The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.72 (718 Votes) |
| Asin | : | B003954SYC |
| Format Type | : | |
| Number of Pages | : | 197 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-09-14 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
However, with the appointment of chief medical examiner Charles Norris in 1918, the poison game changed forever. In early twentieth-century New York, poisons offered an easy path to the perfect crime. Equal parts true crime, twentieth-century history, and science thriller, The Poisoner's Handbook is "a vicious, page-turning story that reads more like Raymond Chandler than Madame Curie" (The New York Observer) A fascinating Jazz Age tale of chemistry and detection, poison and murder, The Poisoner's Handbook is a page-turning account of a forgotten era. Together with toxicologist Alexander Gettler, the duo set the justice system on fire with their trailblazing scientific detective work, triumphing over seemingly unbeatable odds to become the pioneers of forensic chemistry and the gatekeepe
That’s why methylmercury in fish turns out to be so risky a contaminant. The ancient Greeks called it “the queen of poisons” and considered it so evil that they believed that it derived from the saliva of Cerberus, the three-headed dog guarding the gates of hell. One of my favorite stories (involving a silver bullet) concerns the Famous Blue Man of Barnum and Bailey’s Circus who was analyzed by one of the heroes of my book, Alexander Gettler. There’s a story I tell in the book about a murder syndicate trying to kill an amazingly resilient victim. Carbon Monoxide (really)--It&r
anik said Norris and Gettler's efforts to elevate the status of good science in the courtroom. Wow! I picked this up as an impulse buy, thinking my sister (who loves all things Jazz Age) would want to borrow/steal it later. Now that I've read it, she can't have it: it's mine. Science! History! Prohibition! Murder! Accidental deaths due to the utter lack of regulation of drugs, household chemicals, and cosmetics!The book has an interestingly layered organization. Each chapter is titled for the poison/chemical whose investigation is woven the most centrally through that section; however, the book is also a chronological biography of Charles Norris a. Morbid Fun Sarah B If you expect a dense scientific text or will be disappointed that some of the cases are accidental deaths and not murder, don't read. However, if like me you enjoy a bit of history, a bit of science, a lot of morbid investigation, and the triumphant underdog story of two luminary forensic examiners against the backdrop of Prohibition, the book is fascinating and morbidly fun.The title "Poisoner's Handbook" belies the book's true focus, the two amazing men at the center of each of the public histories of the poisons Blum writes about: chloroform, arsenic. Dr. N8 said Chemistry, history, medicine, and murder combined in a well-written package. Slightly morbid topic I suppose, but the author takes care to add plenty of levity to a fascinating topic. Details of the personalities and lives of the men involved in developing tests to identify poisons used in an era of medical guesswork and scientific hand-waving adds some life to an interesting history of the science behind medical examiners' ability to determine cause of death. Well written to hold the attention of those who don't particularly like reading dry scientific texts with some hard science detail to please those who do.