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In 1958, Rachel Carson received a letter describing songbirds suddenly dropping from tree branches.
1958年，蕾切尔·卡森收到了一封来信，信里描述了一群鸣鸟突然从树枝上跌落的情形。
The writer blamed their deaths on a pesticide called DDT that exterminators had sprayed on a nearby marsh.
写信人认为鸟儿的死因与一种叫滴滴涕（DDT）的杀虫剂有关，灭虫员将这种药喷洒在了附近的沼泽里。
The letter was the push Carson needed to investigate DDT.
正是这封信促使卡森展开了对滴滴涕的调查。
She had already heard from scientists and conservationists who were worried that rampant use of the pesticide posed a threat to fish, birds, and possibly humans.
她已经听闻，有科学家和环保主义者们担心滥用杀虫剂已经对鱼类、鸟类造成了伤害，还可能对人类健康造成威胁。
She began to make inquiries through government contacts from her years working in the United States Bureau of Fisheries.
她开始通过数年来在美国渔业局工作时所累积的政府人脉进行询查。
She asked: "what has already silenced the voices of spring?"
她很好奇：“究竟是什么东西使得春天之声沉寂下来了呢？”
In 1962, Carson published her findings in "Silent Spring."
1962年，卡森将她的发现出版在了《寂静的春天》中。
Her book documented the misuse of chemicals and their toll on nature and human health.
该书记载了化学物质的误用对自然界和人类健康造成的致命危害。
"Silent Spring" immediately drew both applause and impassioned dissent -- along with vicious personal attacks on the author.
《寂静的春天》一经面世便好评如潮，但同时也伴随着激烈的批判--包括对作者的恶毒人身攻击。
How did this mild-mannered biologist and writer ignite such controversy?
一位温和的生物学家兼作家为何激起了如此大的争议？
Carson began her career as a hardworking graduate student, balancing her studies in biology at John Hopkins University with part time jobs.
卡森的事业要从她勤恳的研究生时期说起，当时她一边在约翰·霍普金斯大学修读生物学，一边做着兼职。
Still, she had to leave school before completing her doctorate to provide for her ailing father and sister.
即便如此，她还是不得不在完成博士学业之前就辍学，去照顾生病的父亲和姐姐。
Carson found part time work with the Bureau of Fisheries writing for a radio program on marine biology.
卡森在渔业局找了一份兼职，负责为海洋生物广播节目撰稿。
Her ability to write materials that could hold the general public's attention impressed her superiors,
她的稿子深受大众欢迎，业务能力也因此受到了上级的赏识，
and in 1936, she became the second woman to be hired at the Bureau full time.
于是在1936年，她成为了渔业局招聘的第二名女性全职员工。
In 1941, she published the first of three books on the ocean, combining science with lyrical meditations on underwater worlds.
1941年，她出版了海洋三部曲中的第一本，书中结合科学与抒情沉思，描绘出了海底的世界。
These explorations resonated with a wide audience. In "Silent Spring," Carson turned her attention to the ways human actions threaten the balance of nature.
她的探索引来了广泛的回响。在《寂静的春天》中，卡森着重讨论了人类的行为对自然界平衡的威胁。
DDT was originally used during World War II to shield crops from insects and protect soldiers from insect-borne diseases.
二战期间，滴滴涕原本被用于保护庄稼不受虫害，并防止士兵患上虫媒传染病。
After the war, it was routinely sprayed in wide swaths to fight pests, often with unforeseen results.
战争结束后，人们日常将它喷洒在大片土地上灭虫，但往往会招致意外的后果。
One attempt to eradicate fire ants in the southern U.S. killed wildlife indiscriminately, but did little to eliminate the ants.
一次，人们试图用它消灭美国南部的火蚁，结果收效甚微，还误杀了大量野生动物。
In spite of this and other mishaps, the US Department of Agriculture and chemical companies extolled the benefits of DDT.
尽管发生了一次又一次的意外，美国农业部和化工企业仍然不懈地鼓吹着滴滴涕的优势。
There was little regulation or public awareness about its potential harm.
面对缺乏针对其潜在危害的管制措施，公众意识也相对薄弱的现状。
But Carson showed how the overuse of chemicals led to the evolution of resistant species -- which, in turn, encouraged the development of deadlier chemicals.
卡森揭示了化学物质的过量使用将导致物种产生抗药性--从而反过来促使企业研发更具杀伤力的杀虫剂。
Since DDT does not dissolve in water, she asserted that over time it would accumulate in the environment,
由于滴滴涕不溶于水，卡森断言，随着时间推移，化学物质将在环境中、
the bodies of insects, the tissues of animals who consume those insects, and eventually humans.
虫子的尸体中、以死虫为食的动物体内，最后，甚至在人体内不断地累积。
She suggested that exposure to DDT might alter the structure of genes, with unknown consequences for future generations.
她还推断滴滴涕可能改变基因结构，对生物体的后代造成无法预测的后果。
The response to "Silent Spring" was explosive. For many people the book was a call to regulate substances capable of catastrophic harm.
《寂静的春天》引发了爆炸性的社会反响。许多人认为这本书呼吁政府加强管制可能导致灾难性破坏的物质。
Others objected that Carson hadn't mentioned DDT's role controlling the threat insects posed to human health.
其他人则批判卡森对滴滴涕避免人体遭受虫害的功效闭口不言。
Former Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson demanded to know "why a spinster with no children was so concerned about genetics?"
前农业部部长埃兹拉·塔夫脱·本森则傲慢发问：“为何一个没有孩子的老处女对基因问题如此关切？”
A lawyer for a pesticide manufacturer alluded to Carson and her supporters as "sinister influences" aiming to paint businesses as "immoral."
一名杀虫剂制造商的代理律师暗指卡森和她的支持者们“用心险恶”，意图抹黑商业是“不道德的”。
In reality, Carson had focused on the dangers of chemicals because they weren't widely understood, while the merits were well publicized.
事实上，卡森着重强调了化学物质的危害，因为其好处已经广为人知，其弊端却鲜有人了解。
She rejected the prevailing belief that humans should and could control nature.
她反对社会上所流行的一种思想，即人类应该也有能力控制自然界。
Instead, she challenged people to cultivate "maturity and mastery, not of nature, but of ourselves."
相反，她建议大众“完善及掌控自我，而非大自然。”
Carson died of cancer in 1964, only two years after the publication of "Silent Spring." Her work galvanized a generation of environmental activists.
1964年，距《寂静的春天》出版仅仅过去两年，卡森不幸罹患癌症逝世。她的工作激励了一代环保活动家。
In 1969, under pressure from environmentalists, Congress passed the National Environmental Policy Act that required federal agencies to evaluate environmental impacts of their actions.
1969年，在环保主义者的施压下，国会通过了《国家环境政策法案》，要求联邦机构评估其行为对环境的影响。
To enforce the act, President Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency.
为了确保法案的执行，理查德·尼克松总统成立了美国国家环境保护局。
And in 1972, the EPA issued a partial ban on the use of DDT.
1972年，环保局宣布对滴滴涕有条件的禁用。
Long after her death, Rachel Carson continued to advocate for nature through the lingering impact of her writing.
尽管已逝世许久，蕾切尔·卡森仍继续通过其作品延绵不绝的影响力，为大自然保护发声。
