Classics

Last April 23 was the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day celebration in 1970. Some attention was paid to a book that was a catalyst for the environmental movement, which was emerging at the time and spurred the creation of Earth Day. The book is, of course, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, published in 1962. Her vivid descriptions of the effect of DDT on songbird populations led to an increased awareness of environmental issues in general, and ultimately to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, also in 1970. The prominence of Silent Spring has tended to put Carson's other writings into the shadows, but Under the Sea-Wind (1941), The Sea Around Us (1951), and The Edge of the Sea (1955) are all worth reading, and they did a great deal to inspire research on underwater life. While it is a fictional example, I feel compelled to mention one...