Email Interview with Mr. J.

Donald Hughes- February 6th, 2015

Interviewer: What made Rachel Carson so controversial in the
scientific world?
Hughes: The campaign to discredit Carson came mainly from the
chemical industry and allied interests because persistent pesticides were
very profitable. Her work was derived from scientific studies, and
when it was examined by scientists, they regarded it as well-based and
authentic. A few scientists demanded more definite proof, and this is
what scientists are expected to do.
Interviewer: Before Rachel Carson, what was the role of DDT in the
American household?
Hughes: It had been used widely in World War II to kill diseasecarrying invertebrates, and when it became available to civilians after
the war, it was regarded as a cure-all against insects. People scattered it
around the house to kill ants and cockroaches, dusted it to kill fleas, and
city health departments sprayed it in urban alleys to kill flies. It was
believed to be harmless to humans. This all changed as evidence
emerged over the next decade (1950-60) that it is harmful to humans
and that insects evolve resistance to it.
Interviewer: How did Rachel Carson impact the environmental
movement? Did it begin because of her work?
Hughes: The movement was called conservation in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth century. It included preservationists and
wilderness defenders such as John Muir, and progressive
conservationists led by Theodore Roosevelt and his head of the Forest
Service, Gifford Pinchot. Much good conservation legislation was
enacted under the Franklin Roosevelt New Deal even before the war.
Rachel Carson deserves credit for providing a new impetus for the
movement during the period when ecology and environment
became household words.

Interviewer: Would the impacts of Rachel Carsons work have been

different had she been a male scientist?
Hughes: Difficult to say. Those who tried to discredit her may have
used gender prejudice to belittle her work, but there were many
supporters who were sympathetic to feminism and the growing
womens rights movement. Women were already important in
medicine and the social sciences, and in the natural sciences Rosalind
Franklin had recently made the discovery possible of the double-helix
structure of the DNA molecule. Dont forget Marie Curie.
Interviewer: What was the impact of President Kennedys report on
pesticides?
Hughes: The completion and release of the report were stimulated by
Carsons work, and the report vindicated her scientific accuracy. The
report was highly influential in the limitation and eventual prohibition
of DDT and other persistent pesticides in the US in 1972.
Unfortunately, the report had not been easily available.
Interviewer: Today, how are environmentalist groups continuing
Rachel Carson's legacy?
Hughes: One very important example is the Rachel Carson Center in
Munich, Germany, which sponsors many projects around the world. Its
head is Christoph Mauch. It would be good for you to look at their
website.
Interviewer: How was Carson considered a leader in the
environmental movement?
Hughes: Many people believe that the publication of Silent Spring in
1962 marks a watershed in the transformation from conservationism to
environmentalism. She provided the spark for greatly increased
public concern and legislation. She could not lead the movement for

long because of her lamentable early death, but she is widely known,
still read, and serves as a continuing inspiration.