Deborah Blum's The Poisoners Handbook takes a grim but entertaining trip back to jazz age New York City to the first professional Forensic Lab run by Charles Norris and toxicologist Alexander Gettler.
They solve crimes using tools developed in the lab. They experience successes and failures as juries struggle to understand the new science and cleaver criminals are sometimes one step ahead.
The era of prohibition also factors into the story as people turn to alternate methods of getting less than safe contaminated alcoholic beverages.
We owe debt to the people working in these labs by transforming the role of a Coroner from a political appointee to a professional scientifically based position.
The Poison Squad - 56 minutes
Dangerous Dairy - 4 minutes
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