Poet of the Sea, 1940s–1950s | The Scientist Magazine

The sea, Rachel Carson once wrote, is the “great mother of life.” Most know Carson for Silent Spring, an environmental manifesto that accused the chemical industry of spreading disinformation on pesticides. The book, published in 1962, contributed to the initiation of a federal ban on the use of the synthetic organic compound DDT, and to the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency. But long before Carson’s carefully crafted prose helped to push the environmental movement forward, she introduced readers to the wonders of the sea.

To write Under the Sea-Wind, her first book, Carson lay on the beaches of Beaufort, North Carolina, and “felt the waves, listened to the birds, and imagined what was going on,” says Robert Musil, the president and CEO of the Rachel Carson Council, the legacy organization Carson envisioned before her death to carry on her environmental advocacy work. “She walked around at night with a flashlight and looked at the ghost crabs and became deeply involved with these creatures.” In the book, Carson follows a few of the animals—a mackerel, a pair of small shorebirds, and an eel—in their salty worlds. Read more of the article here.

Source: Poet of the Sea, 1940s–1950s | The Scientist Magazine