Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson. First edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1962. x-Collection [SB959 .C3], Special Collections and Archives.
Rachel Carson’s (1907–1964) most famous book, Silent Spring, was published in 1962—the year of Ding Darling’s death—and shared her concerns about synthetic pesticides and other environmental issues. She argued that the chemicals used in pesticides fail to work with the overall balance of nature, and instead disrupt it by polluting the water, soil, and air. According to Carson, this alters the natural balance of the food chain.
Like Ding Darling, Carson expressed her concern about pesticides impacting the U.S. bird population, including the use of DDT. This chemical thinned the shells of bird eggs, causing reproductive failure. If the government didn’t set laws to protect the environment, humans would soon experience a “silent spring,” without birdsong.