Mary Ellen Snodgrass - Rachel Carson: A Literary Companion

For the environmentalist, teacher, scientist, literary historian, reviewer, and feminist reader, Rachel Carson: A Literary Companion presents the themes and messages of a serious biologist endowed with reverence for life. The 107 alphabetically arranged topics cover her major essays and orations along with commentary on critical response and congressional testimony. Individual subjectsfish, waterfowl, land, eels, birds, whales, sea, mammals, wetlands, waterwayslocate insights into areas of nature that dominated her laboratory and field research.

Specific phenomenawind, temperature, tides, topography, fossilsidentify Rachels overview of the powers that shaped creation. ThemesWorld War II, carcinogens, sport hunting, endangered species, death, the futureinform readers of Rachels private thoughts, including fears for her own mortality. Additional entries view the authors interest in details, diction, literature, folklore, and history, especially her respect for the canon of English naturalist Charles Darwin. A detailed genealogy refutes notions that she lived the isolation and disengagement of a lone spinster rather than the high moral principles of her grandfather, Irish-American minister Daniel McLean.

Glossing specifies 198 terms and phrases that attest to Rachels expertise, as with these topical examples:

abbreviations Ce AEC, NAS, CCC, FIFRA, I, Sr

anatomy macerate, Krebiozen, metabolite, germ plasm, evisceration, enzyme, cortin, mesentery, coracoid process

chemical terms cobalt, radioiodine, polysaccharide, purpurin, radioisotope, hydrocarbon

descriptors adipose, atrophy, diurnal, ichthyological, obsolescence, sessile, vitreous, phosphorescence, serrate, viviparous, lenticular, crepuscular, commensal

fauna grilse, opercula, poult, radula, ambergris, brant, eyrie, guano, milt, crustacea, cochineal, foraminifera, capris, byssus, copepod, spelt

flora graminoid, stipe, phaeocystis, understory, chara, duff, rock tripe, lichen, inflorescence, holdfast, chlorophyll, glasswort, diatom, buck brush

history Laurentian Era, Cambrian Era, Silurian, trilobite, nummulites, Mohorovicic discontinuity, alchemy

scientific terms echogram, dynamometer, toxicology, mitosis, ultraviolet light, mitochondria, nanocurie, necrosis, protoplasms, mutagenic, synthesis, vector, sub stratospheric, symbiosis, phosphorylation, monograph, atomic fission, hydrophone, fallout, echogram, back siphonage

seafaring terms beam to the wind, dory, haul seine, neap tide, winch, cull, derrick, gunwales, lee, Tonger, fathom, brush weir

topographical terms zonda, fallow, humus, freshet, gneiss, ilmenite, marl, rutile, monadnock, tundra, Oyashio, redd, spindrift, moraine, foehn wind, continental margin, chinook, estuary, biosphere, convection

A glossary of terms found in Rachels work is provided in the first appendix; for discussion, research, and writing, the appendix A Guide to Writing, Art, and Research Topics suggests 17 ideas for glossing, speech topics, biographical and historical background, comparative literature, and education. A bibliography of primary and secondary sources, both print and electronic, precedes the index, which points readers to fundamental titles, issues, and cultural and scientific subjects, particularly presidents and congressional acts. The overall work explicates and honors Rachel Carson as an ethicist for all times.