MENT A BOOK WRITTEN BY RACHEL CARSON, SILENT SPRING, EARNED HER A REPUTATION NOT ONLY AS A COMPETENT MARINE BIOLOGIST, BUT AS A GIFTED WRITER. THE VILLAINS IN SILENT SPRING ARE CHEMICAL PESTICIDES, AGAINST WHICH MISS CARSON TOOK UP HER PEN IN ALARM AND ANGER. MANY READERS WERE FIRMLY CONVINCED THAT MOST OF THE U.S. WAS ALREADY LACED WITH POISON THAT WOULD SOON START TAKING A DREADFUL TOLL. THE ONLY WAY TO FIX THE SITUATION WAS TO STOP USING CHEMICAL PESTICIDES AND LET THE "BALANCE OF NATURE" TAKE CARE OF THE INSECTS. ANOTHER "ACTIVIST" OF THE DAY WAS LADY BIRD JOHNSON, PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S WIFE. SHE ENVISIONED BEAUTIFICATION ALL OVER AMERICA. SHE IS GENERALLY CREDITED WITH INSPIRING THE HIGHWAY BEAUTIFICATION ACT OF 1965. THIS IS THE DECADE WHEN SCIENTISTS WERE BECOMING MORE VOCAL ABOUT THE OZONE LAYER, POLLUTION, AND SMOKING CIGARETTES. AMERICANS BECAME AWARE OF THE DANGERS THEY ENCOUNTERED EVERYDAY AND WOULD PERHAPS HAND DOWN TO THEIR CHILDREN. THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION VOTED 6 TO 1 TO BAN CIGARETTE ADVERTISING ON RADIO AND TV. EVENTUALLY, WITH CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL, CIGARETTE PACKAGES HAD A NEW WARNING ON THEM: "CAUTION: CIGARETTE SMOKING MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH." MEDICINE AND HEALTH MISTAKES MADE IN THE PAST CAUSED GREAT SOCIAL AND HEALTH PROBLEMS TO CHILDREN AROUND THE WORLD WHEN IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT USING A TRANQUILIZER CALLED THALIDOMIDE CAUSED SEVERE BIRTH DEFECTS. BABIES WERE BORN WITH HANDS AND FEET LIKE FLIPPERS, ATTACHED CLOSE TO THE BODY WITH LITTLE OR NO ARM OR LEG. AS RESULTS OF USING THALIDOMIDE BECAME APPARENT, EVERY COMPOUND DRUG CONTAINING THALIDOMIDE WAS TAKEN OFF THE MARKET. THERE WERE ALSO GREAT STRIDES MADE IN MEDICINE. DR. CHRISTIAN BARNARD WAS THE WORLD'S FIRST DOCTOR TO PERFORM A HEART TRANSPLANT. THE PATIENT WAS LOUIS WASHKANSKY, WHO LIVED FOR ONLY 18 DAYS AFTER THIS HISTORIC OPERATION. BUT BARNARD'S SECOND TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT, DENTIST PHILIP BLAIBERG, RECOVERED FULLY, WROTE A BOOK ABOUT...
