Wexler P. History of Toxicology and Environmental Health: Toxicology in Antiquity. Vol. I

Amsterdam, Boston: Elsevier, Academic Press. — 2014. — 147 p. — ISBN: 978-0-12-800045-8.Key Features: provides the historical background for understanding modern toxicology; illustrates the ways ancient civilizations learned to distinguish safe from hazardous substances, how to avoid the hazardous substances and how to use them against enemies; details scholars who compiled compendia of toxic agents.Description: Toxicology in Antiquity is the first in a series of short format works covering key accomplishments, scientists, and events in the broad field of toxicology, including environmental health and chemical safety. This first volume sets the tone for the series and starts at the very beginning, historically speaking, with a look at toxicology in ancient times. The book explains that before scientific research methods were developed, toxicology thrived as a very practical discipline. People living in ancient civilizations readily learned to distinguish safe substances from hazardous ones, how to avoid these hazardous substances, and how to use them to inflict harm on enemies. It also describes scholars who compiled compendia of toxic agents.Readership: Toxicologists and other professionals working in environmental health fields, as well a more general audience interested in the history of toxicologyToxicology in Ancient Egypt
The Death of Cleopatra: Suicide by Snakebite or Poisoned by Her Enemies?
Mithradates of Pontus and His University Antidote
Theriac Magna: The Glorious Cure-All Remedy
Nicander, Theriaka and Alexipharmaka: Venoms, Poisons and Literature
Alexander the Great: A Questionable Death
Harmful Botanicals
The Case Against Socrates and His Execution
The Oracle at Delphi: The Pythia and the Pneuma, Intoxicating Gas Finds and Hypotheses
The Ancient Gates to Hell and Their Relevance to Geogenic CO2
Lead Poisoning and the Downfall of Rome
Poisons, Poisoning and Poisoners in Ancient Rome