Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson was born on 27 May 1907 in Springdale, Pennsylvania (US National Park Service). She studied English and then biology, and later studied and taught zoology in Maryland before leaving her doctoral studies for paid work. She died of cancer at her home in Silver Spring, Maryland, on 14 April 1964.

In 1935 she began working for the US Bureau of Fisheries, now part of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and rose to become editor-in-chief of all the Service's publications before resigning to write full-time. Her sea books, including The Sea Around Us (1951), which won the National Book Award, brought ocean science to a wide public. In Silent Spring (1962) she set out evidence linking post-war chemical pesticides to harmful biological effects, despite pressure from industry and government.

Pesticide pollution (including DDT); marine life and ecology

The US National Park Service credits Silent Spring with helping lead to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the first Earth Day in 1970 and the 1972 US ban on DDT. The US Fish and Wildlife Service describes the book as credited with launching the modern environmental movement.

The coastal Maine refuge established in 1966 was renamed the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in 1970. She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980, and Silent Spring was designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society in 2012 (Maryland State Archives).

1. 1907Born in Springdale, Pennsylvania.
2. 1935Joins the US Bureau of Fisheries (later the Fish and Wildlife Service).
3. 1951Publishes The Sea Around Us, which wins the National Book Award.
4. 1962Publishes Silent Spring.
5. 1964Dies of cancer at home in Silver Spring, Maryland, on 14 April.
6. 1970Coastal Maine refuge renamed in her honour.
7. 1980Posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.