The Rachel Carson Letters and the Making of Silent Spring

Environment, conservation, green, and kindred movements look back to Rachel Carson’s 1962 book Silent Spring as a milestone. The impact of the book, including on government, industry, and civil society, was immediate and substantial, and has been extensively described; however, the provenance of the book has been less thoroughly examined. Using Carson’s personal correspondence, this paper reveals that the primary source for Carson’s book was the extensive evidence and contacts compiled by two biodynamic farmers, Marjorie Spock and Mary T. Richards, of Long Island, New York. Their evidence was compiled for a suite of legal actions (1957-1960) against the U.S. Government and that contested the aerial spraying of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). During Rudolf Steiner’s lifetime, Spock and Richards both studied at Steiner’s Goetheanum, the headquarters of Anthroposophy, located in Dornach, Switzerland. Spock and Richards were prominent U.S. anthroposophists, and established a biodynamic farm under the tutelage of the leading biodynamics exponent of the time, Dr. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer. When their property was under threat from a government program of DDT spraying, they brought their case, eventually lost it, in the process spent US$100,000, and compiled the evidence that they then shared with Carson, who used it, and their extensive contacts and the trial transcripts, as the primary input for Silent Spring. Carson attributed to Spock, Richards, and Pfeiffer, no credit whatsoever in her book. As a consequence, the organics movement has not received the recognition, that is its due, as the primary impulse for Silent Spring, and it is, itself, unaware of this provenance

Christopher Lasch's the culture of narcissism the failure of a critique of psychological politics

Christopher Lasch's bestseller The Culture of Narcissism had, beyond doubt, a significant impact-it was even read in the White House. Today it is not only still frequently taught and referenced, there are also still empirical studies conducted which try to verify Lasch's assertion of the preponderance of the narcissistic personality. This paper re-reads the book as a critique of psychologization processes, and this allows us to discern, besides the flaws in Lasch's approach, a fundamental insight which goes largely unnoticed by both Lasch's opponents and his proponents. Following this, the article will situate subjectivity within the matrix of psychology, science, psychoanalysis, and politics. In this way a critique of contemporary forms of psychologization-psychologization under globalization, as it were-is made possible

Evaluation of a low powered 3-cm radar for quantitative rainfall measurements

Includes bibliographical references.Enumeration continues through succeeding title

Reaction of preschool children to the birth of a sibling

The experience of becoming and having a sibling is a common situation for many preschool children. In order to clarify the implications of such an event for the older preschool child, the authors have surveyed the literature and interviewed a series of families where there was a second or third birth. This is a preliminary communication where a broad overview of the many variables involved is sought. Varied techniques for preparing the older preschool sibling were observed, as were varied coping mechanisms employed by the older child in adjusting to the change in his family status. Fourteen variables are discussed, and suggestions are made for further research.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43963/1/10578_2005_Article_BF01441311.pd

Evaluation of a Low-powered 3-cm Radar for Quantitative Rainfall Measurements

published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewedOpe