Rachel Louise Carson (1907 – 1964) was a marine biologist who early in her scientific career demonstrated a flair for writing and, especially for showing in compelling and poetic language, the ways all of the elements of ecosystems were interdependent. She originally became concerned about the potential negative effects of pesticides in the 1940s, and her research on that topic led to the 1962 publication of Silent Spring.

The main point that Carson makes in this work is that pesticides such as DDT are not limited in their effects to a small number of species, but rather can have wide ranging negative effects throughout the ecosystem, especially through a process called bioaccumulation in which organisms cannot break down and excrete certain chemicals quickly enough to prevent their accumulation. This is especially the case in animals near the top of the food chain who consume insects or smaller animals causing bioaccumulation effects to increase significantly. Carson was specifically concerned with the toxic effects of DDT on birds.

She also pointed out that small, fast-reproducing organisms such as insects quickly develop pesticide resistance. Thus she argued that it was important to minimize the use of pesticides so that they could be saved for emergencies (such as outbreaks of insect-born diseases) and develop other methods of pest control in agriculture.