Join the discussion for The Poisoner's Handbook

[Yvonne]

I'm really looking forward to discussing this book with all of you.

[Cornerofmadness]

I absolutely loved this book. I read it earlier this year and was a little worried that it would be boring. Not even close. It reads like fiction, smooth and easy and filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge, not so much about the poisons but about the politics of the time and prohibition.

Norris and Gettler have become personal heroes (one of my degrees is chemistry and I wanted to do forensics until an injury said no way and these two could easily be considered the fathers of that field). Their contributions are just amazing.

I just got the book back from my dad who also really enjoyed it. I needed it back since it's inspired me to write a story set in the time period.

[Yvonne]

I also really enjoyed this book. The part about the "Radium Girls" really got to me. I felt so bad for them, as well as many of the other victims in this book.

Deborah Blum has a great blog, which compliments this book perfectly. It's great additional reading, plus the pictures really help get a feeling for the time period.

http://blogs.plos.org/speakeasyscienc...

[Yvonne]

I just got the book back from my dad who also really enjoyed it. I needed it back since it's inspired me to write a story set in the time period.

Corner...
Can we read your story? :)

[Gilbersh]

Really enjoyed this book ... found fascinating to see how the politics of the time impacted the advancement of forensics. It was inspiring to see how the personal committment of Norris and Gettler made such a difference. This books gives a fascinating perspective on the challenges that present themselves to ever evolving and advancing science - not all of those challenges have changed either. We as a public may think we are more advanced or more protected than people of the turn of the 20th Century ... but only time will illuminate which of our 'truths' are actually fallacies.

[Cornerofmadness]

Yvonne wrote: "I just got the book back from my dad who also really enjoyed it. I needed it back since it's inspired me to write a story set in the time period.

Corner...
Can we read your story? :)"

if I ever get it finished, maybe. I'm writing it for charity so we'll see what the person will allow

[Yvonne]

I do a lot of volunteer work myself, so I think it's great that you're writing the story for charity.
Good luck!

[Cornerofmadness]

thanks. I get involved in a lot of charity writing on livejournal (fanfiction and original)

[V]

I've just finished it! Very educational but definitely not boring. Some of the cases even inspired me to look them up in order to gain more insight. Overall, a great read.

[Susie]

I really enjoyed reading the history of forensic science. My husband made a few jokes about being nervous because of the title of the book, but then I convinced him to read it as well. Very interesting, and parts of it came up when discussing episodes of Castle with my kids as well. The book would make a fascinating miniseries on the History Channel!

[Patrick]

A very engaging book; I learned a lot about Prohibition and was not aware of some of the high-profile poisoning cases. I would have liked to see photos of some of the people involved; this would be a great interactive book on the iPad for example.

[Yvonne]

Susie wrote: "I really enjoyed reading the history of forensic science. My husband made a few jokes about being nervous because of the title of the book, but then I convinced him to read it as well. Very interes..."

HeeHee! My husband also seems nervous when I watch shows like The New Detectives and Cold Case Files. I've had to reassure him, many times, that he has nothing to worry about. :)

[Theresa]

I find the book fasinating and all of the chemisty really streches me. I did not take chemistry in high school or college.
I am currently reading about the section on prohibition. Wow! Really interesting the stuff put into alchohol. I've never read another book which actually described the additives to alcohol and their effects.
I admire the science behind the work and how much actual work it took to determine the effects of chemicals in a person.

The sad part to me is all of the animals used in research.

I am really glad this book was suggested.

[Yvonne]

Patrick wrote: "A very engaging book; I learned a lot about Prohibition and was not aware of some of the high-profile poisoning cases. I would have liked to see photos of some of the people involved; this would be a great interactive book on the iPad for example."

Patrick,
I also thought a few photos would have been nice. I wrote about that in my review of the book, which can be read here: http://centralcaligrrrl.blogspot.com/...

Ms. Blum does have a lot of photos on her blog, though. And lots of addition reading regarding this book. http://blogs.plos.org/speakeasyscienc...

[Cornerofmadness]

thanks for the link to her blog. I appreciate that. I'm going to find that helpful

[Patrick]

Yvonne wrote: "Patrick wrote: "A very engaging book; I learned a lot about Prohibition and was not aware of some of the high-profile poisoning cases. I would have liked to see photos of some of the people involve..."

Yvonne,

Thanks for the links.

I agree with the point in your review that the book sometimes jumps around. Along with adding pictures, it could have been organized a bit better in some places.

However I still enjoyed the book a lot. Since I read this on an iPad, I would love it if the author or publisher had links to their blog or other reference material, particularly for nonfiction books. I found myself jumping over to a web browser to look more information every now and then, and it would save time if it was linked in the text itself.

[Phylwil]

I enjoyed this book immensely. It has me marveling at how complacent people were about poisons--putting arsenic in face creams, for example. I imagine consumers didn't really know, since I doubt there were labels. Now we know the dangers of chemical poisons. But do we make similar mistakes regarding genetic engineering?

[John]

Since genetic engineering is so complicated, I doubt we're getting it 100% right ...