Poison : a social history /
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| Author / Creator: | Levy, Joel. |
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| Imprint: | Brimscombe Port, Stroud : History Press, 2011. |
| Description: | 224 p. : ill. (chiefly col.), ports. ; 21cm. |
| Language: | English |
| Subject: | |
| Format: | Print Book |
| URL for this record: | http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/8514280 |
| Summary: | From Greek philosophers to former Russian spies, the use of poison as a means of ending a life - whether through assassination, murder, suicide, or execution - has a history stretching back over 2,000 years. Even before Socrates accepted his fate by drinking hemlock, countless people must have died as a result of ingesting naturally occurring poisons. And yet poisonous materials often also have beneficial properties: hydrogen fluoride, for example, is highly toxic to humans, but is also a vital component in the production of herbicides, pharmaceuticals, and fluorescent light bulbs. "Poison: a Social History" explores the nature of toxicity and reveals how poison has played a crucial and often unheralded role - for good and for bad - in human history. As well as examining a range of poisonous materials, it also contains case studies of famous, and infamous, poisonings. |
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| Physical Description: | 224 p. : ill. (chiefly col.), ports. ; 21cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographic references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780752455471 0752455478 |
