By James McWilliams Interesting history of the battle against insects. I haven't really thought much about the amount of damage they can do to agriculture. Except for the famous story of the locusts invading the Utah crops and the miraculous delivery by the gulls. McWilliams traces the role of entomologists in the attempts to control, and then later to exterminate, insects. Early on, in the 1800's, control strategies were focused on biological control (finding natural predators) and local strategies, delivered from the ground up by the farmer. Later, starting in the early 1900's, entomologists were more interested in global control delivered in the form of pesticides.
I skimmed a lot of this book. It seemed somewhat repetitive in parts. And the chronology was sometimes wacky. I liked the last chapter the best which focused on Rachel Carson and Silent Spring (thank you Dan for bringing her to my awareness!) and the way her work turned the public against DDT.
Coulda been a New Yorker article. Oh, and interested tidbit. Silent Spring was published in serial format in the New Yorker.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
American Pests: The Losing War on Insects from Colonial Times to DDT
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2 comments:
How come I did not know you have a blog? How are you doing? What are you up to? I just read a bunch of your old blogs - including the RS one. I wish you lived closer to me.
Hey Laura! I'm glad you found me. I haven't widely publicized my blog, just because I wanted to feel completely free to write whatever I wanted. It would be great to catch up with you. I am wondering how I will feel after the general RS meeting tomorrow night.
By the way, I haven't been able to read your blog since you went private. Could you give me access?
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