The Power of Poison --- The History of Poison

So, this post is waaaayyyy overdue, but I wanted to share it anyway. Over my winter break, I visited the American Museum of Natural History with my parents. We specifically went to the poison exhibition at the museum, which is running until August. I want to give you guys a taste of the exhibit, without giving too much away. 

This exhibit is absolutely phenomenal. I have been going to AMNH all of my life and by far, this is the best exhibit I have ever seen! The exhibit looks at poisons and toxins in nature, history, literature, and in medicine. A lot of ground to cover, but AMNH nailed it! Well done! 

The first part of the exhibit looks at poisons and toxins in nature, with an emphasis on the rain forest. When you first walk in, there is a display case with these adorable yellow frogs. They may look very cute, but they are incredibly deadly! Be warned!!! There are also displays with insects (not real) and plants, all of which are accompanied with detailed explanations about the nature of the toxin and how that toxin can be used. 

The next section of the exhibit looks at the prevalence of poison and toxins in literature and history. Specifically how literary references are based upon contemporary facts or historical notes. From the three witches in Macbeth to ancient Greek mythology, to Romeo and Juliet, and much much more, the connections between history and literature were astounding! 

"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble." - Macbeth (IV, i)

One of the more interesting facts that I learned pertains to a story that I love very much --- Alice in Wonderland. So, we all know that the Mad Hatter is well, mad, right? It is in the name. What I didn't realize is that the eccentricities of this character are based on fact. The Mad Hatter is Lewis Carrol's reference to "mad hatter disease", a prevalent illness during the Victorian period. According to wikipedia, mad hatter's disease is an "occupational chronic mercury poisoning among hat makers whose felting work involved prolonged exposure to mercury vapors. The neurotoxic effects included tremor and the pathological shyness and irritability characteristic of erethism." How fascinating! 

Even Snow White and the poison apple made an appearance!

I was pleasantly amused to see the appearance of Harry Potter in the exhibit. The display talked about potions class and all of the other appearance of potions and poisons in the book series! (The Marauder's Map even made an appearance!)

Now, an exhibit on poison and toxins wouldn't be complete without the appearance of murder mysteries! Between Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie…it was awesome! 

This was by far the coolest part of the entire exhibit. This is a magical book --- straight out of Harry Potter. This is a giant interactive book that you can touch and play with. Every image on the page comes to life and explanations magically appear, with animations and everything! I could have easily spent hours playing with this book!

Here, we have the hall of famous poisoners and poison victims. Whilst we don't know the truths about each of these historical figures, the rumors are certainly juicy!

Towards the end of the exhibit there is an interactive activity, which could be described at CSI: Victorian London. Basically, you are given a scenario where someone is poisoned with arsenic and you have to figure out "who done it?" Very cute and very interesting! I really loved this part of the exhibit. The girl running it was super enthusiastic, personable, and very knowledgeable about the history of arsenic. I kept thinking, "I could do this job! I should be doing this job!"

Marsh Test = early method of detecting arsenic

Couldn't resist. If you hate spiders, I am truly sorry for freaking you out!

These three posters were available in the gift shop and I loved them!

I completely fell in love with this flask. 

I am also in the middle of prepping for the MCAT, so I was totally needing out over the organic molecule…

The highlight of the exhibit for me, was meeting a historian in the gift shop! I was being my nerdy self and taking notes on all of the monographs in the shop. (I should say, I am now totally fascinated with the history of poisons so I was creating a reading list.) I don't quite know how it happened, but the cashier mentioned that one of the authors of one of the books was present and pointed him out to me. I immediately made a bee-line to the gentleman, Professor John Parascandola. He is a medical historian and currently teaches at the University of Maryland. I began chatting with him and his wife. What a wonderful couple and he was so nice! I promptly bought a copy of his book, which he graciously personalized for me! Yay! (I am reading it now and I absolutely love it. Highly highly recommend it!) 

Overall, I think that the poison exhibition is AMAZING! I absolutely loved it and I cannot wait to go back. Really well designed and very very interesting. Well done AMNH! If you haven't gone yet, GO! You won't be disappointed.