Silent death

Silent Death, revised and expanded 2nd ed.. Festering Publications, Green Bay, Wl, 1997. 

Stager, C. Silent deaths from Cameroon s killer lake. Natl. Geogr. 1987, 172 (3), 404 20. 

SILENT DEATH, Second Edition, by Uncle Fester. Underground chemist par excellence Uncle Fester turns his attention to poisons — and the result is Silent Death. A complete guide to poisons, their administration and detection. Sold for informational purposes only. 1997, 5V2 x 8V2, 149 pp, illustrated, soft cover. 16.95. 

Although biological warfare is most often discussed in terms of weapons of mass destruction, usually in the context of war, terrorist use of biological agents cannot be excluded. Biological warfare agents are, for the most part, inexpensive and readily obtainable, and cookbook approaches are readily available. One such book is Silent Death, by an author who calls himself Uncle Fester.43 Other titles from the same publisher include The Poisoner s Handbook and Crimes Involving Poisons. 

Uncle Fester. Silent Death. Port Townsend, Wash Loompanics Unlimited 1989. 

Agreed maybe, but I suspected that Isabetta and Lucretzia had been two dissenting voices, if they had been allowed to speak at all. The point was immaterial now. I dearly wanted to find out how Bernardo had described Zorzi s death to the family, but I dare not ask that near our silent listener. 

Inhalant use has been called a silent epidemic, the breath of death, and the drug problem most resistant to prevention efforts. Huffing and sniffing are potentially deadly for both new and experienced users, yet the issue has escaped the attention of many parents, teachers, physicians, and law enforcement officers. National surveys variously show that only 3% to 10% of parents believe their children have abused inhalants. Others see it as a harmless passing phase. 

The addition of PMA to the already serious ecstasy situation is alarming. Unknowing ecstasy or PMA users may find themselves in an uncontrollable physical state of hyperthermia, experience convulsions, coma, and death. The covert, silent, but deadly presence of PMA within the ecstasy community results in an additional... 

People died in winter. Her father had died in June, Eddy in July, Rhada s mother in August. Death, the ultimate silence. A silent, inward time of year. They thought about the people who had died. Sifted through the past. Searched for things lost forever, carried what could never be discarded. 

Alan MacDiarmid (1927-2007) once said "Chemistry is about people" In this spirit, full names and birth and death dates are given to all the scientists quoted in this book such brief historical data may help illuminate how and when science was done. I have resisted mentioning who was a Nobel prize winner too many to list, and some worthy scientists—for example, Mendeleyeff, Eyring, Edison, Slater, and Tesla—were not honored. I owe a deep debt of gratitude to many people who have educated me over several decades, as live teachers and silent authors. In particular, I am indebted to Professor Willard Frank Libby (1908-1980), who taught us undergraduates at UCLA to love current research problems and led us into quite a few wild-goose chases Professor Harden Marsden McConnell (1927- ), who led us at Caltech and Stanford by example to see what are... 

What does the DDT story illustrate and what lessons can be learnt about the use of chemicals When DDT was first used it was not only very effective but apparently also relatively harmless. This led to it being used in excessive quantities (the more is better fallacy). The inevitable consequence was the death of wildlife and a public outcry which crystallized around the book Silent Spring. This was predicated partly on the fear, If it does this to birds, what is it doing to us DDT is designed to be especially toxic to insects, and other species such as birds are more sensitive than mammals such as humans. The development of a new technique for the detection of DDT which was extremely sensitive allowed traces to be found in many things such as breast milk and food as well as wildlife. It became easy to point the finger at DDT because many birds and other animals had detectable levels of the chemical. But just because a chemical is detectable in an animal does not mean that it causes either death or ill health or that the level is hazardous. 

The debate over DDT is still not over, and there are many toxicologists and other scientists who believe that the case in Silent Spring was probably exaggerated and possibly inaccurate in places. Other books, for example Trashing the Planet by D. L. Ray (1992), have appeared which have put forward alternative views. The detection of minute amounts of DDT in the environment or even in the fat tissue of birds (measured with exquisitely sensitive equipment) may not be relevant to the death of wildlife, that is, the association may be coincidental rather than causal. Because DDT became ubiquitous in the environment many people befieved that they were accumulating it in their bodies and that eventually it would be hazardous. However, the amounts people have accumulated in their... 

Rachel Carson called DDT the elixir of death in her book Silent Spring. DDT use was banned in the United States in 1973, but because of its effectiveness and low cost, it is still widely used to control insect populations in developing countries. 

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