The Poisoner's Handbook Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York

The Poisoner's Handbook : Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
ISBN: 9780143118824
Publication Date: 25 January 2011

A fascinating Jazz Age tale of chemistry and detection, poison and murder, The Poisoner's Handbook is a page-turning account of a forgotten era. In early twentieth-century New York, poisons offered an easy path to the perfect crime. Science had no place in the Tammany Hall-controlled coroner's office, and corruption ran rampant. However, with the appointment of chief medical examiner Charles Norris in 1918, the poison game changed forever.

Together with toxicologist Alexander Gettler, the duo set the justice system on fire with their trailblazing scientific detective work, triumphing over seemingly unbeatable odds to become the pioneers of forensic chemistry and the gatekeepers of justice.

About the Author

Pulitzer Prize winner Deborah Blum is a professor of science journalism at the University of Wisconsin. She worked as a newspaper science writer for twenty years, winning the Pulitzer in 1992 for her writing about primate research. She is the author of "Ghost Hunters, "coeditor of "A Field Guide for Science Writers," and has written about scientific research for the "Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The WallStreet Journal, Slate, Psychology Today, "and "Mother Jones.

She is the president-elect of the National Association of Science Writers and serves on advisory boards for both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Academy of Sciences.