Rachel Carson and her sisters : extraordinary women who have shaped America's environment / Robert K. Musil.

ISBN:

9780813562438

9781306463423

Title:

Rachel Carson and her sisters : extraordinary women who have shaped America's environment / Robert K. Musil.

Author:

Musil, Robert K., 1943- author.

Personal Author:

Musil, Robert K., 1943- author.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 309 pages) : illustrations, portraits

Contents:

Introduction -- Have you seen the robins? Rachel Carson's mother and the tradition of women naturalists -- Don't harm the people: Ellen Swallow Richards, Dr. Alice Hamilton, and their heirs take on polluting industries -- Carson and her sisters: Rachel Carson did not act alone -- Rachel Carson, Terry Tempest Williams, and ecological empathy -- The environment around us and inside us: Ellen Swallow Richards, Silent spring, and Sandra Steingraber -- Rachel Carson, Devra Davis, pollution, and public policy -- Rachel Carson and Theo Colborn: endocrine disruption and ethics -- Epilogue.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Personal Subject:

Carson, Rachel, 1907-1964.

Subject Term:

Women environmentalists -- United States -- Biography.

Women environmentalists -- United States.

Women naturalists -- United States.

Women and the environment -- United States.

Environmentalism -- United States.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click here to view

Publication Date:

2014

Publication Information:

New Brunswick, New Jersey :

Rutgers University Press,

[2014]

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
508.092 23	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

In Rachel Carson and Her Sisters , Robert K. Musil redefines the achievements and legacy of environmental pioneer and scientist Rachel Carson, linking her work to a wide network of American women activists and writers and introducing her to a new, contemporary audience.Rachel Carson was the first American to combine two longstanding, but separate strands of American environmentalism--the love of nature and a concern for human health. Widely known for her 1962 best-seller, Silent Spring , Carson is today often perceived as a solitary "great woman," whose work single-handedly launched a modern environmental movement. But as Musil demonstrates, Carson's life's work drew upon and was supported by already existing movements, many led by women, in conservation and public health.

On the fiftieth anniversary of her death, this book helps underscore Carson's enduring environmental legacy and brings to life the achievements of women writers and advocates, such as Ellen Swallow Richards, Dr. Alice Hamilton, Terry Tempest Williams, Sandra Steingraber, Devra Davis, and Theo Colborn, all of whom overcame obstacles to build and lead the modern American environmental movement.

Author Notes

ROBERT K. MUSIL is President and CEO of The Rachel Carson Council, Inc., senior fellow at the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, American University, and author of Hope for a Heated Planet . He is the former CEO of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Physicians for Social Responsibility and an award-winning journalist.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Musil (Hope for a Heated Planet) offers a valuable history of noteworthy female American environmentalists, though readers will have to first make it through a cringe-worthy explanation of his discovery that many women have played crucial roles in raising awareness of environmental issues. The book's most important contribution is its emphasis on the accomplishments of figures like nature writer Florence Merriam Bailey, ecology pioneer Ellen Swallow Richards, and naturalist/activist Terry Tempest Williams. They are Carson's intellectual sisters, and Musil presents them in chronological order, beginning with the 19th-century's first popular nature writer, Susan Fenimore Cooper. The careers of the women presented in the first two chapters are dutifully linked to Carson's accomplishments, though readers unfamiliar with the Silent Spring author have to wait until the third chapter for a cohesive discussion of her career. The book's second half focuses on Carson's successors. In addition to Williams, there is Sandra Steingraber, who investigated the link between pesticides and cancer, and Devra Davis, who made feminist analyses of industrial pollution. Musil's work comes alive in this second half, his choices of influential female environmentalists more assured and better connected to Carson and her work. The book is odd and uneven, but with enough quirks to make the reading worthwhile. Illus. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Choice Review

Rachel Carson (1907-1964) is widely considered the most influential woman in the American environmental movement. Fifty years after its publication, her groundbreaking work Silent Spring continues to be the focus of robust scholarship, discussion, and celebration. Less discussed are the female environmentalists who came before Carson and influenced her character and work. In Rachel Carson and Her Sisters, Musil (Rachel Carson Council; senior fellow, American Univ.) author of Hope for a Heated Planet (CH, Nov'09, 47-1436) fills the gap by placing Carson's achievements in a wider context, weaving connections from the past through the present. Readers will find new insight into Carson and contemporary figures she influenced, such as Terry Tempest Williams, along with female naturalists and scientists of the 19th century, such as Florence Merriam Bailey and Ellen Swallow Richards, who have historically received less attention. Musil's respect and enthusiasm for these women is evident throughout the book, making it a deeply engaging and enjoyable read. A valuable addition to scholarship on Rachel Carson, female environmentalists, and the American environmental movement in general. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All academic and general readers. --Kimberly A. Reycraft, Florida Gulf Coast University