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The Elements of Murder: A History of Poison, by John Emsley
Download PDF The Elements of Murder: A History of Poison, by John Emsley
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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 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. Indeed, we meet in this book 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, a grand total of 20 people. 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 (almost certainly a case of acute lead poisoning), 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 poisoning 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.
- Sales Rank: #486829 in Books
- Published on: 2005-07-01
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 5.90" h x 1.70" w x 9.40" l,
- Binding: Hardcover
- 436 pages
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Emsley (Vanity, Vitality, and Virility: The Science Behind the Products You Love to Buy) hits a bull's eye in this fascinating, wonderfully readable forensic history of five deadly chemicals (mercury, arsenic, antimony, lead and thallium) and their starring role in that most intoxicating drama of pure evil: murder. A deeply knowledgeable chemist (he's science writer in residence at Cambridge University) with a gift for making accessible the dry and bewilderingly arcane, Emsley's at his best in case studies of infamous poisoners and their victims. During the reign of James I of England, for instance, the poet Thomas Overbury, having fallen out of royal favor, was administered three fatal doses of mercury, only to survive. For his stubbornness he was administered a fourth dose—by enema—and finally succumbed. Mary Bateman, the "Yorkshire Witch," was equally unlucky. Convicted in 1809 of poisoning a client, Mary was hanged and her corpse skinned so pieces could be sold as charms. Not all the incidents are in the past: Emsley also discusses contemporary environmental poisoning from mercury and Saddam Hussein's use of thallium sulfate on his enemies. Fanatical devotees of the macabre might thumb past sections devoted to less sensational history. But the general reader will not be disappointed: each of these deadly toxins was at one time or another promoted for its unique health or beauty benefits. 15 b&w illus. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Readers seduced by this book's provocative title into expecting a spicy catalog of murder and mayhem may be a bit disappointed by its somewhat dry and technical tone. The author, a veteran science writer, certainly knows his stuff, but he may have slightly overestimated his audience's tolerance for discussions of chemical formulas. Still, for the patient reader, there is a wealth of intriguing information here. Emsley traces the evolution of alchemy and explains the central role that the quest to turn metal into gold plays in the history of poison, pausing along the way to note that Isaac Newton's obsession with alchemy may have contributed to his madness. Later chapters discuss the history, uses, and murderous abuses of mercury, arsenic, antimony, lead, and thallium. Yes, it's technical, but just keep plodding: it's not all formulas. Emsley retells enough juicy and lurid (and sometimes famous) stories of murder by poison to enthrall both true-crime fans and budding mystery writers. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"A delightful potion of chemical erudition, forgotten science history and ghastly murder schemes.... Reading The Elements of Murder is like watching a hundred episodes of CSI, but without having to sit through the tedious personal relationships of the characters.... Along the way the bodies pile up as Emsley relates spectacular case histories of poisonings, accidental and criminal.... Emsley mines what he calls 'the darker side of the periodic table' with consumate skill."--Dick Teresi, The New York Times Book Review
"A fascinating anecdotal history of killing by five elements--mercury, arsenic, antimony, lead and thalium.... With something of interest on almost every page, it combines the satisfactions of a detective story, intriguing snippets of history, popular science, unsolved mysteries and murder. A powerful brew." --P. D. James, Sunday Telegraph
"Emsley captures the creepy common ground of science and homicide.... Beyond the scandals and celebrities, what makes 'The Elements of Murder' such a charming read is the absurdity of its anecdotes.... Hitchcock could make many films from this book."--Brenn Jones, San Francisco Chronicle
"Fascinating, wide-ranging and, let's not mince words, macabre new history of poison.... A truly guilty pleasure."--Wall Street Journal
"The list of the famous who may have been poisoned by one of these devious toxins is a long one, from Pope Clement II to Mozart. Emsley has dug up the dirt on these and a rogue's gallery of lesser-known cases.... If the golden age of poisoning is gone (replaced, to be sure, by other forms of mayhem), in Emsley's book it's still very much alive."--Laurence A. Marschall, Natural History
"Emsley retells enough juicy and lurid (and sometimes famous) stories of murder by poison to enthrall both true-crime fans and budding mystery writers.... The author certainly knows his stuff."--Booklist
"Emsley hits a bull's eye in this fascinating, wonderfully readable forensic history of five deadly chemicals (mercury, arsenic, antimony, lead and thallium) and their starring role in that most intoxicating drama of pure evil: murder. A deeply knowledgeable chemist with a gift for making accessible the dry and bewilderingly arcane, Emsley's at his best in case studies of infamous poisoners and their victims."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"I heartily recommend that this book be read and added to the library of every chemist, toxicologist, and avid crime fiction reader, wherever they may be around the world. This book is an absolute delight and, for the price, a bargain to boot."--Chemical and Engineering News
"Both as a natural history of poisons and as a near-encyclopedic who-used-what-how reference, the book fascinates. The glossary and bibliography are most helpful. So dangerous is the world that many readers will choose to stay home, working on that special sauce for mother-in-laws meat loaf."--Foreword Magazine
"This absorbing volume is equal parts chemistry, history and mystery, but you don't need to be a scientist, historian or murderer to appreciate all three facets."--BookPage (Beach Reading Selection)
Most helpful customer reviews
48 of 49 people found the following review helpful.
Lurid Tales of Chemistry
By Rob Hardy
We are mere bundles of chemicals, most of which are shuttled back and forth with astonishing speed, accuracy, and efficiency. It is so fine-tuned a system that it is not hard to find chemicals that will make it all go wrong. Some of these chemicals are so basic as to be the very elements of the universe around us, and in _The Elements of Murder: A History of Poison_ (Oxford University Press), John Emsley has given us a chemistry text dressed in the entertaining garb of famous poisoning cases in history and in popular culture. Chemistry is often presented as neither exciting nor fun, but Emsley (whose most recent book was an entertaining history of phosphorus) knows that even a big book on the big five elements (arsenic, antimony, lead, mercury, and thallium) is going to be attractive reading for many of us, if the elements are connected with lethality. The publisher, staid old Oxford, knows it, too, and has dressed the book with a lurid picture of a fearsome bearded man holding a small bottle with a skull and crossbones on it. Students of the physical sciences: prepare for a bit of morbid fun.
The alchemists developed poisons, but mostly set about poisoning themselves. Newton's hair, for instance, has been analyzed, and it had greatly elevated levels of mercury, lead, arsenic, and antimony; he often tried to volatilize compounds of these, and could not help breathing them in. He did live to be 84, and was certainly productive, but he was an unpleasant and paranoid man; to what extent the poisons (especially mercury) addled his brain we will never know. Hatters (as in "mad as a hatter") were famously subject to the derangement mercury brought since they used mercury nitrate to make felt. Another career field that had a surprising danger from mercury: detective work. The dusting powder that used to be used for finding fingerprints would be breathed in by the one doing the dusting; it was only in the 1940s that the elemental culprit for the tremors, irritability, and other symptoms in detectives was identified and the powder formula changed. Emsley gives many anecdotes of deliberate poisonings, often by serial killers like Hélène Jegado, who poisoned an unknown number of people during her career, using arsenic. She was a pious and intelligent servant, who was distressed at each of the funerals she had to attend. "My masters die wherever I go," she sobbed at one funeral, and many sympathized with her bad luck. Her last poisoning occurred in 1851, a time when forensic arsenic levels could be obtained from the stomach contents of her last victim, fingering her positively. She didn't get any financial gain from the deaths, but arsenic was used so consistently that in France it was known as _poudre de succession_ (inheritance powder).
Emsley's history covers his elements well, and not just their histories in poisoning. Much of the book is an examination of the history of chemistry itself, from pre-scientific days to the current ones when poisoners are much more at risk of discovery than ever before. There are welcome side trips, like the one about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome being blamed on the release of antimony from infant mattresses. The antimony had been used as a fire retardant, but after much scientific hand-wringing, was found not to be an issue in SIDS. There is good humor in the ghoulishness; Emsley writes that thallium used to be "... sold in over-the-counter products for removing unwanted hair. It was also used to remove unwanted relatives." There is plenty of well-explained chemistry here, for those who need it as justification for enjoying lurid stories of poisoners; the stories may be morbidly fascinating, but fascinating nonetheless.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
The Poison Pen of Professor Emsley
By Bruce Crocker
Professor John Emsley is my favorite guide to the world of chemistry and I look forward to every book that bears his good name. The Elements Of Murder was no exception and I ordered it long before it came out. I wanted to give it a 5 star rating even before I read it, but I must give it a 4 star rating after a thorough reading. Professor Emsley has authored many books: The Elements and Nature's Building Blocks are references [for professional and layperson respectively], Molecules at an Exhibition is a collection of essays, and The 13th Element takes on a single subject [phosphorus]. Vanity, Vitality, and Virility, his previous book, seems to be the model for The Elements of Murder. In Vanity, Vitality, and Virility, Emsley takes on multiple chemical subjects in short vignettes, has an introduction and postscript, and includes a glossary. The problem I have with The Elements of Murder involves what it is missing: there is no postscript or epilogue. I enjoyed the stories of death and murder involving the elements mercury, arsenic, antimony, lead, and thallium. I enjoyed the short tales of other poisonous elements in the last chapter. I also felt that the book ended rather abruptly. I still recommend this book to anyone with an interest in chemistry [especially chemistry and history], but I hope that when it comes out in paperback [or in the later hardback printings] that some kind of conclusion is added to the book.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Elements of Darkness
By ealovitt
The poisonous elements spotlighted in this book--mercury, arsenic, antimony, lead, and thallium--also served as medications for most of recorded history. It is amazing what people would concoct and swallow to cure constipation, including mercury laxatives and antimony `perpetual pills' that passed through the gut and irritated it into expelling its contents. These pills could be washed off and recycled. In fact, "there are reports that such pills were highly effective and passed from generation to generation."
"The Elements of Murder" makes it clear that it was sometimes impossible to determine whether a victim was poisoned by his enemies or his doctors.
The author, John Emsley is both a chemist and an award-winning science writer. He chronicles the characteristics of each element with a magisterial British presence that eludes many American science writers, who sometimes place a heavy reliance on adjectives. Emsley goes for the telling anecdote. The insanity of men slowly poisoned by lead is revealed in a list of items they stored in a lifeboat: "button polish, silk handkerchiefs, curtain rods, and a portable writing desk." The largest mass poisoning by arsenic was actually funded by UNICEF in an effort to provide clean drinking water to the people of West Bengal, India and Bangladesh.
Although the stories of individual poisoners and their victims are interesting, the author's investigations into the wholesale slaughter of people by insidious, omnipresent elements in their environment are equally compelling. Were both the Roman AND British Empires brought low by lead?
Read "The Elements of Murder" and decide for yourself.
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