American Poison

A Deadly Invention and the Woman Who Battled for Environmental Justice

De: Daniel Stone

Narrado por: Daniel Stone

From the national bestselling author of The Food Explorer comes the untold story of Alice Hamilton, a trailblazing doctor and public health activist who took on the booming auto industry—and the deadly invention of leaded gasoline, which would poison millions of people across America.

At noon on October 27, 1924, a factory worker was admitted to a hospital in New York City, suffering from hallucinations and convulsions. Before breakfast the next day, he was dead. Alice Hamilton was determined to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

By the time of the accident, Hamilton had pioneered the field of industrial medicine in the United States. She specialized in workplace safety years before the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was created. She was the first female professor at Harvard. She spent decades inspecting factories and mines. But this time, she was up against a formidable new foe: America’s relentless push for progress, regardless of the cost.

The 1920s were an exciting decade. Industry was booming. Labor was flourishing. Automobiles were changing roads, cities, and nearly all parts of American life. And one day, an ambitious scientist named Thomas Midgley Jr. triumphantly found just the right chemical to ensure that this boom would continue. His discovery—tetraethyl leaded gasoline—set him up for great wealth and the sort of fame that would land his name in history books.

Soon, Hamilton would be on a collision course with Midgley, fighting full force against his invention, which poisoned the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the basic structure of our brains.

American Poison is the gripping story of Hamilton’s unsung battle for a healthy planet—and the ramifications that continue to echo today.

©2025 Daniel Stone (P)2025 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“An enthralling biography of Alice Hamilton... captivating... Readers will be riveted.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Stone’s informative history, populated with corporate shills, lazy investigators, and upstanding scientists, serves as a cautionary—and somewhat optimistic—tale... Entertaining and eye-opening.”
—Kirkus

"American Poison is an absolutely first-rate book, in which Daniel Stone displays his impressive research and storytelling prowess to craft a compelling, accessible narrative that I didn't want to end. With haunting parallels to the story of the radium girls, this book exposes sinister corporate machinations, shocking scientific history and a horrifying lack of ethics—but also inspiring activism and individual courage, in particular by one of the radium girls' own champions, the indefatigable Alice Hamilton. I found myself quoting it out loud to anyone who would listen. Fascinating, gripping and essential reading for all."
—Kate Moore, New York Times bestselling author of The Radium Girls and The Woman They Could Not Silence

Entertaining and empowering

I was nervous to start American Poison because I was worried it would be very depressing. However (and thankfully), I found myself feeling empowered, informed, and entertained. Daniel Stone crafts a compelling story that primarily follows the lives of two seemingly opposite characters, Alice Hamilton and Thomas Midgley. Their lives and careers become entangled and juxtaposed, and their legacies impact every person’s life today. Highly recommend!