Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot. (Library of Congress)

Nature writer and marine biologist Rachel Carson set off a storm of controversy in 1962 with the publication of her book Silent Spring. In her exposé on the dangerous consequences of the indiscriminate use of pesticides, Carson questioned the benefits of the synthetic chemical DDT, condemned scientific conceit, chastised the chemical industry for pursuing dollars at the expense of nature, and chided agriculturists and government officials for polluting croplands and roadsides. Calling such behavior irresponsible, Carson suggested that if people were not careful, they would eventually destroy the natural world so completely that one day they would awaken in springtime to find no birds chirping, no chicks hatching, and a strange shadow of death everywhere.

Agriculturists and chemical officials scorned Carson's jeremiad and argued that she misrepresented the evidence, while conservationists such as Supreme Court Justice...