Download Bitter Nemesis: The Intimate History of Strychnine by John Buckingham PDF

By John Buckingham

ISBN-10: 1420053159

ISBN-13: 9781420053159

Inspired by way of the medicinal good fortune of quinine, early nineteenth century scientists was hoping strychnine, one other plant alkaloid with striking houses, may additionally turn into a brand new weapon opposed to sickness. Physicians attempted for over a century, regardless of growing to be proof on the contrary, to regard every thing from paralysis to constipation with it. yet strychnine proved simply to be disappointingly deadly-relegating its destiny virtually solely to animal regulate, the damaging adulteration of meals, and felony exploits. The infamous and actual tale of the way a toxic alkaloid...Bitter Nemesis: The Intimate historical past of Strychnine provides a scholarly and compelling historical past of this interesting chemical substance from its discovery to provide occasions. A well known editor for the Dictionary of usual items, Dr. John Buckingham fuses his eclectic pursuits into a rare mixture of unique learn spanning the geographical regions of background, medication, literature, chemistry, and forensics....Changed the process HISTORY!Uncovering information and logistics from the earliest experiments played in an period whilst right clinical trials for trying out new medicinal drugs have been nonetheless of their infancy, the writer explores strychnine's trial-and-error contributions to clinical, clinical, and forensic advancements. He additionally investigates old milestones and the conception of strychnine in well known culture-including legal notoriety, unintentional misuse, and new claims of strychnine's merits that reach via to the current day. Juxtaposing the true trials, mistrials, and protracted interest linked to one in all history's such a lot infamous pharmaceutical mess ups, sour Nemesis deals infrequent perception into the anarchic, but encouraged panorama, practices, and legacy of nineteenth century technological know-how.