What book facilitated the ban of the pesticide DDT in 1972 in the U.S.?

"Silent Spring" is an environmental science book by Rachel Carson. The book was published on 27 September 1962 and it documented the detrimental effects on the environment of the indiscriminate use of pesticides. Carson accused the chemical industry of spreading disinformation and public officials of accepting industry claims unquestioningly.

In the late 1950s, Carson turned her attention to conservation, especially environmental problems that she believed were caused by synthetic pesticides. The result was "Silent Spring" (1962), which brought environmental concerns to the American public. "Silent Spring" was met with fierce opposition by chemical companies, but it spurred a reversal in national pesticide policy, led to a nationwide ban on DDT for agricultural uses, and inspired an environmental movement that led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The impetus for "Silent Spring" was a letter written in January 1958 by Carson's friend, Olga Owens Huckins, to "The Boston Herald", describing the death of birds around her property resulting from the aerial spraying of DDT to kill mosquitoes, a copy of which Huckins sent to Carson. Carson later wrote that this letter prompted her to study the environmental problems caused by chemical pesticides.

Much of the Environmental Protection Agency's early work, such as enforcement of the 1972 Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, was directly related to Carson's work.