was attacked precisely because she was not a man, did not subscribe to a rational "masculine" vision of dominion over nature. Linda Lear's new biography of Carson does address the gender issue (428-41) but in a less systematic way than this article does.
10. Feminist philosophers and historians of science have produced much rich scholarship exploring the cultural construction of Western science. The orientation of this article was heavily influenced by Sandra G. Harding's The Science Question in Feminism (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1986), and Whose Science? Whose Knowledge: Thinking from Women's Lives (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1991); and Evelyn Fox Keller's Reflections on Gender and Science (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985). See also Eileen M. Byrne, Women and Science: The Snark Syndrome (London: Fulmer Press, 1993), esp. 48-87.
11. Feminist philosophers and historians of science have produced much rich scholarship exploring the cultural construction of Western science. The orientation of this article was heavily influenced by Sandra G. Harding's The Science Question in Feminism (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1986), and Whose Science? Whose Knowledge: Thinking from Women's Lives (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1991); and Evelyn Fox Keller's Reflections on Gender and Science (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985). See also Eileen M. Byrne, Women and Science: The Snark Syndrome (London: Fulmer Press, 1993), esp. 48-87.
12. Feminist philosophers and historians of science have produced much rich scholarship exploring the cultural construction of Western science. The orientation of this article was heavily influenced by Sandra G. Harding's The Science Question in Feminism (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1986), and Whose Science? Whose Knowledge: Thinking from Women's Lives (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1991); and Evelyn Fox Keller's Reflections on Gender and Science (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985). See also Eileen M. Byrne, Women and Science: The Snark Syndrome (London: Fulmer Press, 1993), esp. 48-87.
13. Feminist philosophers and historians of science have produced much rich scholarship exploring the cultural construction of Western science. The orientation of this article was heavily influenced by Sandra G. Harding's The Science Question in Feminism (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1986), and Whose Science? Whose Knowledge: Thinking from Women's Lives (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1991); and Evelyn Fox Keller's Reflections on Gender and Science (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985). See also Eileen M. Byrne, Women and Science: The Snark Syndrome (London: Fulmer Press, 1993), esp. 48-87.
14. Although Carson's position as an independent scholar in 1962 was largely voluntary, she, like hundreds of women like her, had encountered barriers to advancement in both government service and higher education her entire career. See Lear, Rachel Carson, 54-198. On the discrimination against women scientists generally in this period and earlier, see Margaret Rossiter, Women Scientists in America: Before Affirmative Action, 1940-1972 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995). The quotation is from xviii.
15. Although Carson's position as an independent scholar in 1962 was largely voluntary, she, like hundreds of women like her, had encountered barriers to advancement in both government service and higher education her entire career. See Lear, Rachel Carson, 54-198. On the discrimination against women scientists generally in this period and earlier, see Margaret Rossiter, Women Scientists in America: Before Affirmative Action, 1940-1972 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995). The quotation is from xviii.
16. Carson's The Sea around Us (1951) and The Edge of the Sea (1955) were viewed as the musings of a nature writer rather than emanating from the research of a marine biologist, a reaction which reflects the prevailing attitude among many scientists that popularized science equals watered-down science and that natural history is inferior to physical science.
17. See Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology, and the Scientific Revolution (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1980).
18. Ecofeminism emerged with the publication of Rosemary Radford Ruether's New Woman/New Earth: Sexist Ideologies and Human Liberation (New York: Seabury Press, 1975). For the theoretical foundations of ecofeminism, see Carolyn Merchant, "Ecofeminism and Feminist Theory," in Reweaving the World: The Emergence of Ecofeminism, ed. Irene Diamond and Gloria F. Orenstein (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1990). Perhaps the best treatise on ecofeminism is Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva, Ecofeminism (Halifax, Nova Scotia: Fernwood, 1993). See also Vera Norwood, Made from This Earth: American Women and Nature (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993), 261-84. The essentialization of women in their stewardship of the environment is hotly debated even within the feminist community. See, for example, Cecile Jackson, "Radical Environmental Myths: A Gender Perspective," New Left Review, no. 210 (March/April 1995): 124-40.
19. Ecofeminism emerged with the publication of Rosemary Radford Ruether's New Woman/New Earth: Sexist Ideologies and Human Liberation (New York: Seabury Press, 1975). For the theoretical foundations of ecofeminism, see Carolyn Merchant, "Ecofeminism and Feminist Theory," in Reweaving the World: The Emergence of Ecofeminism, ed. Irene Diamond and Gloria F. Orenstein (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1990). Perhaps the best treatise on ecofeminism is Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva, Ecofeminism (Halifax, Nova Scotia: Fernwood, 1993). See also Vera Norwood, Made from This Earth: American Women and Nature (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993), 261-84. The essentialization of women in their stewardship of the environment is hotly debated even within the feminist community. See, for example, Cecile Jackson, "Radical Environmental Myths: A Gender Perspective," New Left Review, no. 210 (March/April 1995): 124-40.
20. Ecofeminism emerged with the publication of Rosemary Radford Ruether's New Woman/New Earth: Sexist Ideologies and Human Liberation (New York: Seabury Press, 1975). For the theoretical foundations of ecofeminism, see Carolyn Merchant, "Ecofeminism and Feminist Theory," in Reweaving the World: The Emergence of Ecofeminism, ed. Irene Diamond and Gloria F. Orenstein (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1990). Perhaps the best treatise on ecofeminism is Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva, Ecofeminism (Halifax, Nova Scotia: Fernwood, 1993). See also Vera Norwood, Made from This Earth: American Women and Nature (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993), 261-84. The essentialization of women in their stewardship of the environment is hotly debated even within the feminist community. See, for example, Cecile Jackson, "Radical Environmental Myths: A Gender Perspective," New Left Review, no. 210 (March/April 1995): 124-40.
21. Ecofeminism emerged with the publication of Rosemary Radford Ruether's New Woman/New Earth: Sexist Ideologies and Human Liberation (New York: Seabury Press, 1975). For the theoretical foundations of ecofeminism, see Carolyn Merchant, "Ecofeminism and Feminist Theory," in Reweaving the World: The Emergence of Ecofeminism, ed. Irene Diamond and Gloria F. Orenstein (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1990). Perhaps the best treatise on ecofeminism is Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva, Ecofeminism (Halifax, Nova Scotia: Fernwood, 1993). See also Vera Norwood, Made from This Earth: American Women and Nature (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993), 261-84. The essentialization of women in their stewardship of the environment is hotly debated even within the feminist community. See, for example, Cecile Jackson, "Radical Environmental Myths: A Gender Perspective," New Left Review, no. 210 (March/April 1995): 124-40.
22. Ecofeminism emerged with the publication of Rosemary Radford Ruether's New Woman/New Earth: Sexist Ideologies and Human Liberation (New York: Seabury Press, 1975). For the theoretical foundations of ecofeminism, see Carolyn Merchant, "Ecofeminism and Feminist Theory," in Reweaving the World: The Emergence of Ecofeminism, ed. Irene Diamond and Gloria F. Orenstein (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1990). Perhaps the best treatise on ecofeminism is Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva, Ecofeminism (Halifax, Nova Scotia: Fernwood, 1993). See also Vera Norwood, Made from This Earth: American Women and Nature (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993), 261-84. The essentialization of women in their stewardship of the environment is hotly debated even within the feminist community. See, for example, Cecile Jackson, "Radical Environmental Myths: A Gender Perspective," New Left Review, no. 210 (March/April 1995): 124-40.
23. For Carson's influence on women in the environmental movement, see Carolyn Merchant, Earthcare: Women and the Environment (New York: Routledge, 1995). On the role of women in the environmental movement, see Mary Joy Broton, Women Pioneers for the Environment (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1998).
24. For Carson's influence on women in the environmental movement, see Carolyn Merchant, Earthcare: Women and the Environment (New York: Routledge, 1995). On the role of women in the environmental movement, see Mary Joy Broton, Women Pioneers for the Environment (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1998).
25. Stauber and Rampton, 123-27.
26. Lewis A. McLean, General Counsel, Volsicol Chemical Corporation to Houghton Mifflin, 2 Aug. 1962, quoted in Graham, 49.
27. In this context, David F. Noble's analysis of the persistence of the clerical "mantel" of science with its roots in the exclusively masculine world of medieval science is illuminating. See his A World without Women: The Christian Clerical Culture of Western Science (New York: Knopf, 1992).
28. William Darby, "Silence, Miss Carson!" Chemical and Engineering News 40 (1 Oct. 1962): 60, 60-62.
29. See Chemical and Engineering News, 40 (22 Oct. 1962): 5, and (5 Nov. 1962): 4-5. Among the comments in letters to the editor: Ellie A. Shneour wrote, "the most irresponsible review that I have ever seen"; Frank A. Meier wrote, "both the title and the review portray an attitude ill becoming a scientist"; and Robert J. Good wrote, "Instead of [a] positive type of response to Miss Carson, C&EN and Dr. Darby have reacted like a cigarette company executive when somebody asks if smoking causes lung cancer." This last remark is an ironic and fascinating comparison in light of the recent demise of corporate tobacco. Another trade journal, Chemical Week, published a critical report of Silent Spring and also received letters supporting Carson. See Chemical Week 91 (3 Nov. 1962): 7, and (27 Oct. 1962): 7.
30. See Chemical and Engineering News, 40 (22 Oct. 1962): 5, and (5 Nov. 1962): 4-5. Among the comments in letters to the editor: Ellie A. Shneour wrote, "the most irresponsible review that I have ever seen"; Frank A. Meier wrote, "both the title and the review portray an attitude ill becoming a scientist"; and Robert J. Good wrote, "Instead of [a] positive type of response to Miss Carson, C&EN and Dr. Darby have reacted like a cigarette company executive when somebody asks if smoking causes lung cancer." This last remark is an ironic and fascinating comparison in light of the recent demise of corporate tobacco. Another trade journal, Chemical Week, published a critical report of Silent Spring and also received letters supporting Carson. See Chemical Week 91 (3 Nov. 1962): 7, and (27 Oct. 1962): 7.
31. See Chemical and Engineering News, 40 (22 Oct. 1962): 5, and (5 Nov. 1962): 4-5. Among the comments in letters to the editor: Ellie A. Shneour wrote, "the most irresponsible review that I have ever seen"; Frank A. Meier wrote, "both the title and the review portray an attitude ill becoming a scientist"; and Robert J. Good wrote, "Instead of [a] positive type of response to Miss Carson, C&EN and Dr. Darby have reacted like a cigarette company executive when somebody asks if smoking causes lung cancer." This last remark is an ironic and fascinating comparison in light of the recent demise of corporate tobacco. Another trade journal, Chemical Week, published a critical report of Silent Spring and also received letters supporting Carson. See Chemical Week 91 (3 Nov. 1962): 7, and (27 Oct. 1962): 7.
32. See Chemical and Engineering News, 40 (22 Oct. 1962): 5, and (5 Nov. 1962): 4-5. Among the comments in letters to the editor: Ellie A. Shneour wrote, "the most irresponsible review that I have ever seen"; Frank A. Meier wrote, "both the title and the review portray an attitude ill becoming a scientist"; and Robert J. Good wrote, "Instead of [a] positive type of response to Miss Carson, C&EN and Dr. Darby have reacted like a cigarette company executive when somebody asks if smoking causes lung cancer." This last remark is an ironic and fascinating comparison in light of the recent demise of corporate tobacco. Another trade journal, Chemical Week, published a critical report of Silent Spring and also received letters supporting Carson. See Chemical Week 91 (3 Nov. 1962): 7, and (27 Oct. 1962): 7.
33. Frederick J. Stare, "Some Comments on Silent Spring," Nutrition Reviews 21 (January 1963): 1, 4.
34. I.L. Baldwin, "Chemicals and Pests," Science 137 (28 Sept. 1962): 1043.
35. Thomas H. Jukes, "People and Pesticides," American Scientist 51 (September 1963): 355-61.
36. Baldwin, 1043.
37. LaMont C. Cole, Scientific American, no. 207 (December 1962): 176.
38. Editorial, New York Times, 2 July 1962, 28.
39. "In the Mail," the New Yorker 71 (20 and 27 Feb. 1995): 18. As part of its seventieth anniversary issue, the New Yorker reprinted a number of letters.
40. "The Price for Progress," Time 80 (28 Sept. 1962): 45-48. This article goes on to describe how modern large-scale agriculture was actually part of the problem: the scale and variety of pre-industrial agriculture diminished the damage insects could do. Of interest given the context of this paper: this critique of Silent Spring ran in the "science" section of the magazine; immediately following the savaging of the book was a story about the "new heros of the space program," the "handsome men" of the Apollo program.
41. "Rebuttal to Miss Carson," America 107 (27 Oct. 1962): 944.
42. Gordon Tallock, "Of Mites and Men," National Review 13 (20 Nov, 1962): 398-99. This was the only review that honored Carson with a "Dr." before her name. Although Carson, for financial reasons, never did complete her doctorate, she did receive several honorary doctorates. Although reviewers used "Miss" in keeping with contemporary stylistic convention, many seemed to use it as an epithet as they gleefully castigated her for not being scientific enough.
43. "Hiss of Doom?" Newsweek 60 (6 Aug. 1962): 55.
44. "Every Man His Own Borgia?" The Economist 105 (20 Oct. 1962): 248.
45. "The Gentle Storm Center," Life 53 (12 Oct. 1962): 105-10.
46. This connection of Carson to children was not limited to photographs. Even in reviews critical of Silent Spring, writers praised her earlier books on the sea for their ability to tap into a childlike sense of wonder. Such descriptions of the ocean, even scrupulously scientific ones, were not threatening, more like bedtime stories than nightmarish social criticism.
47. Edwin Diamond, "The Myth of the "Pesticide Menace,'" Saturday Evening Post 236 (28 Sept. 1963): 16-18. Given the theme of this article, I was acutely sensitive to the depiction of women as I conducted my research. The cover of this issue of the Saturday Evening Post featured a picture of Vietnam's Madame Nhu and the headline: "The Ruthless Beauty Who Helped Provoke the Violence." This was the cultural context in which Silent Spring was so hotly debated.
48. Virginia Kraft, "Life-Giving Spray," Sports Illustrated 19 (18 Nov. 1963): 22-25.
49. C.G. King, quoted in "Silent Spring on the Pacific Slope: A Postscript to Rachel Carson," Atlantic Monthly 212 (July 1963): 81.
50. Robert H. White-Stevens, Address to the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association, April 1963, quoted in "Silent Spring on the Pacific Slope," 82. For descriptions of Dr. White-Stevens's behavior during the debates over pesticides and Silent Spring, see Lear, Rachel Carson, 437-40.
51. Robert H. White-Stevens, Address to the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association, April 1963, quoted in "Silent Spring on the Pacific Slope," 82. For descriptions of Dr. White-Stevens's behavior during the debates over pesticides and Silent Spring, see Lear, Rachel Carson, 437-40.
52. "If You Didn't Have Poison Sprays," U.S. News and World Report 54 (3 June 1963): 74-75.
53. See Yaakov Garb, "The Politics of Nature in Rachel Carson's Silent Spring," in Minding Nature: The Philosophers of Ecology, ed. David Macauley (New York: Guilford Press, 1996), 238, 229-56. Lewis Herber [Murray Bookchin], Our Synthetic Environment (New York: Knopf, 1962). There is nothing particularly original about Garb's assertion that nature is a cultural construction. See, for example, William Cronon, ed., Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature (New York: Norton, 1995).
54. See Yaakov Garb, "The Politics of Nature in Rachel Carson's Silent Spring," in Minding Nature: The Philosophers of Ecology, ed. David Macauley (New York: Guilford Press, 1996), 238, 229-56. Lewis Herber [Murray Bookchin], Our Synthetic Environment (New York: Knopf, 1962). There is nothing particularly original about Garb's assertion that nature is a cultural construction. See, for example, William Cronon, ed., Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature (New York: Norton, 1995).
55. See Yaakov Garb, "The Politics of Nature in Rachel Carson's Silent Spring," in Minding Nature: The Philosophers of Ecology, ed. David Macauley (New York: Guilford Press, 1996), 238, 229-56. Lewis Herber [Murray Bookchin], Our Synthetic Environment (New York: Knopf, 1962). There is nothing particularly original about Garb's assertion that nature is a cultural construction. See, for example, William Cronon, ed., Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature (New York: Norton, 1995).
56. Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (New York: Fawcett, 1962), 14. Subsequent references will be cited in parentheses in the text. Carson's exoneration of "witchcraft" in this passage connects her more closely to Carolyn Merchant and other ecofeminists than a casual reading might reveal. Merchant goes to great lengths to show how "witchcraft" was really the persistence of premodern relationships with nature. The persecution of "witches" during the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries was part of the attempt to reconstruct nature and eradicate the organic world that existed before the scientific revolution. See The Death of Nature, chap. 4.
57. Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (New York: Fawcett, 1962), 14. Subsequent references will be cited in parentheses in the text. Carson's exoneration of "witchcraft" in this passage connects her more closely to Carolyn Merchant and other ecofeminists than a casual reading might reveal. Merchant goes to great lengths to show how "witchcraft" was really the persistence of premodern relationships with nature. The persecution of "witches" during the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries was part of the attempt to reconstruct nature and eradicate the organic world that existed before the scientific revolution. See The Death of Nature, chap. 4.
58. Graham, 21, 25.
59. On Silent Spring's regulatory legacy, see Graham, 266-71; and, especially, H. Patricia Hynes, The Recurring Silent Spring (New York: Pergamon Press, 1989). See also Kirkpatrick Sale, The Green Revolution: The American Environmental Movement, 1962-1992 (New York: Hill & Wang, 1997), 3-28; and Samuel P. Hayes, Beauty, Health, Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States, 1955-1985 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 177-206.
60. On Silent Spring's regulatory legacy, see Graham, 266-71; and, especially, H. Patricia Hynes, The Recurring Silent Spring (New York: Pergamon Press, 1989). See also Kirkpatrick Sale, The Green Revolution: The American Environmental Movement, 1962-1992 (New York: Hill & Wang, 1997), 3-28; and Samuel P. Hayes, Beauty, Health, Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States, 1955-1985 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 177-206.
61. On Silent Spring's regulatory legacy, see Graham, 266-71; and, especially, H. Patricia Hynes, The Recurring Silent Spring (New York: Pergamon Press, 1989). See also Kirkpatrick Sale, The Green Revolution: The American Environmental Movement, 1962-1992 (New York: Hill & Wang, 1997), 3-28; and Samuel P. Hayes, Beauty, Health, Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States, 1955-1985 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 177-206.
62. On Silent Spring's regulatory legacy, see Graham, 266-71; and, especially, H. Patricia Hynes, The Recurring Silent Spring (New York: Pergamon Press, 1989). See also Kirkpatrick Sale, The Green Revolution: The American Environmental Movement, 1962-1992 (New York: Hill & Wang, 1997), 3-28; and Samuel P. Hayes, Beauty, Health, Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States, 1955-1985 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 177-206.
63. One can get a sense of this by perusing the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature and newspaper indexes from 1962 to 1968. The entries under the heading "Pesticides" occupied three columns of copy from 1962 to 1963-by 1965, half a column.
64. See H. Patricia Hynes, "Ellen Swallow, Lois Gibbs, and Rachel Carson: Catalysts of the American Environmental Movement," Women's International Forum 8 (1985): 291-98; and Merchant, Earthcare, 139-66.
65. See H. Patricia Hynes, "Ellen Swallow, Lois Gibbs, and Rachel Carson: Catalysts of the American Environmental Movement," Women's International Forum 8 (1985): 291-98; and Merchant, Earthcare, 139-66.
66. See Theo Colburn, Dianne Dumanoski, and John Peterson Myers, Our Stolen Future: Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence, and Survival? (New York: Dutton, 1995).
67. See David Helvarg, "Poison Pens," Sierra 58 (January/February 1997): 31-37.
68. Harding, Whose Science? Whose Knowledge? 1-15.