Faculty members Deborah Lipstadt, Laura Otis and John Witte Jr. have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies and a leading center for independent policy research.
. Source: Strand Magazine, public domain
The mysterious root poison devil’s foot root (
Radix pedis diaboli), first seen in Arthur Conan Doyle’s
The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot, has not yet found its way either into the pharmacopoeia or into the literature of toxicology. Then again, it would not be as famous as it is today if it had instead appeared in the toxicological literature of the time.
The devil’s foot root remains fictitious – but it masks historical realities. As Dr Sterndale, the tale’s criminal-physician, reports, the poison is found nowhere in Europe “save for one sample in a laboratory at Buda”. The root is semi-anthropomorphised in that it is “shaped like a foot, half human, half goatlike; hence the fanciful name given by a botanical missionary”. According to Dr Sterndale,
The faculty members, all based in Emory College of Arts and Sciences, include:
Laura Otis, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of English, Department of English, won a fellowship in the field of English literature;
Katherine Young, assistant professor of composition, Department of Music, won in the field of music composition; and
Tayari Jones, Charles Howard Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing, Department of English, won in the fiction category.
“In writing, music, scholarship and interdisciplinary collaboration, Tayari Jones, Laura Otis and Katherine Young transcend boundaries and have shown the world their creativity and discoveries,” said Emory President Gregory L. Fenves. “They embody the extraordinary range of artistic expression and scholarship that defines the Emory mission and illuminates our purpose as a university.”