Well, they give in to temptation for food and gold. Which leads them into the Cyclopes cave. It effects them by having to be left on the island for much longer then they were going to stay, they lost crew members and they also had to find a way out.
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson was an environmental science book. It documented the negative effects the indiscriminate use of pesticides has on the environment, particularly the birds.
The book became the tool that awakened the public to the real harm that big industrial companies have been hiding from them. Thus, driving them to launch an environmental movement that aims to prohibit the indiscriminate use of pesticides, specifically DDT.
