A new film on the last years of Rachel Carson's life is a wonder to behold. "A Sense of Wonder" succeeds because it intimately connects us with the trailblazer's personal philosophy and struggle.

The film tells of writing of the book "Silent Spring", which founded the modern environmental movement. The character study avoided being preachy by using the words of the woman whose scientific analysis and powerful writing was driven by an appreciation of the natural world.

Wonder, which is currently being screened in 100 cities, retains the intimacy of the play written by star Kaiulani Lee upon which it is based. While Lee as Carson often looks directly at the camera, the tight focus makes it feel as though she's talking directly to you about her struggle to taken seriously as a female scientist in the 1940s and 50's.

Whether it's when she's sipping tea, strolling through the trees, or wistfully staring at the sea from her back porch, Carson's powerful mind and strong sensitivity are artfully brought to life by the actor and director Christopher Monger. The beautiful scenes along the Maine coast only reinforce the message that we should never stop appreciating -- and respecting -- the glory of nature.

Lee's Carson is a woman of grace, intellect and pride, but who is also humbled by the world around her and her unexpected fame a writer. While emotion rarely seeps out of the largely stoic Carson, you can't help but be effected when she shares concerns about what will happen to adopted young son Roger when she inevitably succumbs to cancer.

Despite being a one-actor drama, the vibrant script -- drawing largely on the subject's own words -- provides a compelling narrative. One of the daunting challenges when making a biographical film in which the audience knows how it ends is to create dramatic tension, yet Wonder pulls it off. When Carson details the challenges that almost prevented her seminal work from being published, you feel a sense of outrage against those who would have stopped her.

Wonder does Carson and Silent Spring justice by being equal parts sad and hopeful. We are sad that Carson did not live to see all of the environmental laws limiting pesticides and other pollutants that were passed in the years following her death in 1964. We are also sad that she could not enjoy the benefits of her years of study and that the world was deprived of what could have been her subsequent scholarship.

Yet, while pesticides are still used today, we are hopeful because it also depicts the ability of one person's intellect and drive to change the world. The enduring lesson of Wonder is for everyone to approach the future as Carson did -- with eyes wide open and a firm belief in doing what is right despite any obstacles.

As Carson says in the film, "the more sense of wonder we have about nature, the more distaste we shall have about its destruction."