Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson was an important figure in modern American environmentalism, whose work is sometimes credited with creating the grassroots movement that led to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania, and then earned a master’s in zoology from Johns Hopkins University in 1932, while working in research labs to earn money for tuition. When her father’s sudden death left her without the time or funds necessary to continue on to a doctorate, Carson found a job with the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, later known as the Fish and Wildlife Service. While there, she began writing and published articles in newspapers and magazines. The first books that earned her fame were written on the topic of marine biology. With their success, she was able to quit her job and focus on writing full time, and her interests began to shift more toward conservation. She began work on Silent Spring, her most lasting legacy, in 1958, gathering research and soliciting contributions from major experts. The process of writing the book was slowed by family issues, and then by sickness when Carson was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died of a heart attack two years after its publication, in 1964.