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304 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2022
… a chemical is not intrinsically, good or bad, it’s just a chemical. What differs is the intent with which the chemical is used: either to preserve life – – or to take it.--------------------------------------
Within the annals of crime, murder holds a particularly heinous position. And among the means of killing, fewer methods generate such a peculiar morbid fascination as poison. Compared with hot blooded spur of the moment, murderers, the planned and cold calculations involved in murder by poison, perfectly fit the legal term malice aforethought. Poisoning requires planning and knowledge of the victim’s habits. It requires consideration of how the poison will be administered. Some poisons can kill within minutes; others can be given slowly, over time, gradually accumulating in the body, but still leading inexorably to the victim’s death.If you are a fan of True Crime, if you are a fan of TV procedurals, if you are a fan of murder mysteries, A Taste for Poison is a must read. You will be much better prepared to keep up with the medical examiners in all venues when you can recognize the victims’ symptoms, at least if the book or show gives you a chance to try figuring it out for yourself before the truth is revealed.
Neil Bradbury grew up fascinated by murder mysteries and poisons. He is a graduate of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and the University of Wales School of Medicine, with degrees in Biochemistry and Medical Biochemistry. Although he grew up in the UK, he now lives and works in Illinois, USA, where he’s a scientist, teacher and writer. He also gets to play with nasty chemicals every day (during scientific experiments of course). - from his site
…in France in the late 1600s, the effectiveness of arsenic and disposing of wealthy relatives who had the temerity to remain alive, was so widespread that it gained the name Poudre de succession, or “inheritance powder.”
While most people would consider poisons to be lethal drugs, scientists have used the exact same chemicals to tease apart the inner molecular and cellular mechanisms of cells and organs, using this information to develop new drugs that treat and cure a wide range of diseases. For example, studying how the poisons in the foxglove plant affect the body has led to the development of drugs to treat congestive heart failure. Similarly, understanding how belladonna affects the body has helped create drugs now routinely used in surgery to prevent postoperative complications, and even to treat soldiers exposed to chemical warfare. From this it can be seen that a chemical is not intrinsically good or bad, it's just a chemical.Many have intriguing plant origins. The castor plant, with its distinctively shaped, pointed leaves, would be a striking landscaping choice if it were non-toxic. Strychnine comes from the benign-looking strychnine tree. Digoxin comes from the beautiful foxglove plant. Atropine comes from the flowering belladonna plant, dotted by black berries that look edible.
"It is the dose that makes the poison."
~ Paracelsus, alchemist & physician in the 16th century
The use of poisons in scientific research is probably more widespread than most people realize. Without poisons our understanding of how the human body works would have been greatly hampered.
Knowing that you are unlikely to be bitten by bedbugs as the wallpaper is slowly killing you is not the calm relaxed feeling most people want from their bedrooms.
"You medical people will have more lives to answer for in the other world, than even we generals."
~ Napoleon Bonaparte before his death in 1821