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Toxicology in the Middle Ages and Renaissance

  • 1st Edition - March 13, 2017
  • Latest edition
  • Editor: Philip Wexler
  • Language: English

Toxicology in the Middle Ages and Renaissance provides an authoritative and fascinating exploration into the use of toxins and poisons in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Part of t… Read more

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Description

Toxicology in the Middle Ages and Renaissance provides an authoritative and fascinating exploration into the use of toxins and poisons in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Part of the History of Toxicology and Environmental Health series, this volume is a follow-up, chronologically, to the first two volumes which explored toxicology in antiquity.

The book approximately covers the 1100s through the 1600s, delving into different aspects of toxicology, such as the contributions of scientific scholars of the time, sensational poisoners and poisoning cases, as well as myths. Historical figures, such as the Borgias and Catherine de Medici are discussed. Toxicologists, students, medical researchers, and those interested in the history of science will find insightful and relevant material in this volume.

Key features

  • Provides the historical background for understanding modern toxicology
  • Illustrates the ways previous civilizations learned to distinguish safe from hazardous substances, how to avoid them, and how to use them against enemies
  • Explores the way famous historical figures used toxins

Readership

Toxicologists, environmental health professionals, science historians, general audience

Table of contents

Chapter 1. Poison and Its Dose: Paracelsus on Toxicology

  • Abstract
  • 1.1 The Four Pillars of Medicine
  • 1.2 Poison and the Alchemist in the Stomach
  • 1.3 Noxious Mineral Vapors and the Miner’s Disease
  • 1.4 The Dose Makes the Poison
  • References

Chapter 2. The Golden Age of Medieval Islamic Toxicology

  • Abstract
  • 2.1 Introduction
  • 2.2 Prominent Toxicologists in Medieval Islamic Era
  • 2.3 Toxicologists after 1500 AD
  • 2.4 Discussion
  • Acknowledgment
  • References

Chapter 3. Maimonides’ Book on Poisons and the Protection Against Lethal Drugs

  • Abstract
  • 3.1 Maimonides
  • 3.2 Maimonides Medical Works and Medical Practice
  • 3.3 The Treatise on Poisons and the Protection Against Lethal Drugs
  • 3.4 Structure and Contents of On Poisons
  • 3.5 The Hebrew Translations and Their Circulation
  • 3.6 The Latin Translations and Their Circulation
  • References

Chapter 4. Pietro d’Abano, De venenis: Reintroducing Greek Toxicology into Late Medieval Medicine

  • Abstract
  • Further Readings

Chapter 5. The Case Against the Borgias: Motive, Opportunity, and Means

  • Abstract
  • 5.1 Introduction
  • 5.2 Accusations
  • 5.3 Motive
  • 5.4 Opportunity
  • 5.5 Means
  • References

Chapter 6. Aqua Tofana

  • Abstract
  • 6.1 History
  • 6.2 Symptoms
  • 6.3 Poisons and the Criminal Magical Underworld
  • 6.4 The Slow Poisons
  • References

Chapter 7. Poisons and the Prince: Toxicology and Statecraft at the Medici Grand Ducal Court

  • Abstract
  • 7.1 Poisons in 16th-Century Society
  • 7.2 Knowledge of Poisons at the Medici Court
  • 7.3 Medici Antidotes
  • 7.4 Testing Poisons
  • 7.5 Resources
  • References

Chapter 8. Georgius Agricola, a Pioneer in the Toxic Hazards of Mining, and His Influence

  • Abstract
  • 8.1 Education and Early Life
  • 8.2 De re Metallica
  • 8.3 Diseases in Miners and Their Prevention
  • 8.4 Bergsucht and Its Causes
  • 8.5 A Third Wave of Mining in the 20th Century
  • Conflict of Interest
  • References

Chapter 9. Jan Baptist Van Helmont and the Medical–Alchemical Perspectives of Poison

  • Abstract
  • 9.1 Van Helmont’s Paracelsian Legacy on Poisons
  • 9.2 Universal Poison in a Christian Perspective
  • 9.3 Van Helmont’s Criticism of Galenic Purgatives
  • 9.4 The Alchemical Solution
  • 9.5 Conclusions
  • References

Chapter 10. Origin of Myths Related to Curative, Antidotal and Other Medicinal Properties of Animal “Horns” in the Middle Ages

  • Abstract
  • 10.1 A Brief History of Alicorn
  • 10.2 Origins
  • 10.3 Unicorns of the Arab World
  • 10.4 Khutu
  • 10.5 The Walrus and the Narwhal
  • 10.6 The Woolly Rhinoceros and Mammoth
  • 10.7 Bone from the Forehead of a Bull
  • 10.8 Conclusion
  • Disclaimer
  • References

Chapter 11. Animal Stones and the Dark Age of Bezoars

  • Abstract
  • 11.1 Introduction
  • 11.2 Bezoars: Philological, Conceptual, and Symbolic Framework
  • 11.3 Bezoars and Their Glory
  • 11.4 Bezoars in the Mist of History
  • 11.5 Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • References

Chapter 12. Fossil Sharks’ Teeth as Alexipharmics

  • Abstract
  • 12.1 Fossil Sharks’ Teeth or Glossopetrae
  • 12.2 Tableware
  • 12.3 Provenance of the Teeth
  • 12.4 Lapis de Goa
  • References

Chapter 13. Catherine La Voisin: Poisons and Magic at the Royal Court of Louis XIV

  • Abstract
  • 13.1 Introduction
  • 13.2 Catherine La Voisin
  • References

Chapter 14. A Late Medieval Criminal Prosecution for Poisoning: The Failed Murder Trial of Margarida de Portu (1396)

  • Abstract
  • References

Chapter 15. Animal Venoms in the Middle Ages

  • Abstract
  • 15.1 Introduction
  • 15.2 Venomous Snakes
  • 15.3 Scorpions, Spiders, and Other “Venomous” Animals
  • References

Chapter 16. Medical Literature on Poison, c. 1300–1600

  • Abstract
  • References

Product details

  • Edition: 1
  • Latest edition
  • Published: March 20, 2017
  • Language: English

About the editor

PW

Philip Wexler

Philip Wexler has written and edited numerous publications related to toxicology and toxico-informatics, as well as taught and otherwise lectured globally on these topics. He has been Editor-in-Chief of Elsevier’s Encyclopedia of Toxicology including the current, 4th edition (2023) since its inception as well as Information Resources in Toxicology (Elsevier. 5th ed. 2020), and Chemicals, Environment, Health: A Global Management Perspective (CRC Press/Taylor and Francis. 2011). He has served as Associate Editor for Toxicology Information and Resources for Elsevier's journal, Toxicology and edited special issues on Digital Information and Tools. Phil is also overseeing a monographic series on Toxicology History. Volumes have been published on Antiquity, the Middle Ages and Renaissance, modern clinical toxicology, risk assessment, alternative test methods, food and nutrition, and disasters, with more in the planning stages. He is a co-Editor-in-Chief of the Taylor and Francis journal, Global Security: Health, Science, and Policy and a past recipient of the US Society of Toxicology’s (SOT) Public Communications Award. Phil recently retired from a long federal career as a Technical Information Specialist at the National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) Toxicology and Environmental Health Information Program, within its Specialized Information Services Division (SIS). His initial position at NLM was as a Fellow of its Associate Program and early work included a brief stint in the Reference Services Section. A recipient of the NLM Regents Award for Scholarly or Technical Achievement and the Distinguished Technical Communication Award of the Washington chapter of the Society for Technical Communication, he was team leader for the development of the ToxLearn online multi-module tutorials, a joint activity with the SOT. Phil had also been project officer for the LactMed file on drugs and lactation, and the IRIS (Integrated Risk Information System) and ITER (International Toxicity Estimates for Risk) risk assessment databases. Additionally, Phil had been the guiding force behind, and federal liaison to, the World Library of Toxicology, Chemical Safety, and Environmental Health (WLT) prototype, a free global Web portal that provided the scientific community and public with links to major government agencies, non-governmental organizations, universities, professional societies, and other groups addressing issues related to toxicology, public health, and environmental health prior to its migration to the INND/Toxipedia group. This multilingual tool, fed by information from a roster of international Country Correspondents, has been praised as a successful test resource for overcoming barriers to the sharing of information between countries, enhancing collaboration, and minimizing duplication. Currently on hiatus, it awaits a visionary funding source to become operational. A trustee of the Toxicology Education Foundation (TEF), Phil had previously served as its federal liaison. He is a past Chair of SOT’s World Wide Web Advisory Team, and active in its Ethical, Legal, Forensics, and Social Issues Specialty Section. He was a member of the Education and Communications Work Group of the CDC/ATSDR’s National Conversation on Public Health and Chemical Exposure. A co-developer of the Toxicology History Room, he is co-founder and was federal liaison to the Toxicology History Association. For many years he organized and emceed the popular Toxicology Quiz Bowl at the annual SOT meetings. In addition to pursuing toxicology-related activities in his retirement, Phil is happy to have more time to embrace other lifelong interests. He is the author of five poetry collections, a mosaic artist, and a cactus and succulent enthusiast.
Affiliations and expertise
Retired, National Library of Medicine (NLM), Bethesda, MD, USA

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