Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 - April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist and conservationist whose writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement. Her widely praised book 'The Sea Around Us' was a bestseller in 1951. Her next book, The Edge of the Sea, and the republished version of her first book, 'Under the Sea Wind', were also bestsellers. In the late 1950s, Carson turned her attention to conservation and the environmental problems caused by synthetic pesticides. The result was 'Silent Spring' (1962), which brought environmental concerns to an unprecedented portion of the American public. Silent Spring, while met with fierce denial from chemical companies, spurred a reversal in national pesticide policy-leading to a nationwide ban on DDT and other pesticides-and the grassroots environmental movement the book inspired led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. Carson was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Jimmy Carter.