Phantastica: A Classic Survey on the Use and Abuse of Mind-Altering Plants - Softcover

Lewin, Louis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0892817836 ISBN 13: 9780892817832

Publisher: Inner Traditions Bear and Company, 2000

Synopsis

Long out of print, this is a landmark study on narcotic and psychedelic substances by a world-renowned pharmacologist and toxicologist

- The first book to bring non-judgmental scientific insights to the use of drugs around the world

- Provides detailed information on all major drugs of the time, including opium, cocaine, heroin, cannabis, peyote, fly agaric, henbane, datura, alcohol, kava, betel, coffee, tea, cocoa, and tobacco

- A book credited with starting an era of ethnobotany that continues to the present day

The publication of Louis Lewin's Phantastica in 1924 began an era of ethnobotany that is still flourishing today. Until Lewin, books on the use of drugs were purely works of anthropology, concerned with how people used these plants, rather than how the plants produced their famous effects. Lewin, a world-renowned pharmacologist and toxicologist, was fascinated by both, and Phantastica was the first book to bring scientific insights to a survey of the use of drugs around the world. Lewin traveled extensively and acquired an astonishing variety of knowledge, reflected in this book, which provides detailed information on all major drugs of the time, including opium, cocaine, heroin, cannabis, peyote, fly agaric, henbane, datura, alcohol, kava, betel, coffee, tea, cocoa, and, of course, tobacco. For thirty years ethnobotanists have bemoaned the fact that Phantastica has been impossible to find; now this landmark work is once again available.

About this title

About the Author

Louis Lewin, M.D., (1850-1929) was the author of more than 200 major publications on the subject of pharmacology, including 12 books. He was the first researcher to study peyote with the Native Americans and the first to publish a monograph on kava. He directed a private laboratory in Berlin, and he was considered the leading toxicologist in Germany.

From the Back Cover

ETHNOBOTANY The publication of Louis Lewin's Phantastica in 1924 began an era of ethnobotany that is still flowering today. Until Lewin, books on the use of drugs were purely works of anthropology, concerned with how people used these plants rather than how the plants produced their famous effects. Lewin, a world-renowned pharmacologist and toxicologist, was fascinated by both, and Phantastica was the first book to bring scientific insights to a survey of the use of drugs around the world. Lewin traveled extensively and acquired an astounding variety of knowledge, and this is reflected in the book, which provides detailed information on all major drugs of the time, including opium, cocaine, heroin, cannabis, peyote, alcohol, kava, coffee, tea, cocoa, and, of course, tobacco. For thirty years ethnobotanists have bemoaned the fact that Phantastica has been impossible to find; now this landmark of psychedelic research is once again available. LOUIS LEWIN, M.D. (1850-1929) was the author of more than 200 major publications on the subject of pharmacology, including twelve books. He was the first researcher to study peyote with the Native Americans and the first to publish a monograph on kava. He directed a private laboratory in Berlin and was considered the leading toxicologist in Germany.

Edition details

• Publisher: Inner Traditions Bear and Company
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0892817836
• ISBN 13: 9780892817832
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304