The Edge of the Sea
“Contemplating the teeming life of the shores, we have an uneasy sense of the communication of some universal truth that lies just beyond our grasp. What is the message signaled by the hordes of diatoms, flashing their microscopic lights in the night sea? What truth is expressed by the legions of the barnacles, whitening the rocks with their habitations, each small creature within finding the necessities of its existence in the sweep of the surf? And what is the meaning of so tiny a being as the transparent wisp of protoplasm that is a sea lace, existing for some reason inscrutable to us – a reason that demands its presence by the trillion amid the rocks and weeds of the shore? The meaning haunts and ever eludes us, and in its very pursuit we approach the ultimate mystery of Life itself.“
Rachel Carson, The Edge of the Sea, 1955
Carson chose this excerpt to be read at her funeral – a fitting tribute to the scientist whose book, Silent Spring, had such a profound impact on our environmental policy and almost single handedly convinced our government to ban DDT forever.
The Edge of the Sea
“Contemplating the teeming life of the shores, we have an uneasy sense of the communication of some universal truth that lies just beyond our grasp. What is the message signaled by the hordes of diatoms, flashing their microscopic lights in the night sea? What truth is expressed by the legions of the barnacles, whitening the rocks with their habitations, each small creature within finding the necessities of its existence in the sweep of the surf? And what is the meaning of so tiny a being as the transparent wisp of protoplasm that is a sea lace, existing for some reason inscrutable to us – a reason that demands its presence by the trillion amid the rocks and weeds of the shore? The meaning haunts and ever eludes us, and in its very pursuit we approach the ultimate mystery of Life itself.“
Rachel Carson, The Edge of the Sea, 1955
Carson chose this excerpt to be read at her funeral – a fitting tribute to the scientist whose book, Silent Spring, had such a profound impact on our environmental policy and almost single handedly convinced our government to ban DDT forever.