City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

A taste for poison, eleven deadly substances and the killers who used them, Neil Bradbury

eng

no index present

non fiction

A taste for poison

bibliography

Neil Bradbury

eleven deadly substances and the killers who used them

Poison is one of the most popular weapons of choice for a scheming murderer. It can be slipped into a drink, smeared onto the tip of an arrow or the handle of a door, and even filtered through the air we breathe. But how exactly do these poisons work to break our bodies down, and what can we learn from the damage they inflict? In a fascinating blend of popular science, medical history, and true crime, Dr Neil Bradbury explores poisoning at a cellular level. Alongside real-life accounts of murderers and their crimes are the equally compelling stories of the poisons involved: eleven molecules of death that work their way through the human body and, paradoxically, illuminate the way in which our bodies function. A Taste for Poison weaves together the fascinating tales of spurned lovers, shady scientists, medical professionals and political assassins, to show us how the precise systems of the boy can be impaired to lethal effect through the use of poison

Part I: Biomolecules of death / Introduction -- 1. Insulin and Mrs. Barlow's bathtub -- 2. Atropine and Alexandra's tonic -- 3. Strychnine and the Lambeth poisoner -- 4. Aconite and Mrs. Singh's curry -- 5. Ricin and Georgi's Waterloo sunset -- 6. Digoxin and the angel of death -- 7. Cyanide and the professor from Pittsburgh -- Part II: Molecules of death from the earth / 8. Potassium and the nightmare nurse -- 9. Polonium and Sasha's indiscriminate intestine -- 10. Arsenic and Monsieur L'Angelier's coca -- 11. Chlorine and the killer Nurse of Lufkin -- Epilogue: The garden of death -- Appendix: Pick your poison -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Selected bibliography -- About the author