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PROGRAMME 4: Bea Campbell on Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson was born in Springdale, Pennsylvania in 1907. A rural river town it helped
develop her life-long love of nature. She graduated from Pennsylvania College for Women in
1929, then studied for an MA in zoology from Johns Hopkins University in 1932.
After graduating she joined the U.S. Department of Fisheries as a writer thus beginning a 15
year career, culminating in hr position as Editor-in-Chief of all publications for the U.
S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
She supplemented her income from journalism where her deep understanding of nature was
refracted through her lyrical prose in works such as The Sea Around Us (1952) and The Edge
of the Sea (1955), works which attempted to produce a biography of the oceans.
After leaving Government service in 1952 she devoted her life to
writing in an attempt to teach people about the wonder and beauty of the living world.
Carson was convinced that people were an intrinsic part of nature not its master,
distinguished primarily by their power to alter it, in some cases irreversibly.
Disturbed by the growing use of pesticides, Carson changed the focus of her research to warn the public about the long term effects of tampering with nature.
In Silent Spring (1962) she challenged the practices of agri-business, and called for a change in the way people viewed the
natural world. Attacked by some as an alarmist she called for new policies to protect human health and the environment.
She died in 1964 after a long battle with breast cancer.
 Bea Campbell is femminist academic, writer and journalist, visiting Professor at the University of Newcastle. She is a frequent contributor to TV and radio programmes.
Return to Great Lives home page.
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RELATED LINKS |
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Rachel Carson.Org
BBC History
This Sceptred Isle
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to programme 4: Bea Campbell on Rachel Carson
