Contribution of rachel carson about elixirs of death - Research Paper Example

Malaria was a big killer and millions died of it. Swiss scientist Paul Hermann Muller was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1948 for the discovery and use of DDT. Excess of anything is counterproductive. In the case of excessive DDT it was death threatening to both human and animal lives. Its use was banned in the United States in 1972. By 1969, WHO abandoned the eradication efforts of mosquitoes with the use of DDT (Kirsten Weir). Rachel Carson was not the only person responsible for the eradication of DDT.

There were several other factors that played vital roles in varying degrees in putting a stop to the use of DDT. In the 1950s, there were various lawsuits by ornithologists, book keepers and concerned citizens who sought court’s injunctions to end DDT spraying. It took quite a while for the courts and the government to act and stop the use of DDT. However, the role of Rachel Carson became the rallying point for the pro and anti DDT users for bouquets and brickbats. Her strategy of writing on a hitherto debatable subject evoked strong emotions on the professional as well as the layman’s side.

Even the scientists who did not share her views admired her qualities of penmanship. Actually, DDT was one of the subjects Rachel touched upon in her book Silent Spring. Had she lived longer she would have been pleasantly surprised by the reactions and decisions the booked evoked. Oklahoma Republican Senator Tom Coburn squarely blamed Rachel for the ban on DDT and its supposed disastrous effect on the millions of deaths due to malaria around the globe. Novelist Michael Crichton teamed with Coburn and sounded out the damages accrued due to the ban on DDT in his novel State of Fear (Kirsten Weir).

However, the authorities in the judiciary and the government did not wait to check on science’s veracity about the harmlessness of DDT and some other