Born into Gilded Age wealth, Dr. Alice Hamilton pivoted from sheltered socialite to medical pioneer, inventing the field of industrial toxicology in the United States. Her work laid the foundation for modern workplace safety laws, and in 1919 she became the first woman appointed to the Harvard faculty.

Living at Hull House in Chicago, Hamilton pioneered shoe-leather epidemiology, walking into factories to trace poisonings back to specific chemicals and processes. This deep dive follows her battles against lead poisoning, TNT exposure, and the powerful industries behind leaded gasoline.

• How she mapped a 1902 typhoid outbreak to a negligent sanitary inspector
• Her Illinois survey uncovering over 70 industrial processes causing lead poisoning
• Solving toxic jaundice among WWI munitions workers exposed to TNT
• He ...