Book Review of "Man's War Against Nature" by Rachel Carson
This quote at the end of the text nicely sums up the gist of the short work: “As Dr. C.J. Briejèr, a Dutch scientist of rare understanding has put it, ‘We are walking in nature like an elephant in the china cabinet’” (LOC 734).
A part of Penguin’s ‘Green Ideas’ collection, Rachel
Carson’s work, Man’s War Against Nature is a scientifically-focused
study of the disastrous and harmful effects of chemicals—and most specifically
synthetic pesticides and insecticides—and the outcome of using these instead of
employing the method of vegetation management of selective spraying (LOC 728). Carson
was a biologist, ecologist and writer, and it’s clear that her concerns are
focused on preventing environmental disasters and caring for humankind by
eliminating the abundant use of harmful chemicals in pesticides.
This short text is extremely informative and
educational. There are certainly moments when the content was complex. As
someone who doesn’t have an academic background in science, I found the first
half rich in scientific jargon and points that were quite complex. That being
said, I enjoyed when Carson essentially called out people’s destruction of
nature, as people are the root cause of major environmental problems—I think we’re
at a point now where we can agree that her accusation is accurate. I also thoroughly
enjoyed the section about soil and the ways in which chemicals penetrate soil
and cause damages to biomes that have soil.
Although it’s short, I struggled to complete the short
excerpt from Silent Spring (1962) because it’s quite dark—especially when
I considered that this work was originally published in the early 60s and people
haven’t moved away from using synthetics. Instead, people use so many products
full of synthetic chemicals without giving much thought to the consequences to
nature or themselves.
I highly recommend this work to anyone interested in learning about pesticides/insecticides, the environment, biology or social justice. I feel that reading this alongside nonfiction titles such as, “There’s Lead in Your Lipstick” and "Slow Death by Rubber Duck," the play entitled, "Heroes and Saints" or the short story collection, "Nothing is at it Was" (edited by Amanda Saint) would be especially beneficial.
"Indeed, the term 'biocide' would be more appropriate than insecticide'" (LOC 70).
Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for providing me
with an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review!
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