What Is The Short-Term Effects Of The Atomic Bomb

After World War II brought many scientific achievements (most notable of which being the atomic bomb), Americans were fascinated with science and the potential of the scientific community to solve the problems that were plaguing the country. The scientific community was promoting a “save the world” complex, and the American people believed in the power of science. In the 1940s, the scientific community came up with a solution to a big problem. Malaria was common throughout third world countries, so DDT (Dichloro Diphenyl Trichloroethane, a powerful pesticide) was brought in to kill insects that carry the dangerous disease – as well as any other insects that are sprayed. In the process, a “crusade [began] to create a chemically sterile, insect-free world." DDT was sprayed over any and all crops that mosquitoes could be found on, which started leaking the harmful chemicals into the food supply. However, since testing was only done to determine the short-term effects of DDT, no one knew how dangerous the chemicals could be. The dangers of a bug-free world were also largely unknown as well, until Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring in 1962.
Silent Spring told a
By publishing, Carson brought the debate out of the scientific community and into the public eye, which meant she needed to work to convince the non-scholarly community of the danger their chemicals were putting themselves in. However, the influence of the media and chemical companies, along with the fact that the public had been using DDT as a pesticide for 12 years before Silent Spring was released, was working against Carson. The most difficult part of publication would be convincing the public to listen. To further complicate the matter, the public had a profound appreciation and admiration for science. “When the expert spoke, the postwar American listened,” and Carson, without a PhD or a university position, wasn’t always considered an