The chemical compound DDT first earned fame during World War II by wiping out insects that
caused disease and boosting Allied forces to victory. Americans granted it a hero's homecoming
spraying it on everything from crops and livestock to cupboards and curtains. Then in 1972 it
was banned in the US. But decades after that a cry arose to demand its return. This is the
sweeping narrative of generations of Americans who struggled to make sense of the notorious
chemical's risks and benefits. Historian Elena Conis follows DDT from postwar farms factories
and suburban enclaves to the floors of Congress and tony social clubs where industry barons
met with Madison Avenue brain trusts to figure out how to sell the idea that a little poison in
our food and bodies was nothing to worry about.In an age of spreading misinformation on issues
including pesticides vaccines and climate change Conis shows that we need new ways of
communicating about science-as a constantly evolving discipline not an immutable collection of
facts-before it's too late.
