Google Doodle Celebrates Environmentalist Rachel Carson's 107th Birthday

Google has come up with a blue and white doodle to celebrate Rachel Carson's 107^th Birthday. Carson is best known for her book "Silent Spring" and her fight against pesticides.

If the world is debating on environmental issues and long-term effects of chemicals in food, then it's partly due to the efforts of Carson. The doodle shows her standing at the edge of a lake, holding a pair of binoculars and a notebook. The image also features several birds, fish and a turtle.

Born on May 27, 1907 in Springdale, Pennsylvania, Carson grew up to become a marine biologist and a prominent writer whose work paved way for the global environment movement.  

She was a science writer with the soul of a poet. The following quote from the New York Times best describes her work:

"Great poets from Homer down to Masefield have tried to evoke the deep mystery and endless fascination of the ocean. But the slender, gentle Miss Carson seems to have the best of it. Once or twice in a generation does the world get a physical scientist with literary genius; Miss Carson has written a classic in The Sea Around Us."

"The Sea Around Us," fetched her a National Book Award.

Her other notable books include "Under the Sea-wind" (1941) and "The Edge of the Sea", which was released in 1955. "Silent Spring," which was released in 1962, sparked the argument over pesticide-use in farmlands.  

Her attack on pesticides made her an enemy of the chemical industry. Carson's work was called as alarmist by pesticide manufacturers as well as some people in the government.

Several years after her death, DDT- a colorless organochloride - was banned in the U.S and some other places too. The chemical is still used in some developing countries to control mosquito populations.

Carson's fight against chemicals is considered to be the inspiration for the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency.

"There is no question," a government expert on natural resources said after her death, "that Silent Spring prompted the Federal Government to take action against water and air pollution - as well as against the misuse of pesticides - several years before it otherwise might have moved."

"She did her homework, she minded her English, and she cared," said David Browner, a conservationist, according to an article by EPA.

Carson died 1964 after a long battle against breast cancer.

Frank Graham Jr., author of "Since Silent Spring", has written a rather interesting account of Rachel Carson's life and work. Read it here.

In the past, Google has created several doodles to celebrate the women who dedicated their life to advance science and technology.

"Too often, the contributions of women in science and technology are left untold, and fade from view. We hope our Doodles will honour these remarkable women's lives and work and, in turn, inspire more women to enter the fields of science and technology," said a spokesman for Google, scmp reported.