--- description: Rachel Carson is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Rachel Carson: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt728578df1b413f58/698a0aee22fb85add8e2aab3/social-1963_Rachel-Carson.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 1963: Rachel Carson Mar 5, 2020 11:37 AM CUT  Alfred Eisenstaedt––Getty by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:37 AM CUT There was a time when a book could change the world. Biologist and writer Rachel Carson’s early works about the ocean were besotted with life. But her fourth book, [_Silent Spring_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0618249060/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0618249060&linkId=ece16197034c540d3d904c43823c9f69 "undefined")_,_ was a searing indictment of synthetic ­pesticides—grim nerve agents for insects like DDT that she called “elixirs of death.” Published in September 1962, it likened the danger from pesticides to the threat from nuclear-weapons testing. Chemicals “are the sinister and little-recognized partners of radiation in changing the very nature of the world—the very nature of its life,” Carson told the nation in April 1963, in a CBS Reports television documentary. An investigation President Kennedy had ordered soon confirmed Carson’s claims. As an editor for the Fish and Wildlife Service, Carson had lived a quiet life with her adopted son, her mother and a few cats. By the time of her death from breast cancer in 1964, at 56, she had set in [motion a movement that produced Earth Day](https://time.com/5669038/women-climate-change-leaders/ "undefined"), the [Environmental Protection Agency](https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/rachel-carson "undefined"), a domestic ban on DDT and a transformation of how Americans see the world they inhabit. _—William Souder_ _Souder is the author of_ [On a Farther Shore: The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307462218/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0307462218&linkId=41120ff7f570225baa4237b0b15a72f9 "undefined") --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5793611/rachel-carson-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5793611/rachel-carson-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"1963: Rachel Carson","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:37:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:21:07.351Z","description":"Rachel Carson is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5793611/rachel-carson-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year","Women of the Year - Tech/Athletes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt728578df1b413f58/698a0aee22fb85add8e2aab3/social-1963_Rachel-Carson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt728578df1b413f58/698a0aee22fb85add8e2aab3/social-1963_Rachel-Carson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 1963_Rachel-Carson","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5793611/rachel-carson-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"1963: Rachel Carson"}}]}] ```