Post by @petergleick@fediscience.org

2026-09-27 20:25 UTC

Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" was released on this day 62 years ago. I have a first edition & come back to it often, including this paragraph in the chapter "Obligation to Endure." It's worth reading. "We urgently need an end to these false assurances, to the sugar coating of unpalatable facts."

Replies (4)

@Heliograph@mastodon.au 2026-09-27 20:57

@petergleick@fediscience.org I studied sustainability 15 years ago and it was still a most cited reference back then :inaturalist:

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@Su_G@aus.social 2026-09-27 22:25

@petergleick@fediscience.org Such a powerful book & sadly, outrageously, still so relevant, Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring", & the quote you cite is also powerful, especially closing with Jean Roland’s “The obligation to endure gives us the right to know.” But… 😿 #SilentSpring #RachelCarson

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@Karen5Lund@mastodon.social 2026-09-27 23:24

@petergleick@fediscience.org I recently re-read it, probably 30 years after the first reading, and it made me sad and angry all over again. Not only is it insightful science, Carson was a beautiful writer. Some of "Silent Spring" is positively lyrical. Highly recommended.

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@kolya@social.cologne 2026-09-28 00:06

@petergleick@fediscience.org okay, but don't hilight things in books. I want to find the good passages myself. thanks.

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