Summary: Last year marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of Silent Spring. In the book, biologist Rachel Carson describes a âsilentâ world without birdsong brought on as a result of the use of pesticides. Since it first hit book stands, Silent Spring stirred controversy. Some have praised the book for laying the foundation of the modern environmentalist movement and others have battled it for misrepresenting science, especially the life-saving insecticide DDT. This Earth Day, we will no doubt hear echoes of this debate and the ideology Rachel Carson laid out in her book. In this episode of Eye to Eye, I sat down with Dr. Keith Lockitch, a fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute, to discuss Silent Spring. In the interview, Dr. Lockitch addresses the claims made in Silent Spring about DDT and other pesticides. He also explains in what ways the book represents environmentalists' view of manâs relationship with nature. One of the most interesting points he brings up in the podcast is why a technological advance like DDT, despite the instrumental role it played in disease control, was nevertheless banned in the United States. Explaining how DDT works and citing examples from World War II, Dr. Lockitch gives the history of DDT that Rachel Carson shamefully left out of her book.
