The world of caffeine : the science and culture of the world's most popular drug / Bennett Alan Weinberg, Bonnie K. Bealer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Weinberg, Bennett Alan.

Contributor:

Bealer, Bonnie K.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Caffeine.

Physical Description:

xxi, 394 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, 2001.

Summary:

Over 85% of Americans use significant amounts of caffeine on a daily basis, but very few of us know much about this freely available psychoactive substance. The World of Caffeine takes us on an engaging tour of the fascinating cultural history of the drug that has figured prominently in the exchanges of trade and intelligence that constitute the history and intercourse of nations. Its most common sources -- coffee, tea, and chocolate -- have been both promoted as productive of health and creativity and banned as corrupters of the body and mind or subverters of social order. Taking us from India to Balzac to cybercafes, this is a captivating tale of psychology, religion, social classes, international trade, love, and art.

Contents:

Overview: Caffeine Encounters xi

Prologue: The Discovery of Caffeine xvii

Part I Caffeine in history 1

1. Coffee: Arabian Origins 3

2. Tea: Asian Origins 27

3. Cacao: American Origins 41

Part II Europe wakes up to caffeine 51

4. Monks and Men-at-Arms: Europe's First Caffeine Connections 53

5. The Caffeine Trade Supplants the Spice Trade: Tea and Coffee Come to the West 61

6. The Late Adopters: Germany, Russia, and Sweden Join In 83

7. Judgments of History: Medical Men Debate Caffeine 95

8. Postscript: Why Did Caffeine Come When It Came? 125

Part III The culture of caffeine 129

9. Islands of Caffeine (1): Japan: The Tradition of Tea, the Novelty of Coffee 133

10. Islands of Caffeine (2): England: Caffeine and Empire 147

11. The Endless Simmer: America and the Twentieth Century Do Caffeine 181

12. Caffeine Culture and Le Fin de Millenaire 197

Part IV The Natural history of caffeine 213

13. Caffeine in the Laboratory 215

14. Caffeine and the Plant Kingdom: "My Vegetable Love ..." 235

Part V Caffeine and health 267

15. Caffeine and the Body: Health Effects, Reproductive Issues, and Fitness 269

16. Thinking Over Caffeine: Cognition, Learning, and Emotional Well-Being 291

17. Caffeine Dependence, Intoxication, and Toxicity 303

Epilogue: A Toast to the Future 317

Appendix A The London Coffeehouse during the Commonwealth and Restoration 321

Appendix C Additional Studies of Caffeine's Physical Effects 332.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [373]-380) and index.

ISBN:

0415927226

0415927234

OCLC:

44683483