瑞秋卡森

的生活 & 遗产

瑞秋卡森 was many things: a scientist, an author, an environmentalist, a pioneer, a student. A graduate of Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University), she advocated for justice for the environment 和 changed the shape of the world forever.

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, 冬去春来.

瑞秋卡森

早年

瑞秋卡森 was born in 1907 in Springdale, PA, just 25 minutes from Chatham University. 作为一个孩子, she spent much of her time exploring around her family's farm 和 this began her interest in the natural world around her. She was an avid reader as well as an adventurer, she began writing stories at age eight 和 had her first story published at age ten. She graduated from her high school in New Kensington, PA at the top of her class in 1925 和 then went on to attend Pennsylvania College for Women (Chatham University) in the fall of 1925.

Photo of 瑞秋卡森, in black 和 white, looking through a microscope

在查塔姆播种

At PCW, Rachel participated in field hockey 和 basketball, wrote for 箭头和 的Englicode, the student newspaper 和 literary supplement. 本来是英语专业的, Rachel planned on being an author after graduation, but after taking a biology course her sophomore year 和 falling in love with the subject, she changed her major to biology. 她的教授, 玛丽·斯科特·斯金克, became her mentor 和 encouraged Rachel throughout her schooling 和 career. Rachel went on to excel in her science courses 和 graduated in 1929 having impacted 和 been impacted by PCW. At the time, neither Rachel herself nor the college knew just how large her impact would be.

Photo of 瑞秋卡森, in black 和 white, looking through binoculars

Speaking Out for the Environment

毕业后, Rachel went on to earn her master’s in Zoology from Johns Hopkins University in 1932. She then began to work for the public education department of the Bureau of Fisheries writing pamphlets on conservation 和 natural resources. It was during this time that she discovered her love for the sea, her first major work, 海底, 出版于1937年. She then proceeded to write three books about the sea, 海风下, 我们周围的海洋, 海的边缘， 所有这些都是成功的.

寂静的春天

In 1962 her most famous 和 influential piece, 寂静的春天，已出版. A scathing exposé on the use of synthetic pesticides in post-World War II America, 寂静的春天 立即成为畅销书. Rachel was attacked by the chemical industry as an alarmist for the book, but she continued to speak out about the dangers the chemicals presented. She went on to testify before Congress in 1963 和 call for new policies to protect human health 和 the environment. She died the very next spring in 1964 of breast cancer, leaving the world profoundly impacted by the work she had done.

运动

瑞秋卡森’s powerful words promoted a new way of thinking—one where humanity is not the center of life on earth, 而是自然的一部分. 寂静的春天 helped form the environmental movement that began in the 1960s which later went on to make the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. She inspired the world to care for 和 to preserve the place we all call home.

Chatham University's Eden Hall campus amphitheater with rows of built-in shelves sits at the bottom of a hill looking up to a white dairy barn with a solar panel roof.

遗留

Not only did Rachel's life cause change worldwide, but it changed the shape of Chatham University forever. Her inspiration guided Chatham to the creation of 伊甸堂校园, her work has also served as a catalyst for the Falk School of 可持续性 & 环境的 commitment to advancing sustainability education, implementation, research. 就像90年前的瑞秋, our students graduate conscientious of the world around them 和 ready to change it for the better.

瑞秋卡森

Close-up black 和 white photo of Rachel Caron's h和s operating a microscope

One of TIME's 100 Persons of The Century

Along with physicist Albert Einstein, 精神分析学家西格蒙德·弗洛伊德, visionary aviators the Wright Brothers, 瑞秋卡森 was named as one of 《足球波胆平台》杂志 顶尖的科学家 & 思想家 at the close of the 20th century.