The 13th Element - the Sordid Tale of Murder, Fire & Phosphorus : The Sordid Tale of Murder, Fire, and Phosphorus

Discovered by alchemists, prescribed by apothecaries, exploited by nineteenth-century industrialists, and abused by twentieth-century combatants, the chemical element phosphorus has fascinated us for more than three centuries.

It may even be the cause of will-o'-the-wisps and spontaneous human combustion!

Now John Emsley has written an enthralling account of this eerily luminescent element.

Shining with wonderful nuggets -- from murders-by-phosphorus to a match factory strike; from the firebombing of Hamburg to the deadly compounds derived from phosphorus today -- The Shocking History of Phosphorus weaves together a rich tableau of brilliant and oddball characters, social upheavals, and bizarre events.