185. RACHEL CARSON: Wonder and excitement
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Rachel Carson (1907-1964) was a scientist, ecologist and writer who helped start the environmentalism movement with her book Silent Spring, published in 1962.
Inspired to appreciate the natural world by her mother, Carson also loved writing as a child. She first studied English at college but switched to Biology, earning her Masters in Zoology. Carson settled for a job at the US Fish and Wildlife service to help support her family where she analysed data, wrote radio scripts and pamphlets. Being a kick-ass writer, one of Carson’s essays she wrote for work was deemed too good for a government brochure and was instead submitted and accepted by Atlantic Monthly magazine. Over the years, Carson continued to combine her love for writing and science with her articles appearing in magazines including Science Digest and The New Yorker.
In 1951, Carson’s book The Sea Around Us was published to critical and commercial success and finally allowed her to leave the Fish and Wildlife service to become a full-time writer. She wrote another two best-selling books on the ocean, Under the Sea-Wind and The Edge of the Sea, before writing the game-changing Silent Spring. The book alerted the world to the harmful impact of chemical pesticides and caused a storm of controversy. Although gaining a legion of fans, the book also saw a large pushback from the pesticide manufacturers who claimed the book was nonsense. The controversy caused then-president JFK to set up a committee to investigate pesticides with the findings eventually agreeing with Carson’s claims. During the committee, a senator said of Silent Spring: “Every once in a while in the history of mankind, a book has appeared which has substantially altered the course of history.” In 2012, the book was added to the list of American National Historic Chemical Landmarks, recognising landmark achievements in the history of chemistry.
The following quote is taken from Silent Spring, which was written over 50 years ago and is quite depressing that it still applies today:
“We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost’s familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road — the one less traveled by — offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth.”
The quote used in the comic is taken from The Sense of Wonder, Carson’s essay on how to nurture a child’s love of nature. Carson writes about her own experiences with her nephew – their strolls on the beach in search of ghost crabs, long walks in the woods looking for foxes or Christmas trees – and in the process shares her philosophy about instilling a love of nature in a child.
RELATED COMICS
Carl Sagan Pale Blue Dot. Richard Feynman The Beauty of a Flower. Isaac Asimov A Lifetime of Learning.
FURTHER READING
– Official Rachel Carson website.
– How Silent Spring Ignited the Environmental Movement by The New York Times.
– Rachel Carson Didn’t Kill Millions of Africans by Slate.
Discussion (105) ¬
Gav,
I am so glad you did a post on climate change.
I know you are on a book tour and was going to come to Phoenix to ask you about a possible comic on it. So glad you did this one.
May I email you about the epidemic of fast fashion – workers exploited, chemicals dumped into rivers and people treating clothing as disposable ? It would be great to have some awareness on how a 5$ tshirt comes into being and why its so cheap.
– Archana.
This is such a relatable comic for a person like me who is trying to cope with ‘adulting’. It’s also a sign I needed during a very dreary work week.
Thank You Gavin, your comics always find me just when I need them 🙂
Thank you for being not just an artist, but an inspirational one.
Beautifully crafted, Gavin.
The way in which you use scrolling to punctuate the emotional impact of your images is masterful. I don’t know of anyone else using the experience of website browsing to the benefit of comics as well as you. I love the way we fall with your character from a dream world into reality. The effect is awesome.
And one last note, that last panel may be my favorite of yours yet. I would love one day to know how you created it.
Thanks for providing another perfect moment.
I was flipping through the channels one night and came across a wildlife documentary. Cute baby sea turtles were hatching and I thought it was adorable and was just the relaxing thing I needed to see to help me sleep… then in comes the seagulls swooping them up and crabs in the sand pulling them under D:
I am SO glad that didn’t happen in your comic xP.
Great work and I can’t wait to see you in Berkeley!
Is the text highlighting of the “Society of Marine Biology and Conservation” a subtle nod to SMBC?
I wondered that too… 🙂
Seemed like it… 🙂
another great work,
thank you Gav
all the best from Israel
Rachel Carson hails from my neck of the woods – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the USA – so this quote is particularly poignant for me. So much of the great outdoor trails around this area which have been developed recently are a tribute to her work in environmental advocacy. Thanks for doing this quote, it’s really fantastic.
Wow. Thank you, Gav! That was truly great! It brought a tear to my eyes.
I will share this with my friends!
Take care!
Chris
As a young man who is currently studying Environmental Science this comic definitely inspired me and almost brought me to tears. Although I never had a relative that inspired me about the natural world my current university lecturers are brilliant in demonstrating the chaos and beauty of the natural world. Thanks Gavin this definitely made my day.
Yup. Couldn’t have said it better myself…
Fantastic. As the dad of two young girls, this hits home. Every little thing is amazing and new to them. It’s just hard to focus on with work, bills, and all the other crap that life throws at us. I don’t want to disillusion my kids when the world will do that quickly enough!
The bracelet, Gavin, the bracelet! :’)
Wow! You have an eye for detail. 🙂
This is wonderful! I am a marine science graduate student – which I love, and have been working toward, and am happy to be… and is sometimes tiring and challenging! This is a wonderful reminder of the love that fuels the drive – I’ve just reposted this link to my grad student community!
Like! … That! 🙂
I just love your stuff.
And it touches me every single time. By the end of your drawings you have reached my heart.
They are amazing and inspiring and have so much good in them.
Thank you for sharing your gifts with the world.
This might be my favourite one yet Gavin!
I have a diploma in Biotechnology, if I hadn’t gone into art/marketing, I think I would have tried to go into marine biology.
I also made a comic with turtles at the end, and so many people have been telling me that they love the fact that I put them in.
ps: Congrats on the new book!
I was checking my mail, when I saw your new comics. My eight year old daughter was sitting next to me, she doesn’t speak English (we speak Hebrew and French), but just by looking at the first picture of the comics, she went to my bookshelves, picked your dearest “Zen pencils” book and started to browse it; I was pleased and content to see that she picked on your “graphic style” and recognized right away to whom this drawing belongs. I was happy to see that, yeh, children learn from their parents, they mimic us and understand way more that we may think. She’s now sound asleep but your book rests on the bed.
HI, Gavin,
Thank you for a peaceful rendition of wisdom. For me, your drawings are brilliant but there has been too much “superhero” violence. I’ve begun to shy away from your work because of it. This is a nice change of pace. I bought your first book. Skipped the second for the reason stated. It’s not to say that violence to overcome adversity is not the answer sometimes. Just a personal preference.
One of the reasons I love your site, Gav, is that wisdom and learning is always right around the corner.
Spectacular Gavin. This comic feels like an artistic breakthough. Congratulations!
What a beautiful representation of how we can form influential experiences for children, and inspire an environmental passion by exploring nature. Definitely inspiring for all outreach leaders and teachers! I would love to purchase a poster and hope it becomes available at some point.
right on; but since the Author quoted uses “he” and “his” throughout… and you stay true to THAT… couldn’t you just draw the kid as a boy?
(lol overcompensating sexism)
I never thought I’d find stupid comments like this on a site like Zen Pencils too. The comic is about the author, who is a woman. Does it hurt to see women in a non sexual, good way?
Often when authors want to remain gender neutral he an his are used, especially during the time frame when this was written.
Check out that final large panel!! BEAUTIFUL!!
(by the way Gavin, just booked my tickets for your talk in Sydney next month. it happens to be taking place on my birthday 😉 I’m pretty stoked!
Please make this into a poster – it is one of my favorite quotes by Rachel Carson.. I am an environmental educator and my role is to be the excitement that spurs that sense of wonder. That adult that she speaks of. This made me tear up – please, could you let me know if it becomes available for purchase? I would love to have it on my wall.
Thanks for making amazing art!
Great stuff like always dude. I was wondering. What’s a good book, video, etc. on color theory? I dig your colors.
very inspirational work.
Thank you, Gavin, for such a beautiful comic. Your work never fails to inspire me, make me cry, and just feel grateful that you share your gift with us.
This is great! Thank you. Says so much. Nature, education, climate change. WOW!
The wait was worth it, this long comic with different styles and a passage of time to see the end result added so much. Keep up the great work!
Oh man…the first part of this comic reminds me of when I was in grade school…every once in a rare while Mom would wake me up waaay before I needed to get up for school, still pitch-black and everything, saying she had a surprise for me….it would always turn out to be the first magical snowfall of the year.
Beautiful work Gavin! Loved the SMBC highlight too! 🙂
Great one, I am hoping that the adult turtle the woman meets on the boat is the grown up version of the baby which peeped out of the sand.
I even checked for any facial markings 🙂
One kind of way to inspire others. I’m blessed by your work! Thaanks
Any chance this will be made into a poster? 🙂
Brilliant way to highlight the environmental crisis. Glad you’ve drawn attention to Rachel Carson and her seminal work! Now the non-environment folks around the world can also know 🙂
Fully agree on the need for atleast one adult to constantly feed a child’s wonder… often influences the direction the child’s future takes.
Thank you and keep illustrating !
-Rhea
Hi Gavin. We don’t have children. But we are adoptive parents to a number of orphaned elephants and a blind rhino in Kenya c/o the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. A couple years ago we gifted elephant adoptions to all our nieces and nephews and the children of some friends in the hope of raising awareness in the younger generation of our own circle. We can only claim success for six out of 16 … But it’s a great feeling all the same and we are very grateful to have passed on our love for creatures big and small to the young ones …
Truly a masterpiece!
This is a beautiful comicstrip, as always. I concur with the commentator above: Great use of website scrolling. And I LOVE that the daughter is wearing her mother’s bracelet as an adult. It’s little details like this that make your comics ever so special – you can tell how much attention and love you put into every one of them. Good work, Gavin. 🙂
AWSOME. I LIKE IT
SUPERB
“Don’t teach men how to build a boat. Teach them to yearn for the wide and open sea.” Antoine Saint Exupery
This is wonderful! Very inspirational and thought provoking! 🙂
I see at least three different scientists with the name Cecilia Cruz. Does this comic refer to one of them? Or pure coincidence?
Hi Gav, lovely post.
Just came across an old poem from my school days over a decade and a half ago. Would request you to have a look at it and convert it into a comic if you deem it worthy.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173698
Keep up the inspirational work!
Danke.
Fantastic work again Gavin!
I think I should also work hard for my own website like I see some good and updated working in your site. Get sound proof flooring for home from http://soundproofingco.co.uk/sound-proofing/rubber-sound-proofing.html
Shame, shame on you for spamming this site “Jimmi.” I have copied your website and am sending it to whomever I can with pleas to NOT USE YOUR SERVICE. I am a housing and construction contractor in the UK, and will spread the word that you are disreputable. Hope it was worth it.
I love that you did this comic. I feel that such parent-child relationships are quickly dwindling.
Always wonderful work, Gav. And I’m linking to a gorgeous yet heart-breaking essay by Jay Griffiths reflecting on Rachel Carson’s work. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/sep/25/silence-rachel-carson-spring
I just wrote a story partly inspired by Griffiths’s lines, “whales, which mew and caw in ultramarine jazz – a true rhapsody in blue – are hunted to the edge of silence.”
Hi Gavin!
I just read that you are going to be at the Delhi Comic Con, please make sure to visit Mumbai too, PLEASE!
I work at a preschool and we’ve been having a very stressful few weeks. I shared this comic with the teachers I work with and they were very moved. It reminded all of us that we nurturing a sense of wonder in small children can have a huge impact on the future. Thank you for illustrating this so beautifully and inspiring us.
I was feeling quite low today. So thought it was a high time to see and read a comic from you. Thank you Gavin. 🙂
Any chance I could get this as a poster shipped to Canada before Christmas?
I am a teacher and this made me cry. <3
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Any way to do one of the following?
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I am, again, crying at work. You captured my life in this one, Gav.
Nice material, many thanks to author from this. It is in comprehensive to me at this time, but in broad, the advantages and magnitude is complicated. Thanks repeatedly and all the best ..
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And one last note, that last panel may be my favorite of yours yet. I would love one day to know how you created it.
hahah love it, well done
I like it, thanks article!!
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Amazing work from you once again. You’ve shown us again why you are the top writer in this industry right now. You have a lot of talent and you certainly are using that the right way.
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Children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power, which no subsequent connections can supply..
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Thank you Gavin for your “RACHEL CARSON: Wonder and excitement” comic post
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