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on Gopher (inofficial) | |
Visit Hacker News on the Web | |
COMMENT PAGE FOR: | |
Tool to identify poisonous books developed by University of St Andrews | |
drpixie wrote 4 hours 23 min ago: | |
My first thought was that they referred to metaphorically poisonous | |
books, something that scans the catalogue looking nasty books about | |
diversity or gender ... "oh no, more book banning". | |
amy214 wrote 3 hours 50 min ago: | |
LOL exactly. If I had a choice between a book burning of these | |
arsenic books, or a book burning of stunning and brave books such as | |
Middlesex, I would absolutely sniff those arsenic fumes, as that | |
would smell better than to silence the speech of the oppressed | |
classes by the oppressors | |
ngcc_hk wrote 6 hours 8 min ago: | |
I just read the first and last part and immediately alert my relative | |
studying in St. Andrew about the danger of the books there ;-). | |
It is âdeveloped byâ not âinâ. No Harry Potter corner n… | |
allowing students to visit. Actually they do. But every library has | |
green cover does. | |
At least he can go to the exhibition I guess. | |
jeffwass wrote 6 hours 12 min ago: | |
Clarification of the ambiguous title : | |
The tool was developed by University of St Andrews, not the poisonous | |
books. | |
timbaboon wrote 5 hours 49 min ago: | |
Haha thatâs exactly why I clicked on the story :) | |
gmuslera wrote 6 hours 35 min ago: | |
This is from a sequel or a remake of The Name of the Rose? | |
nickdothutton wrote 7 hours 3 min ago: | |
Great, first I had to buy a geiger counter for my old watch collection, | |
now I need to worry about my old books too. | |
jwagenet wrote 8 hours 2 min ago: | |
I thought the final note âwhich can irritate modern day readersâ in | |
the heading was a funny comment. Were historic readers immune to the | |
effects? Has a binder deteriorated such that the irritants come off | |
more readily? Likely neither and itâs always been a problem, but | |
itâs an unanswered question. | |
bananalychee wrote 4 hours 45 min ago: | |
I assume one would develop tolerance to those acute symptoms from | |
repeated exposure. | |
userbinator wrote 6 hours 57 min ago: | |
Probably has always been a largely occupational hazard and otherwise | |
of little concern to the general public, even those who read books | |
regularly. Of course in this era where fear sells and everything has | |
to be harmless regardless of real risk, it's become a more prominent | |
issue. | |
iterance wrote 5 hours 8 min ago: | |
I don't think this is a "fear sells" issue. Arsenic green is | |
remarkably toxic. In the 19th century, the toxicity just wasn't | |
known or recognized as serious. Now, we know better. Medical | |
diagrams from the time period show hand injuries on people who | |
worked with arsenic compounds regularly (deep sores that won't | |
heal, e.g.) | |
ednite wrote 8 hours 15 min ago: | |
Killer books â literally. (Sorry, couldnât resist.) | |
I knew about toxic wallpaper, but hadnât turned the page on poisonous | |
books. (Apologies for the pun. Iâll see myself out.) | |
But in all seriousness, Iâm glad to see efforts like this helping to | |
identify and prevent potential harm. | |
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