In a 1963 editorial entitled “The Myth of the ‘Pesticide Menace’” published in The Saturday Evening Post, a former science editor, Edwin Diamond, critiqued the book. However, Silent Spring was not a hysterical call for the banning of all pesticides, but rather for more study and consideration before making decisions which would impact the environment. One executive for the American Cyanamid Company complained that "If man were to faithfully follow the teachings of Miss Carson, we would return to the Dark Ages, and the insects and diseases and vermin would once again inherit the earth." Monsanto produced a parody of Silent Spring titled “A Desolate Year,” claiming that disease and famine would run amok in a world where pesticides had been banned. They tried to sue the publisher to stop publication of the book. Pesticide manufacturing companies launched a campaign to discredit Carson, spending $250,000. The book was first serialized in The New Yorker in June 1962, startling readers who then sent calls for action to governmental agencies this drew the ire of the chemical industry.
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