Overview

Encouraged by the medicinal success of quinine, early 19th century scientists hoped strychnine, another plant alkaloid with remarkable properties, might also become a new weapon against disease. Physicians tried for over a century, despite growing evidence to the contrary, to treat everything from paralysis to constipation with it. But strychnine proved only to be disappointingly deadly-relegating its fate almost entirely to animal control, the dangerous adulteration of foods, and criminal exploits. The NOTORIOUS and TRUE story of how a POISONOUS alkaloid... Bitter Nemesis: The Intimate History of Strychnine presents a scholarly and compelling history of this fascinating chemical substance from its discovery to present times. A renowned editor for the Dictionary of Natural Products, Dr. John Buckingham fuses his eclectic interests into an extraordinary mix of original research spanning the realms of history, medicine, literature, chemistry, and forensics. ...Changed the course of HISTORY! Uncovering details and logistics from the earliest experiments performed in an era when proper scientific trials for testing new drugs were still in their infancy, the author explores strychnine's trial-and-error contributions to scientific, medical, and forensic developments. He also investigates historical milestones and the perception of strychnine in popular culture-including criminal notoriety, accidental misuse, and new claims of strychnine's benefits that extend through to the present day. Juxtaposing the real trials, mistrials, and persistent curiosity associated with one of history's most notorious pharmaceutical failures, Bitter Nemesis offers rare insight into the anarchic, yet inspired landscape, practices, and legacy of 19th century science.

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9781420053159

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Reviews

""The book is well researched and thorough. Citations are endnotes to each chapter, and a bibliography and index are included at the end. This book is a cultural history of strychnine, not a natural history, or medical treatise. There is a strong bias to strychnine's place in British, French, and American culture, with surprisingly little information on its origins and use in India and Asia. I found the detailed accounts of murder trials, involving a cast of seemingly thousands, to be hard going, but I enjoyed the rare flashes of Buckingham's dark humor scattered throughout the text."" --Scott Zona, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, in Economic Botany, 62(2), 2008, pp. 192-204 ""Mixing science, history, and intriguing true accounts with his own touch of humor, Buckingham has created an enjoyable read for anyone with interest in scientific history."" --Books to Note, Spring 2009, Vol. 27, No. 1 ""... Bitter Nemesis is the wonderful result of Buckingham's passions and perspectives. Clearly, strychnine has come out on top again!"" --Jeffrey I. Seeman, Department of Chemistry, University of Richmond, in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2008, Vol. 47 ""... well written and it would be highly entertaining light reading by chemists for their sheer pleasure."" --Joseph G. Cannon, Division of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa, in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2008, Vol. 51, No. 12

The book is well researched and thorough. Citations are endnotes to each chapter, and a bibliography and index are included at the end. This book is a cultural history of strychnine, not a natural history, or medical treatise. There is a strong bias to strychnine's place in British, French, and American culture, with surprisingly little information on its origins and use in India and Asia. I found the detailed accounts of murder trials, involving a cast of seemingly thousands, to be hard going, but I enjoyed the rare flashes of Buckingham's dark humor scattered throughout the text. --Scott Zona, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, in Economic Botany, 62(2), 2008, pp. 192-204 Mixing science, history, and intriguing true accounts with his own touch of humor, Buckingham has created an enjoyable read for anyone with interest in scientific history. --Books to Note, Spring 2009, Vol. 27, No. 1 ... Bitter Nemesis is the wonderful result of Buckingham's passions and perspectives. Clearly, strychnine has come out on top again! --Jeffrey I. Seeman, Department of Chemistry, University of Richmond, in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2008, Vol. 47 ... well written and it would be highly entertaining light reading by chemists for their sheer pleasure. --Joseph G. Cannon, Division of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa, in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2008, Vol. 51, No. 12

The book is well researched and thorough. Citations are endnotes to each chapter, and a bibliography and index are included at the end. This book is a cultural history of strychnine, not a natural history, or medical treatise. There is a strong bias to strychnine's place in British, French, and American culture, with surprisingly little information on its origins and use in India and Asia. I found the detailed accounts of murder trials, involving a cast of seemingly thousands, to be hard going, but I enjoyed the rare flashes of Buckingham's dark humor scattered throughout the text. --Scott Zona, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, in Economic Botany, 62(2), 2008, pp. 192-204 Mixing science, history, and intriguing true accounts with his own touch of humor, Buckingham has created an enjoyable read for anyone with interest in scientific history. --Books to Note, Spring 2009, Vol. 27, No. 1 ... Bitter Nemesis is the wonderful result of Buckingham's passions and perspectives. Clearly, strychnine has come out on top again! --Jeffrey I. Seeman, Department of Chemistry, University of Richmond, in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2008, Vol. 47 ... well written and it would be highly entertaining light reading by chemists for their sheer pleasure. --Joseph G. Cannon, Division of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa, in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2008, Vol. 51, No. 12

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Consultant Editor, Dictionary of Natural Products, London

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