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E-book
Author Arnold, David, 1946- author.

Title Toxic histories : poison and pollution in modern India / David Arnold
Published Cambridge, United Kingdom : Cambridge University Press, [2016]

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Description 1 online resource (ix, 241 pages) : illustrations
Series Science in History
Science in history (Cambridge University Press)
Contents Introduction: poison traces -- 1. The social life of poisons -- 2. The imperial pharmakon -- 3. Panics and scares -- 4. Toxic evidence -- 5. Intimate histories -- 6. Embracing toxicity -- 7. Polluted places, poisoned lives -- Conclusion
Summary "Toxic Histories combines social, scientific, medical and environmental history to demonstrate the critical importance of poison and pollution to colonial governance, scientific authority and public anxiety in India between the 1830s and 1950s. Against the background of India's 'poison culture' and periodic 'poison panics', David Arnold considers why many familiar substances came to be regarded under colonialism as dangerous poisons. As well as the criminal uses of poison, Toxic Histories shows how European and Indian scientists were instrumental in creating a distinctive system of forensic toxicology and medical jurisprudence designed for Indian needs and conditions, and how local, as well as universal, poison knowledge could serve constructive scientific and medical purposes. Arnold reflects on how the 'fear of a poisoned world' spilt over into concerns about contamination and pollution, giving ideas of toxicity a wider social and political significance that has continued into India's postcolonial era."-- Provided by publisher
Notes Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 09 Feb 2016)
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 212-236) and index
Notes English
Subject Toxins -- India -- History
Toxins, Biological -- history
Poisons -- history
MEDICAL -- Pharmacology.
Toxins
Toxikologie
Medizin
Recht
Politik
Gift
SUBJECT India
Subject India
Indien
Empire britannique.
Inde.
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781316411414
1316411419
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