Rachel Carson: Biography

Born May 27, 1907, in Springdale, PA, Rachel Louise Carson got an early start on becoming the woman who is credited with sparking the environmental movement in the United States.

She inherited her mother's deep appreciation of nature and dreamed of being a writer from an early age. Although she had her heart set on pursuing an English major when she entered Pennsylvania College for Women, she switched to studying science after a required course in biology appealed to her love of nature. Following her graduation in 1929, Carson spent the summer at Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratories in Massachusetts. She received a scholarship to continue her studies at Johns Hopkins University, earning a master's degree in zoology in 1932.

Upon finishing her higher education, Carson taught university courses until 1936. Her decision to take a civil service test, becoming the first woman to take and pass this test, led to a job writing radio scripts for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. This job turned into a 15-year government career as scientist and writer at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, where she ultimately rose to the position of editor-in-chief for all its publications.

Throughout her years with the government, Carson used her free time to write a series of books about the sea. Her first, Under the Sea Wind, was published in 1941. It was followed in 1951 by The Sea Around Us, and in 1955 by the final book in the series, The Edge of the Sea. These books Carson won much acclaim and gave her the financial stability she needed to retire from her government position (in 1952) and concentrate on her writing. The series of books showcased Carson's talent for intertwining her appreciation of nature with descriptions of the destructive effects of man on the environment. She gained fame as a scientist and a writer who could express scientific knowledge to laypeople in a coherent and lyrical style.

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