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Although poisonous substances have been a hazard for the whole of human history, it is only with the development and large-scale production of new chemical substances over the last two centuries that toxic, manmade pollutants have become such a varied and widespread danger. Covering a host of both notorious and little-known chemicals, the chapters in this collection investigate the emergence of specific toxic, pathogenic, carcinogenic, and ecologically harmful chemicals as well as the scientific, cultural and legislative responses they have prompted. Each study situates chemical hazards in a long-term and transnational framework and demonstrates the importance of considering both the natural and the social contexts in which their histories have unfolded.
About the author
Elisabeth Vaupel studied chemistry, biology and history in Mainz, Freiburg/Breisgau and Munich. She is a historian of chemistry in the research institute of the Deutsches Museum, where she was previously head of the chemistry department. She also teaches the history of chemistry at Stuttgart University. She is co-editor of
Das Deutsche Museum in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus: Eine Bestandsaufnahme (2010, with Stefan L. Wolff).
Summary
Covering a host of both notorious and little-known substances, the chapters in this collection investigate the emergence of specific toxic, pathogenic, carcinogenic, and ecologically harmful chemicals as well as the scientific, cultural and legislative responses they have prompted over the past two hundred years.
