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Article ID: CBB150498415

Pesticides, Pollution and the UK's Silent Spring, 1963–1964: Poison in the Garden of England (2017)

Notes and Records: The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science
Volume: 71
Issue: 3
Pages: 297-327
Publication date: 2017
Language: English

URI: http://rsnr.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/71/3/297

DOI: 10.1098/rsnr.2016.0040

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Poisoning Water pollution Air pollution Environmental pollution Pollution Pesticides; insecticides 20th century Great Britain

Despite being characterized as ‘one of the worst agricultural accidents in Britain in the 1960s’, the ‘Smarden incident’ has never been subjected to a complete historical analysis. In 1963, a toxic waste spill in Kent coincided with the publication of the British edition of Rachel Carson's Silent spring. This essay argues that these events combined to ‘galvanize’ nascent toxic and environmental consciousness. A seemingly parochial toxic waste incident became part of a national phenomenon. The Smarden incident was considered to be indicative of the toxic hazards that were born of technocracy. It highlighted the inadequacies of existent concepts and practices for dealing with such hazards. As such, it was part of the fracturing of the consensus of progress: it made disagreements in expertise publicly visible. By the completion of the episode, 10 different governmental ministries were involved. Douglas Good, a local veterinary surgeon, helped to effect the ‘reception’ of Silent spring in the UK by telling the ‘Smarden story’ through local and national media and through the publications of anti-statist organizations.

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