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The Elements of Murder

A History of Poison

By John Emsley

(4)

| Paperback | 9780192806000

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Book Description

Was Napoleon killed by the arsenic in his wallpaper? How did Rasputin survive cyanide poisoning? Which chemicals in our environment pose the biggest threat to our health today? In The Elements of Murder, John Emsley answers these questions and offers a fascinating account of five of the most
toxiContinue

Was Napoleon killed by the arsenic in his wallpaper? How did Rasputin survive cyanide poisoning? Which chemicals in our environment pose the biggest threat to our health today? In The Elements of Murder, John Emsley answers these questions and offers a fascinating account of five of the most
toxic elements--arsenic, antimony, lead, mercury, and thallium--describing their lethal chemical properties and highlighting their use in some of the most famous murder cases in history.
In this exciting book, we meet a who's who of heartless murderers. Mary Ann Cotton, who used arsenic to murder her mother, three husbands, a lover, eight of her own children, and seven step children; Michael Swango, who may have killed as many as 60 of his patients and several of his
colleagues during the 20 years he practiced as a doctor and paramedic; and even Saddam Hussein, who used thallium sulfate to poison his political rivals. Emsley also shows which toxic elements may have been behind the madness of King George III, the delusions of Isaac Newton, and the strange death
of King Charles II. In addition, the book examines many modern day environmental catastrophes, including accidental mass poisonings from lead and arsenic, and the Minamata Bay disaster in Japan.
Written by a leading science writer, famous for his knowledge of the elements and their curious and colorful histories, The Elements of Murder offers an enticing combination of true crime tales and curious science that adds up to an addictive read.

Critics

  • The Elements of Murder By John Emsley

    In this day and age when science has caught up to criminals and most substances can be readily detected, why go to the trouble to use poison when guns 'n' bullets are available by the gross at your local superstore? While modern-day poisoners are rar ... (read full critics)

    bookpage published on Sat, 18 Sep 2010

  • One way of doing it

    In his essay ‘Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts’, De Quincey derides poisoning as an inferior method of bringing about the death of others. It seemed to him both sneaky and unmanly. However, the age that succeeded him was a golden age of pois ... (read full critics)

    spectator published on Fri, 17 Sep 2010

1 Review

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  • 1 person find this helpful

    A book about chemistry and murder

    The topic itself is very interesting. It will be worth 4 stars if the writer can present the information in a more organized way. Besides, the footnotes are a bit too random and some of the subheadings are kind of misleading.

    Is this helpful?

    larukucafe said on Jan 6, 2007 | Add your feedback

Book Details

  • Rating:
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  • English Books
  • Paperback 432 Pages
  • Edition: New Ed
  • ISBN-10: 0192806009
  • ISBN-13: 9780192806000
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
  • Pub date: Aug 31, 2006
  • Also available as: Hardcover
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9780192806000 Paperback $19.95 $17.05 bn.com
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