| Collation |
xxiii, 213 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm |
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text txt rdacontent |
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unmediated n rdamedia |
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volume nc rdacarrier |
| Bibliog. |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 188-209) and index. |
| Contents |
1878: two stars are born -- The poisonous yellow cloud and the American response -- The hunt for a new king -- The American university experimental station -- Willoughby -- The inter-war years -- Military biology and BAL -- World war II -- Lewisite production, use, and sea dumping after World War II -- Lewisite stockpiles and terrestrial residues -- Human and environmental toxicology -- Lewisite, terrorism, and the future. |
| Summary |
Annotation A timely, riveting history of America's World War I project to develop a deadly chemical weapon. |
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Annotation In 1919, when the Great War was over, the New York Times reported on a new chemical weapon with "the fragrance of geranium blossoms, "a poison gas that was "the climax of this country's achievements in the lethal arts."The name of this substance was lewisite and this is its story-the story of an American weapon of mass destruction. Discovered by accident by a graduate student and priest in a chemistry laboratory at American University, lewisite was developed into a weapon by Winford Lewis, who became its namesake. After a powerful German counterattack in the spring of 1918, the government began frantic production of lewisite in hopes of delivering 3,000 tons of the stuff to be ready for use in Europe the following year. The end of war came just as the first shipment was being prepared. It was dumped into the sea, but not forgotten. Joel A. Vilensky tells the intriguing story of the discovery and development of this weapon and its curious history. |
| Note |
Gift of Dr. Gary Jason. |
| Subject |
Lewisite (Poison gas) -- History.
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Organoarsenic compounds -- Toxicology.
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| Alt Author |
Sinish, Pandy R.
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| ISBN |
0253346126 (cloth : alk. paper) |
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9780253346124 (cloth : alk. paper) |
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