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EXCERPTS, p. 122: "I was surprised, though, that much of my training as a scientist (arranging compelling proofs) was so completely opposite from the demands of a novelist (revealing the truth indirectly)." "In science, the task is to solve a puzzle constructed by Mother Nature. In mystery writing, the task is to construct a puzzle making use of an understanding of human nature." |
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"NUMB3RS does for mathematics what CSI did for the forensic laboratory: It takes it out on the mean streets and puts it through a test drive." |
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EXCERPT: Pharmacogenomics (personalized medicine) is another field on the brink. Biomedical science will use gene- and protein-expression biochips increasingly in the next five years, says Duncan Haynes, a 30-year veteran of biomedical science and the author of Pharmacology is Murder (writing under the pen-name Dirk Wyle). The fruits of that technology will spill over into the clinic, he says, in the form of patient-specific regimens (for chemotherapy, for example) based on gene-activation profiles. |
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How much arsenic does it take to kill a man? Is an expert on edible fungus likely to eat a poisonous mushroom? Can a person build up an immunity to strychnine by ingesting a small amount each day? Is it possible to identify a cigar or cigarette brand only from its ashes? How do blood and DNA tests operate? Is there actually a type of poison that leaves no trace? Chemistry, forensic analysis, and the scientific method play an important role in numerous detective stories. In this course we will examine the accuracy of the science portrayed in murder mysteries by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, and Dirk Wyle. From a scientific perspective, we will focus primarily on the origin and mechanism of various poisonous substances. Additionally, we will examine the development of forensic techniques from the time of Doyle to the present. |
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TEXTBOOKS: "Organic Chemistry of Drug Design and Drug Action" by Richard B. Silverman (Northwestern U.), Academic Press, San Diego "Pharmacology is Murder" by Dirk Wyle, Rainbow Books, Inc., Highland City, FL ISBN-1-56825-084-3 Plus additional course packet on Combinatorial Chemistry. |
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