This virtual exhibition presents the global reception and impact of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring as well as the book’s legacy in popular culture, music, literature, and the arts.

This version 2, published in 2020, includes minor updates to the original 2012 virtual exhibition (view PDF here) and applies the Environment & Society Portal’s responsive layout.

Introduction
About the Exhibition
Further Reading
The Power of a Book
The US Government Responds
Industrial and Agricultural Interests Fight Back
Personal Attacks on Rachel Carson
Silent Spring on Television
Silent Spring in Popular Culture
Silent Spring, an International Best Seller
Silent Spring in Literature and the Arts
Legacy of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring
Europe's Response
This exhibition was created by Mark Stoll under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 (2020, 2012) license. This refers only to the text and does not include any image rights. For copyright information on the above images, please click here.

Stoll, Mark. “Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, a Book that Changed the World.” Environment & Society Portal, Virtual Exhibitions 2012, no. 1 [updated 6 February 2020]. Version 2.0. Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society. https://doi.org/10.5282/rcc/8842.

ISSN 2198-7696 Environment & Society Portal, Virtual Exhibitions

Download PDF - 5.87 MB
The Environment & Society Portal is a project of the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, a joint initiative of LMU Munich and the Deutsches Museum. The center is supported by a grant from the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research. Read more about the Portal in English and in German.