Essential Elements of Murder

THE ELEMENTS OF MURDER: A History of Poison, by John Emsley, Oxford University Press, 2005, 421 pages, $30 (ISBN 0–;19–;280599–1)

Looking inside the dust jacket of John Emsley's new book, The Elements of Murder: A History of Poison, I was given a hint of what I would find between the covers: Through vividly told stories of innocent blunders, industrial accidents, poisoners of various hues--cold, cunning, desperate--and deaths that remain a mystery, Emsley here uncovers the dark side of the periodic table.

Once I got a taste of the first few pages, I began to devour the chapters with great, gluttonous anticipation. The feeling reminded me of English author and philosopher Francis Bacon (1561–1626), who once wrote, Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.

I quickly realized not only how accurate Emsley's book is, but also the degree of in-depth research he carried out in preparing it. Far into the night I continued to read, again and again thinking to myself, I didn't know that fact about that particular poison, and this historical event--where did he find that piece of information?

As a practicing clinical and forensic toxicologist, I have collected and read over 1,000 books on toxicology (some dating back to the early 1700s) and published some 250 book reviews over the past 30 years. I believe that I am fairly well in touch with the toxicological literature. Yet I was blown away by the contents of this book.

Here is an author who truly stands with his feet in the worlds of both chemistry and toxicology. For 20 years, Emsley was a lecturer and researcher in chemistry at London University; he has written a series of popular science books, including Vanity, Vitality, and Virility: The Science Behind the Products You Love To Buy (C&EN, Nov. 22, 2004, page 106) and Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements (C&EN, Nov. 4, 2002, page 38). In 1995, Emsley won the Rhne-Poulenc Science Book Prize. In 2003, he was awarded the German Chemical Society's Writer's Award.

The title of his latest book is a clever play on words, for it's a discussion of the forensic aspects of poisonous substances and their toxicological features, organized around the more toxic chemical elements. Emsley divides the book into major sections on mercury, arsenic, antimony, lead, and thallium. He briefly tackles, in a chapter at the end, the poisonous nature of other elements, including barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, fluorine, nickel, potassium, selenium, sodium, tellurium, and tin.

As the author states in his introduction: Today we can unravel the mysteries that early generations struggled to understand, and appreciate all that has been done to remove toxic elements from our lives. While we have made the world a safer place, we can still learn from tales of the days when chemical elements poisoned millions.

Especially interesting are his discussions of criminal cases in which a toxic agent was used as a weapon for murder. Emsley has included an accurate discussion of some of the more infamous criminal poisoning cases, including the mercury poisoning of poet Sir Thomas Overbury in 1613; the arsenic poisoning of James Maybrick (whom some people suspect was Jack the Ripper) by his wife, Florence; the tales of William Palmer and Edward Pritchard, who killed numerous people with antimony; and Graham Young, who dispatched his victims with thallium.

As familiar as I am with these cases, I still am impressed by the accuracy and detail of the facts the author has included: Young's family called him Pudding because of his weight; as a result of murders Palmer committed, Great Britain passed the Palmer Act, making it unlawful to take out an insurance policy on another individual if the insured's death would result in financial gain for the insurer. Small details, yes, but an indication of the exacting research the author conducted for the preparation of his manuscript.

For those readers interested in the environmental impact of these toxic elements, the author has included a detailed summary of the tragic mercury poisoning during the 1950s in Minamata Bay, Japan, in which industrial dumping sickened and killed more than 3,000 people. Also included is the story of the slow poisoning of millions of Bangladeshis by naturally occurring arsenic in groundwater (C&EN, May 30, page 68). Emsley covers the occupational problems experienced by those who have worked around some of the toxic elements, such as the condition know as hatter's shakes. In this case, twitching and tremoring are caused by chronic use of mercury in the felting industry, which led to the phrase mad as a hatter.

Emsley has even included the relation to the equivalent value in today's dollars of old monetary amounts when they are mentioned, for example, to show how much a person stood to gain financially by murder.

The book contains a welcome detailed bibliography, a glossary of terms, a comprehensive index, and an appendix that lists the essential elements in the body of an average 155-lb person. My only quibble with Elements is the lack of pictures and tables that could have added to the text.

For those readers who lack a strong scientific background, fear not! These readers will find the book easy to comprehend. It is remarkable that the author was able to bring this chemical information to the readers-including his clear and accurate description of how the body attempts to handle a toxic dose of arsenic-in a format that can fulfill their needs regardless of their level of prior knowledge.

I heartily recommend that this book be read and added to the library of every chemist, toxicologist, and avid crime fiction reader, wherever they may be around the world. This book is an absolute delight and, for the price, a bargain to boot.

John H. Trestrail III is a clinical and forensic toxicologist and director of DeVos Children's Hospital Regional Poison Center in Grand Rapids, Mich. He is the author of the book Criminal Poisoning, and his workshop series Murder by Poison! has been held around the world.