Silent Spring Characters

An American environmentalist whose writings urged a return to ancient relationship to the natural world. He was an influential figure in the development of the deep ecology movement.

An early pioneer in occupational medicine, he researched the effects of environmental agents on the development of cancer.

A German chemist who specialized in developing new insecticides to increase production and decrease hunger in the world. His discoveries also led to the development of nerve gas used as a weapon in World War II.

A professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who testified before a congressional committee on the unknown composite effects of chemicals mingled together in streams.

An infamous dynastic family from the Italian Renaissance, many of whom became Popes, and who were widely believed to have engaged in poisoning to combat rival families.

A Supreme Court Justice who holds the record for the longest term in history at nearly 37 years. He was a lifelong advocate for environmental issues and wrote a glowing review of Carson’s book upon its publication.

A graduate student at Michigan State University who, along with his adviser Professor George Wallace, documented the effects of spraying for Dutch elm disease on robin populations on campus.

The curator of Birds at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

A retired banker from Winnipeg who achieved ornithological fame after banding more than 1,000 eagles on the coast of Florida from 1939-49.

A researcher for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service whose work with DDT predicted the chemical’s impact on the fertility of eggs of birds exposed to it.

A member of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries.

A world-famous ornithologist who sought an injunction against DDT spraying on Long Island in 1957.

A veterinarian from Bainbridge, Georgia who voiced concerns during the massive insecticide campaign against fire ants in the American South.

The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is a federal agency tasked with overseeing the safety of food; they have jurisdiction over goods that are trafficked via interstate commerce.

A chemist cited by Carson in relation to his research into energy production on a cellular level.

A physician in eighteenth century London who first proposed the link between environmental agents – soot, in the case of chimney sweeps – and cancer.

A doctor in the Hematology Department at the Mayo Clinic who reported links between blood disease and exposure to toxic chemicals, including DDT.

A German biochemist at the Max Planck Institute of Cell Physiology who studied cell oxidation and proposed one potential origin for cancer.

An English naturalist and geologist from the nineteenth century whose theories of evolution and natural selection, proposed in his book On the Origin of Species, revolutionized our understanding of biology.

A British scientist specializing in the study of animal populations.

Director of the Plant Protection Service in Holland who urged that pesticides be used cautiously after observing that insect populations were growing increasingly resistant to the chemicals.

An iconic American writer whose poetry is often set in rural parts of the Northeast. Carson makes reference to his famous poem “The Road Not Taken.”

Chief of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Entomology Research Branch. He developed the male sterilization technique for pest control.

A scientist who Rachel Carson highlight as a pioneer of natural methods of pest control, as well as precisely applied, gentler chemical pesticides. He denounces indiscriminate spraying, describing it as a route to crisis after crisis.