Free Study Guide for Silent Spring by Rachel Carson - Book Summary

BOOK NOTES / REVIEW

CHAPTER 17 - The Other Road

Summary

As a society, we have two answers to the problem of insect control. The first, chemical poisons, has proven already to be costly, ineffective, and extremely, lastingly dangerous. The second, biological controls, has proven already to be cheap, effective, and safe for humans and non-pest animals and insects. The use of biological controls works with the rules of nature instead of against them. It leaves intact the natural predators of the targeted insect and doesn’t harm the rest of the environment of the targeted insect. There is an extraordinary variety of alternatives to chemical control. Some have already proven successful and others look very promising in prospect.

The use of biological control of insects began in the U.S. more than a hundred years ago. It proved successful then. However, when chemical insecticides hit the market, everyone wanted to try them out and they turned their backs on the successful biological controls of the past. Their shortsighted and unconsidered goal was to make an insect-free world, not realizing how much nature relies on insects. Finally, it has become obvious that insecticides are dangerous in multiple ways, and that, moreover, they don’t work in the long term.

One of the most successful of the new studies has been in the sterilization of insects. Dr. Edward Knipling, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Entomology Research Branch, pioneered this method. Early on, his ideas were not taken seriously. He proposed that sterilized insects be........

Notes

In her last chapter, Carson dwells on the positive answer to the problem of pest insects. She has spent the majority of the book showing the harmful effects of insecticides, pesticides, and fungicides; here she shows the promising research and its successful results in using biological methods to control insects. As in her earlier chapters, she provides a variety of examples from a variety of locations in order to demonstrate the extent of applicability of........

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Silent Spring Study Guide - Free BookNotes Summary

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