High-school students find new meaning in 1962 science-literature classic at UW program

Nine hundred students from 26 high schools in Wisconsin gathered on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus April 9 to complete an intensive study of Silent Spring, a 1962 classic of popular science literature that helped launch modern environmentalism later in the decade.

In Silent Spring, author and biologist Rachel Carson explored the health consequences of the exploding use of chemical insecticides, particularly DDT. Many credit the book for raising awareness of the impact of synthetic chemicals on the environment and human health, and setting the stage for major environmental laws such as the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Environmental Protection Agency, founded in 1970...