Elements of Murder : A History of Poison.
Title:
Elements of Murder : A History of Poison.
Author:
Emsley, John.
ISBN:
9780191517358
Personal Author:
Physical Description:
1 online resource (313 pages)
Contents:
Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Acknowledgment -- Introduction -- 1. The Poisonous Elements Of Alchemy -- The Alchemists -- The First Chemist -- Mercury -- The Madness Of Isaac Newton -- The Strange Death Of King Charles Ii -- Arsenic -- Antimony -- MERCURY -- 2. Mercury Poisons Us All -- Mercury In The Environment -- Dental Amalgam -- Mercury And Metabolism -- Mercury Metal And Mercury Vapour -- Inorganic Mercury Salts -- Medicinal Mercury -- 3. Mad Cats And Mad Hatters: Accidental Mercury Poisoning -- Mercury Mining, And Mining With Mercury -- The Many Uses Of Mercury -- Organo-Mercury -- Organo-Mercury And Autism -- Mercury In Fish: Prelude To A Disaster -- Minamata Bay Disaster -- Watching The Detectives -- 4. The Poet And The Poison -- The Yorkshire Witch -- Poison Through The Us Mail -- Ye Poysoning Of Sir Thomas Overbury -- ARSENIC -- 5. Arsenic is everywhere -- Arsenic In The Human Body -- Arsenic In Plants And Food -- The Arsenic-Eaters -- Arsenic In Medicine -- Arsenic And Cancer -- The Sources And Uses Of Arsenic -- Arsenic In Warfare -- 6. Insidious Arsenic -- Colouring With Arsenic -- Arsenic In Wallpaper -- Arsenic In The Air -- Arsenic In The Hair -- Arsenic In Drinking Water -- 7. Malevolent Arsenic -- Arsenic Murders Down The Ages -- Analysing For Arsenic -- The Golden Age Of Arsenic Murders -- Later Arsenic Murders -- 8. Murder Revisited: The Guilt Of Florence Maybrick -- The Marriage Of Florence Chandler And James Maybrick -- Florence Prepares Her Poison -- The Poisoning Of James Maybrick -- The Fatal Week -- The Trial Of Florence Maybrick -- ANTIMONY -- 9. Antimony The Great Cure-All -- Antimony In The Human Body -- Antimony In Medicine -- Antimony Has Its Uses -- Cot Death And Antimony -- Fake Scotch Whisky -- 10. Requiem For Antimony -- Toxic Antimony -- The Discordant Death Of Mozart -- Dr William Palmer.
Dr Edward Pritchard -- Florence Bravo -- Death Of A President -- 11. Severin Klosowski Alias George Chapman -- Severin Klosowski -- The Murder Of Mary Spink -- The Murder Of Bessie Taylor -- The Murder Of Maud Marsh -- The Arrest And Trial Of Chapman -- LEAD -- 12. The Empire Of Lead -- The Effects Of Lead On The Human Body -- How Much Lead Can The Human Body Accommodate? -- Lead And The Decline Of Empires -- Under Leaden Skies -- A World Driven Mad By Lead -- Painting Men, Painted Ladies, And Paint-Eating Children -- Modern Uses And Misuses Of Lead -- 13. Lead And Dead -- Leaded Delights -- Lead Glaze -- Medical Uses Of Lead -- The Poisonings Of Handel And Beethoven -- The Poisoning Of George III -- The Expedition That Vanished -- 14. Lead Murders -- The Murder Of Thomas Taylor -- The Attempted Murder Of Honora Turner -- Louisa Jane Taylor -- The Poisoning Of Pope Clement II -- THALLIUM -- 15. Driving You Hairless -- Thallium In The Human Body -- The Discovery Of Thallium -- Thallium In Nature And Its Uses -- The Medical Uses And Commercial Abuses Of Thallium -- Thallium As A Homicidal Agent -- Too Clever By Half -- Saddam Hussein'S Secret Weapon -- Antidotes -- 16. Graham Young -- Formative Years -- The Child Poisoner -- Broadmoor -- The Adult Poisoner -- The Murder Of Bob Egle -- Autumn Of Poison -- The Murder Of Fred Biggs -- 17. Other Poisonous Elements -- Barium Can Make A Deadly Meal -- Beryllium: A Gem Of A Metal But Deadly -- Cadmium Accumulates -- Chromium: Too Much Of A Good Thing Can Be Very Bad Indeed -- Copper Can Kill -- Fluoride Can Be Fatal -- Nickel Can Be Nasty -- Potassium: The Essential Deadly Poison -- Selenium Is Smelly -- Sodium Under Suspicion -- Tellurium And Its Tell-Tale Aroma -- Tin Is Safe Till You Make It Organic -- Appendix -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index.
Abstract:
How can a chemical we need on a daily basis to keep us healthy be fatal at a different dose? Why should elements that are intrinsically dangerous be used in medicine? How did poisoners use the chemical properties of chemicals to cover their tracks? Which chemicals in our environment pose the biggest threats to our health today? This enthralling story shows how humans have used chemicals to both help and harm one another throughout history, and the chemistry behind it. all. - ;How can a chemical we need on a daily basis to keep us healthy be fatal at a different dose? Why should elements that are intrinsically dangerous be used in medicine? How did poisoners use the chemical properties of chemicals to cover their tracks?. Emsley gives detailed histories of five of the most toxic elements - arsenic, antimony, lead, mercury, and thallium, highlighting some of the most famous murders and how the murderers used the chemical properties of elements to hide what they were doing. He shows how the elements have been behind many modern day environmental catastrophes including accidental mass poisonings from lead and arsenic, and the Minamata Bay Disaster in Japan. The array of fascinating stories shows how chemicals have impacted the lives of people ranging from the Greeks and Romans to Newton, Napoleon, Lucrezia Borgia, Mozart, Nelson Mandela, and Saddam Hussein. Emsley also touches on subjects close to home: cot deaths, laxatives, venereal disease, alleged cures for acne, hangovers, and insanity. - ;Meticulously researched, this book reads like a novel and a reader could pick up enough colourful anecdotes on which to dine out for some time. - The Lancet;The Elements of Murder contains as much malice and murder as any thriller, but without the mystery -Empsley explains it all as lucidly a Sherlock Holmes - ;Endlessly fascinating book...Every page reveals
delights and horrors...It is the perfect book to take on a long-haul flight - Telegraph;The Elements of Murder is full of such intriguing nuggets...Emsley must have been an outstanding chemistry teacher. -.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
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