Quote:
Originally Posted by Gweiss96
I feel like Carson shouldn't have a field named after her....
Carson - alerted world about the impact of fertilizers/pesticides on environment
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I'm going to have to disagree strongly with you there. As Jaywalker said, Rachel Carson changed the world, especially for scientists and engineers. Before Silent Spring, few people gave any thought to the side effects and long-term impacts of the products they produced and consumed. The future was bright, and humans could do no wrong that they couldn't fix later
Carson's careful research, and effective publicity woke us all up to the fact that our environment commons did not have a limitless capacity to absorb our crap. The book created a movement that led to the first really strong environmental protection laws, but more importantly changed the way everyone thinks of their place in nature. There are tens of thousands of environmental scientists working in fields of study that didn't exist before the 70s. Engineers today have to consider a much broader context when introducing new products, and I think we're a better profession because of that.