For as long as man has dwelt on this planet, spring has been the season of rebirth, and the singing of birds. Now in some parts of America spring is strangely silent, for many of the birds are dead—incidental victims of our reckless attempt to control our environment by the use of chemicals that poison not only the insects against which they are directed but the birds in the air, the fish in the rivers, the earth which supplies our food, and, inevitably (to what degree is still unknown), man himself.

Rachel Carson, author of The Sea Around Us and The Edge of the Sea, is a biologist who became so concerned with this situation that she spent four and one half years gathering data from all over America, and from other parts of the world, on the effects of the pesticides now in general use. The facts, as set forth in this book, are appalling.

In terms that any layman can understand, Miss Carson explains what is meant by the "balance of nature." She shows how careful we must be, with the great power now at our command, not to disturb this balance in a way that will ultimately do us more harm than good. She describes the lethal chemicals that have been invented in the brief period since the Second World War and are being produced in greater strength and variety every year. And she shows that much of this program is self-defeating: the insects, in fact, have the last laugh. While we have been progressively poisoning our own environment, many types of insects—including flies and mosquitoes—have been breeding superior races composed of individuals immune to chemical attack. But there is a positive side to the picture. We are learning more and more about nonchemical control that in the long run will be both safer and more effective than the deadly chemicals with which we are now poisoning our world.

One entire chapter is devoted to a subject of the greatest concern: the possible connection between the widespread use of certain chemicals and the incidence of cancer in man. Another deals with the genetic effects of certain chemicals, paralleling those of radiation.

This book will come as a shock to many readers. To others, Silent Spring will be a clarification and a revelation. And to the growing number of informed people who are already deeply disturbed it will be a godsend. They know that the time has come to speak.

From the dust jacket