Ebook: Poison: deadly deeds, perilous professions, and murderous medicines

Science geeks and armchair detectives will soak up this non-lethal, humorous account of the role poisons have played in human history. Perfect for STEM enthusiasts! For centuries, people have been poisoning one another-changing personal lives and the course of empires alike. From spurned spouses and rivals, to condemned prisoners like Socrates, to endangered emperors like Alexander the Great, to modern-day leaders like Joseph Stalin and Yasser Arafat, poison has played a starring role in the demise of countless individuals. And those are just the deliberate poisonings. Medical mishaps, greedy "snake oil" salesmen and food contaminants, poisonous Prohibition, and industrial toxins also impacted millions. Part history, part chemistry, part whodunit, Poison: Deadly Deeds, Perilous Professions, and Murderous Medicines traces the role poisons have played in history from antiquity to the present and shines a ghoulish light on the deadly intersection of human nature...'nd Mother Nature.;No bane, no gain: poisons in the ancient world -- That's classic: poison in Ancient Greece and Rome -- Poisons, potions, and witches' brews: the Middle Ages -- The wretched Renaissance -- Crime and corruption: the sinister seventeenth century -- Murder and medicine in the Age of Reason -- Bad heir days: poisons in the nineteenth century -- Twentieth-century tox -- New and noxious: poisons in the twenty-first century and beyond.