Dillon, Justin (author) and Teamey, Kelly (author)
Format:
Book chapter
Publication Date:
2002
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D08793
Notes:
Pages 143-162 in Dillon, Justin, Towards a convergence between science and environmental education: the selected works of Justin Dillon. United States: Routledge, New York City, New York, 2017. 361 pages.
18 pages., via online journal., This essay explores the different meanings of the 1960s’ pesticide controversy
as conveyed by the multiple representations of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring
(1962). I argue that to understand the impact of Carson’s work on a heterogeneous audience in the early ’60s, we must move beyond an examination
of the book, Silent Spring, to consider its other media manifestations, as a
serialization for The New Yorker and as a television expose for “CBS Reports.” ´
Each conveyed a unique message stylized for the audience of that particular
media. This analysis demonstrates the problems and opportunities for scholars
attempting to gauge the influence of a book on the public understanding of
science. This argument also suggests that to understand the transition of
environmentalism from a grass-roots movement to near universal consensus,
we need to examine carefully the role of media in shaping divergent messages
for different audiences—a phenomenon that assisted in transforming local
environmental issues into a matter of national concern.
