¶ … Sea around Us Rachel Carson was a scientist and author who took a topic which had hitherto been only of interest to fellow scientists and opened it up to the masses. During her lifetime, she took up many causes in support of wildlife and the protection of species and protecting the natural landscape from potential molestation from developers and others who would destroy indigenous habitats. Among her many missions was to make people aware of the hazards of certain chemicals on the environment, such as pesticides on vegetation. In Rachel Carson's book The Sea around Us, the author strives to explain the mysteries of the sea. She begins with a discussion of the world of water from before recorded history, all the way up to the book's present which was the early 1950s. Her essential thesis of the piece is that although science has allowed the people of the world to understand quite a few things about the world beneath the waves, there are still and infinite numbers of things which people still have no clue about. This is the way that things should always be as there should hopefully always be some mystery about the sea. The other part of the book discusses how there is a beauty of the sea and that beauty is magnified and multiplied by the fact that there are so many unknowable things. By writing this text, not only did she intend to educate a larger group about a...

Rachel Carson also wanted to ensure that the world at large understood that there were potential dangers involved if this majestic underwater world is compromised by the pollutions of the population.
After The Sea around Us was released, it received widespread, even universal acclaim, singlehandedly turning the idea of marine biology into something that interested more than just those already involved in the science. The praise that was heaped upon the book was immeasurable and the awards and rewards that Carson received upon its publication are a testament both to the quality of the text and to its importance both in the cultural moment of its publication and even in the present moment. It became a nonfiction best seller both in the United States and around the world. Also, Carson's text received the National Book Award for Non-fiction (Water 1). The Sea around Us also was given the ultimate every-person reward when it was selected as a Book of the Month for Reader's Digest magazine. The magazine in turn sent a condensed version to Americans all over the country, from the shores to the heartland where many people would never have even seen the ocean world that Rachel Carson talks about in the text.

Since its publication, Rachel Carson's book has led to the progression of investigation…