A deadly secret lurks within our kitchens medicine cabinets and gardens... Digitalis
purpurea . The common foxglove. Vision blurs as blood pressure drops precipitously. The
heartbeat slows until finally it stops. Atropa belladonna . Deadly nightshade. Eyes
darken as strange shapes flutter across your vision. The heart begins to race and soon the
entire body is overcome with convulsions. Papaver somniferum . The opium poppy. Pupils
constrict to a pinprick as the senses dull. Gradually breathing shudders to a halt. Scratch
the surface of a coffee bean a chilli flake or an apple seed and find a bevy of strange
chemicals - biological weapons in a war raging unseen. Here beetles birds bats and
butterflies must navigate a minefield of specialised chemicals and biotoxins each designed to
maim and kill. And yet these chemicals evolved to repel marauding insects and animals have
now become an integral part of our everyday lives. Some we use to greet our days (caffeine) and
titillate our tongues (capsaicin) others to bend our minds (psilocybin) and take away our
pains (opioids). Informed by his father's love of the natural world and his eventual spiral
into the depths of addiction evolutionary biologist Noah Whiteman explores how we came to use
- and abuse - these chemicals. Delving into the mysterious origins of plant and fungal toxins
and their unique human history Most Delicious Poison provides a kaleidoscopic tour of nature's
most delectable and dangerous poisons. ***** 'Deeply researched and fascinating.'
-JENNIFER DOUDNA WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY 'Magisterial fascinating and
gripping.' -NEIL SHUBIN AUTHOR OF YOUR INNER FISH 'Exuberant poignant and mind-blowing.'
-DANIEL E. LIEBERMAN AUTHOR OF EXERCISED
