Rachel Carson is remembered as a hero for raising the alarm over ocean pollution and pesticides, and she is cherished for the sheer beauty of her writing. In introducing this thoughtful tribute to Carson marking the centennial of her birth, Matthiessen writes with stirring insight into Carson's spirit and achievements, setting the tone for the dozen affecting essays that follow. Biographer Linda Lear attests to Carson's "literary genius" and profound sense of responsibility. John Elder delves into Carson's poetic language. Al Gore writes with particular empathy about the vicious attacks Carson endured when Silent Spring was published, in 1962, a work that elegantly yet ferociously questions business as usual in light of environmental concerns. Edward O. Wilson calls Carson "valiant," and Terry Tempest Williams praises Carson's "moral courage." Brought down at 56 by cancer linked to the pollution she decried, Carson wrote exactingly, rhapsodically, and presciently: "It is one of the ironies of our time that, while concentrating on the defense of our country against enemies from without, we should be so heedless of those who would destroy it from within."