/oss/taxonomy/term/2794/all en /oss/article/health-nutrition-history-quackery/silent-spring <p>Mention “Silent Spring” and thoughts immediately turn to Rachel Carson’s epic in which she alerted readers to the risks of pesticides. But long before, way back in the 1940s, Australian sheep farmers experienced a silent spring of their own. The familiar baa baa of spring lambs was absent. Lambs were being born alright, but they were stillborn. What was causing the disaster? Actually it was the farmers themselves. Or at least the clover they had planted to feed their sheep.</p> Mon, 25 Sep 2017 18:09:45 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2643 at /oss