science

The Pesticide Question

The Pesticide Question is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Pesticide Question rather than just read about it. In short: The Pesticide Question: Environment, Economics and Ethics is a 1993 book edited by David Pimentel and Hugh Lehman. Use of pesticides has improved agricultural productivity, but there are also concerns about safety, health and the environment.

Key takeaways

The Pesticide Question belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Pesticide Question to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Pesticide Question from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Pesticide Question: Environment, Economics and Ethics is a 1993 book edited by David Pimentel and Hugh Lehman. Use of pesticides has improved agricultural productivity, but there are also concerns about safety, health and the environment. This book is the result of research by leading scientists and policy experts into the non-technical and social issues of pesticides. In examining the social policies related to pesticides use, they consider the costs as well as the benefits. The book says that Intensive farming cannot completely do without synthetic chemicals, but that it is technologically possible to reduce the amount of pesticides used in the United States by 35-50 per cent without reducing crop yields. The researchers show that to regain public trust, those who regulate and use pesticides must examine fair ethical questions and take appropriate action to protect public welfare, health, and the environment. Anyone concerned with reducing our reliance on chemical pesticides and how human activities can remain both productive and environmentally sound will find this volume a stimulating contribution to a troubling debate. The Pesticide Question builds on the 1962 best seller book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. Carson did not reject the use of pesticides, but argued that their use was often indiscriminate and resulted in harm to people and the environment. She also highlighted the problem of pests becoming resistant to pesticides. Carson's work is referred to many times in The Pesticide Question, which critically explores many non-technical issues associated with pesticide use, mainly in the United States. The book has 40 contributors, mainly academics from a wide range of disciplines. The Pesticide Question is divided into five main parts:

social and environmental effects of pesticides; methods and effects of reducing pesticide use; government policy and pesticide use; history, public attitudes, and ethics in regard to pesticide use; and the benefits and risks of pesticides.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Pesticide Question

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Pesticide Question claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Pesticide Question before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Pesticide Question ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Pesticide Question

In research: The Pesticide Question appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Pesticide Question in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Pesticide Question is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1993 in the environment, Agriculture books, Environmental non-fiction books, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Pesticide Question outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “The Pesticide Question” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study The Pesticide Question in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Pesticide Question means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Pesticide Question out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Pesticide Question in simple terms?

Why does The Pesticide Question matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Pesticide Question?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Pesticide Question.