Tag: arsenic poisoning
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Lydia Sherman, serial poisoner
Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden Poisons were easily obtainable in the nineteenth century, sold for use as household cleaners, vermin control, and in agriculture. By the 1820s, Americans feared being secretly poisoned, “and considered the incidence of murder by poison to be quite high.”1 This “poison panic” was fed by prominent, well-publicized trials. The high incidence of…
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René Descartes found that Sweden was hazardous to his health
Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden René Descartes (1596–1650) was a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. He obtained a law degree in 1616 at his father’s insistence, but in 1618 became an officer in the army of the Dutch Protestant States. He is thought to have influenced the work of Isaac Newton and also created the foundations of…