1907-1964

American Biologist and Writer

Rachel Carson was a scientist and writer who first revealed the residual hazards of indiscriminate pesticide use, drawing attention to their serious ill effects on animals and humans. Carson also won recognition and lasting esteem as a conservationist and important early leader of the environmental movement.

Born May 27, 1907, on a farm in Springdale, Pennsylvania, Carson credited her mother with encouraging her love of nature. She displayed an early talent for writing and went to Pennsylvania College for Women to major in English, with the aim of becoming a writer. When a biology teacher piqued her interest in marine biology, she changed her major. She received a scholarship to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, graduating with a master's degree in 1932. She went on to complete postgraduate work at Woods Hole Marine Laboratory in Massachusetts, and then worked on the zoology...