The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug

384 Pages·2000·0.92 MB·English

by  Bennet Alan Weinberg

Praise for THE WORLD OF caffeine
“An amazing book…a challenging mix of history, science, medicine, anthropology,
sociology, and popular music, then add a dash of humor, a pinch of polemic, and a
dollop of healthful skepticism…. Briskly written, full-bodied, and flavorful.”
–Kirkus Reviews
“With chapters devoted to the history, science, and cultural significance of coffee,
tea, and caffeinated soft drinks, The World of Caffeine reveals a great deal of surprising
information about the chemical that we all take for granted.”
–Wired Magazine
“This book holds everything we ever wanted to know…about the drug that helps
many of us keep up with the fast pace of our lives.”
–Boston Herald, Editor’s Choice
“Here at last is a lavishly produced history of the world’s favourite mood enhancer,
from Mayan chocolate to the Japanese tea ceremony.”
–London Guardian
“With impressive felicity, Weinberg and Bealer marshal the forces of history,
chemistry, medicine, cultural anthropology, psychology, philosophy and even a little
religion to tell caffeine’s complicated story…. Fascinating, generously illustrated
volume.”
–Cleveland Plain Dealer
“The scholarship is impressive…. The text is rich with information, yet is easy and
pleasant to read.”
–Dr. Peter B.Dews in the New England Journal of Medicine
“Caffeine shows no signs of surrendering its sovereign position in the hierarchy of
humanity’s drugs of choice and I know of no other book that better explains how and
why it got there….”
–New Scientist
“Well-researched and entertaining…contains a wealth of fascinating cultural
anecdotes, historical information, and scientific facts which provide a unique
perspective on the world’s most commonly used mood-altering drug.”
–Dr. Roland R.Griffiths, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Frontispiece from Dufour’s Traitez Nouveux & curieux Du Café, Du Thé, et Du
Chocolate. This French engraving, frontispiece for Dufour’s famous 1685 work on
coffee, tea, and chocolate, depicts a fanciful gathering of a Turk, a Chinese, and an
Aztec inside a tent, each raising a bowl or goblet filled with the steaming caffeinated
beverage native to his homeland. On the floor to the left is the ibrik, or Turkish
coffeepot, on the table at center the Chinese tea pot, and on the floor to the right the
long-handled South American chocolate pot, together with the moliné, or stirring rod,
used to beat up the coveted froth. Baker, writing in 1891, commented that this image
demonstrates “how intimate the association of these beverages was regarded to be even
two centuries ago.” It is evident from the conjunction of subjects in the engraving that,
long before anyone knew of the existence of caffeine, Europeans suspected that some
unidentified factor united the exotic coffee, tea, and cacao plants, despite their
dissimilar features and diverse provenances. (The Library Company of Philadelphia)
THE WORLD OF caffeine
The Science and Culture of the World’s Most
Popular Drug
BENNETT ALAN WEINBERG
BONNIE K.BEALER
ROUTLEDGE
New York and London
Published in 2002 by
Routledge
29 West 35th Street
New York, NY 10001
Published in Great Britain by
Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane
London EC4P 4EE
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group.
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Copyright © 2001 by Bennett Alan Weinberg and Bonnie K.Bealer
Design and typography: Jack Donner
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in
any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Any omissions or
oversights in the acknowledgments section of this volume are purely unintentional.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Weinberg, Bennett Alan.
The world of caffeine: the science and culture of the world’s most popular drug/
Bennett Alan Weinberg and Bonnie K.Bealer.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-415-92722-6 (hbk.)—0-415-92723-4 (pbk.)
1. Caffeine. I. Bealer, Bonnie K. II. Title.
QP801.C24 W45 2001
613.8’4–dc21 00–059243
ISBN 0-203-01179-1 Master e-book ISBN
eISBN: 978-1-13595-817-6
Bennett Alan Weinberg
dedicates his efforts on this book to his parents,
Herbert Weinberg, M.D., and Martha Ring Weinberg,
who made so much possible for him.
Bonnie K.Bealer
dedicates her efforts to Ms. P.H.,
who knows who she is.
Argument
Health and history seen
Through the crystal caffeine