History of Toxicology and Environmental Health. Toxicology in Antiquity, Vol. I

Chapter 1. Toxicology in Ancient Egypt
Chapter 2. The Death of Cleopatra: Suicide by Snakebite or Poisoned by Her Enemies?
Chapter 3. Mithridates of Pontus and His Universal Antidote
Chapter 4. Theriaca Magna: The Glorious Cure-All Remedy
Chapter 5. Nicander, Thêriaka, and Alexipharmaka: Venoms, Poisons, and Literature
Chapter 6. Alexander the Great: A Questionable Death
Chapter 7. Harmful Botanicals
Chapter 8. The Case Against Socrates and His Execution
Chapter 9. The Oracle at Delphi: The Pythia and the Pneuma, Intoxicating Gas Finds, and Hypotheses
Chapter 10. The Ancient Gates to Hell and Their Relevance to Geogenic CO2
Chapter 11. Lead Poisoning and the Downfall of Rome: Reality or Myth?
Chapter 12. Poisons, Poisoners, and Poisoning in Ancient Rome

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.

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

Readership
Toxicologists and other professionals working in environmental health fields, as well a more general audience interested in the history of toxicology