In 1962, Rachel Carson, MS, published Silent Spring,1 a book detailing the negative impact of widespread persistent pesticide use on the environment. The book led to public awareness of the damaging effects of pesticides, and it ignited the movement that would ultimately lead to the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. The book’s title is a reference to pesticide-induced thinning of bird eggshells, leading to breakage, a reduction in bird populations, and the resulting loss of birdsong.