Overview

How much do we really know about our number one drug of choice? This book, the first natural, cultural, and artistic history of our favourite mood enhancer tells us more, by looking at how caffeine was discovered, its early uses, and the unexpected parts it has played in medicine, religion, painting, poetry, learning and love. ""The World of Caffeine"" is a tale of art and society containing many fascinating stories including: how Balzac's addiction to caffeine drove him to eat coffee and may have killed him; how a mini Ice Age may have helped bring coffee, tea and chocolate to popularity in Europe; and how caffeine, in its various forms, was used as cash in China, Africa, Central America and Egypt.

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9780415927239

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Reviews

[A] marvelous new book. -- Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker With a flavor reminiscent of Daniel Boorstin's The Discoverers, The World of Caffeine tells an intriguing history of a drug that many people seem unable to live without. The book's engaging, easy style allows readers to zip through it like a jolt of good java, or savor it slowly like a good cup of tea. -- The Washington Post Book World The alchemists of old only dreamed of turning dross into gold, but the scientists who followed them succeeded in converting caffeine into ideas. In this new information age the conversion continues at an even faster pace, and this very useful book helps us to understand how it all happened. -- James Trager, author of The Food Chronology and The People's Chronology This well-researched and entertaining book, The World of Caffeine, contains a wealth of facinating cultural and historical andcdotes and scientific facts which provide a unique perspective on the world's most commonly used psychoactive drug. -- Roland R. Griffiths, PhD, a leading caffeine researcher, John Hopkins University School of Medicine With impressive felicity, Weinberg and Bealer marshal the forces of history, chemistry, cultural anthropology, psychology, philosophy, and even a little religion to tell caffeine's complicated story. -- The Cleveland Plain Dealer ...a magnificently researched book filled with revelations about what has become, for many of us, a routine part of each day's consumption. -- The Wall Street Journal Readers who, like Prufrock, measure out their lives in coffee spoons will appreciate the background on their drug of choice provided by science writers Weinberg and Bealer. -- Booklist A savory and spirited cultural history of caffeine...Well- researched, briskly written, full-bodied, and flavorful. -- Kirkus Reviews From early warnings against the evils of caffeine to curiosities about coffeehouse culture, this book holds everything we ever wanted to know -- and then some -- about the drug that helps many of us keep up with the fast pace of our lives. -- Boston Herald [Weinberg and Bealer] make the most of their learned backgrounds to ponder all manner of facts and fictions about the bean and beverage. -- Toronto Star This well researched book examines the myth of caffeine and gives an excellent insight into this fascinating product, its orgins and history. -- Thomas Meinl, President, The Julius Meinl Group, Vienna [Weinberg and Bealer] remind us in their marvelous new book . . . there is no drug quite as effortlessly adaptable as caffeine, the Zelig of chemical stimulants. -- Malcolm Gladwell,The New Yorker The text is rich with information, yet it is easy and pleasant to read. -- Peter B. Lewis,PhD, New England Journal of Medicine Weinberg and Bealer provide an in-depth scholarly work that is remarkably readable and informative. The World of Caffeine will provide something for nearly everyone. -- T.D. DeLapp, Choice I love coffee, I love tea, I love the book on its history... a fascinating look at caffeine in its various forms, and very effectively shows its popularity in a historic, social, and pharmacological context. -- Jock Murray, Comptes Rendus

This is an enjoyable addition to the growing literature of commodities, the histories of substances which we take for granted in everyday life. Caffeine encompasses tea and chocolate as well as coffee, so this book, subtitled The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug, is likely to appeal to a massive readership of those dependent on one or more of these substances to enhance their mood. The author starts by recounting the history of caffeine and its arrival in Europe in its various forms from Africa, Asia and South America, showing how each of the substances underwent changes in processing to conform to European tastes - Charles V of Spain, for example, is credited with first mixing cacao with sugar in the 16th century. But it also takes in sociology, anthropology, chemistry and medicine. The arrival of coffee and coffee houses introduced Eastern customs to the West, which had previously tended to regard Turks as stereotype villains; the coffee houses also became venues for intellectuals to meet and talk about philosophy and politics. Though the Romantics such as Wordsworth lauded the joys of the natural world they still loved their tea and coffee, and the book includes a very complicated recipe for coffee found in Coleridge's diary. And of course, tea, and the meal it led to, became a mainstay of English life. This is a well-researched and scholarly book with a number of black-and-white illustrations within the text. It explains in detail the chemistry of caffeine, showing how it is processed and how it achieves its mood-lifting effects, and examines the place of caffeine in the modern world, even comparing the relative caffeine content of the decaffeinated coffees offered by various manufacturers. A fascinating and comprehensive survey. (Kirkus UK)

[A] marvelous new book. <br>- Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker <br> An eye-opening explanation of the history and culture of coffee. <br>- Food and Wine <br> The book's engaging, easy style allows readers to zip through it like a jolt of good java, or savor it slowly like a good cup of tea. <br>- The Washington Post Book World <br> With impressive felicity, Weinberg and Bealer marshal the forces of history, chemistry, cultural anthropology, psychology, philosophy, and even a little religion to tell caffeine's complicated story. <br>- The Cleveland Plain Dealer <br>... a magnificently researched book filled with revelations about what has become, for many of us, a routine part of each day's consumption. <br>- The Wall Street Journal <br>

Author Information

Bennett Alan Weinberg is a medical and science writer. He is also chairman of his own advertising and public relations firm whose clients include several of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies. Bonnie K.Bealer is a researcher and writer trained in psychology and anthropology. The authors live in Philadelphia.

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