BILL MOYERS JOURNAL looks at the life and legacy of Rachel Carson and her book Silent Spring , which launched the modern environmental movement.

Forty-five years after the publication of Rachel Carson's landmark book Silent Spring , which launched the modern environmental movement, her disturbing story of how toxic chemicals were poisoning the earth still resonates. But who was Rachel Carson? And what can the ferocious debate she started and the vicious attacks she endured tell us about environmentalism in the 21st century? BILL MOYERS JOURNAL looks at the life and legacy of Rachel Carson through an extraordinary portrayal of her in a one-woman play performed by veteran stage actress Kaiulani Lee, whose play, A Sense of Wonder, has been the centerpiece of regional and national conferences on conservation, education, journalism and the environment for more than 10 years. The broadcast combines excerpts from the play, an interview with Lee and a documentary reporting on Carson's life and work in a powerful look at this scientist, writer and seeker of the truth.