{"product_id":"most-delicious-poison-the-story-of-natures-toxins-from-spices-to-vices-paperback","title":"Most Delicious Poison: The Story of Nature's Toxins--From Spices to Vices - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eNoah Whiteman\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn evolutionary biologist tells the story of nature's toxins and why we are attracted--and addicted--to them, in this \"magisterial, fascinating, and gripping tour de force\" (Neil Shubin).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A deadly secret lurks within our spice racks, medicine cabinets, backyard gardens, and private stashes. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Scratch beneath the surface of a coffee bean, a red pepper flake, a poppy seed, a mold spore, a foxglove leaf, a magic-mushroom cap, a marijuana bud, or an apple seed, and we find a bevy of strange chemicals. We use these to greet our days (caffeine), titillate our tongues (capsaicin), recover from surgery (opioids), cure infections (penicillin), mend our hearts (digoxin), bend our minds (psilocybin), calm our nerves (CBD), and even kill our enemies (cyanide). But why do plants and fungi produce such chemicals? And how did we come to use and abuse some of them? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Based on cutting-edge science in the fields of evolution, chemistry, and neuroscience, \u003ci\u003eMost Delicious Poison\u003c\/i\u003e reveals: \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e The origins of toxins produced by plants, mushrooms, microbes, and even some animals \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e The mechanisms that animals evolved to overcome them \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e How a co-evolutionary arms race made its way into the human experience \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e And much more \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cbr\u003e This perpetual chemical war not only drove the diversification of life on Earth, but also is intimately tied to our own successes and failures. You will never look at a houseplant, mushroom, fruit, vegetable, or even the past five hundred years of human history the same way again.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNoah Whiteman \u003c\/b\u003eis an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is Professor of Integrative Biology and of Molecular and Cell Biology. At Berkeley, he is also affiliated with the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Center for Computational Biology, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Jepson and University Herbaria, and Essig Museum of Entomology. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2020 to write \u003ci\u003eMost Delicious Poiso\u003c\/i\u003en and lives in Oakland.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 304\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.9 x 8.2 x 5.4 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e November 19, 2024\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45176768987215,"sku":"9780316386678","price":18.39,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0638\/8328\/0463\/files\/cdZw44yvy89780316386678.webp?v=1778198367","url":"https:\/\/easonbooks.com\/products\/most-delicious-poison-the-story-of-natures-toxins-from-spices-to-vices-paperback","provider":"EasonBooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}