Silent Spring revisited - the main contribution of the book was environmental rather than human health-related

Abstract

Chris Wilkinson writes his viewpoint on the significance of Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring (1962). Rachel Carson's important contribution, Chris says, was bringing to the attention of everyone the environmental effects of the persistent pesticides of her day, and this has led to the development of the more-targeted, less-persistent pesticides of today. However, he feels that the threat of pesticides to human health, which was voiced in Silent Spring and championed by others since, was never justified.