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Blue Key said:
I'm about to read Einstein's Intersection

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this and nova are both great books by S.R.Delany

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Entropymancer said:
To my knowledge, the following list comprises all attempts which have attempted generalized overviews of psychoactive plants with an eye towards their botany and chemistry, excepting a handful of less rigorous works (such as Weil & Rosen's Chocolate to Morphine, Rudgley's less-than-encyclopedic Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Substances, and Victor Reko's overembellished-and-error-prone Magische Gifte)

• (1855)
  Die narkotischen Genußittel und der Mensch [The Narcotic Stimulants and Man]
  (Translated to English as Plant Intoxicants, 1994)
  Baron Ernst von Bibra
  [Bibra covers: coffee, tea, mate, guarana, chocolate, khat, the fly agaric, datura, coca, opium, hashish, tobacco, and betel... not a bad spread for over 150 yeras ago.]
  
  
  
• (1855)
  Chemistry of Common Life
  (Reprinted numerous times)
  James F.W. Johnston
  [While Johnston's work was not explicitly a treatment of drug chemistry, it contained several chapters on "The Beverages We Infuse" (Tea, Coffee, and Chocolate), as well as on "The Narcotics We Indulge In" (datura, fly agaric, coca, betel, cannabis, opium, hops, and tobacco) which make it worth consideration as a historic book of drug lore]
  
  
  
• (1860)
  The Seven Sisters of Sleep
  (Reprinted 1997, Park Street Press: Rochester, VT)
  Mordecai Cubitt Cooke
  [Excellent early review of the seven best-known psychoactive plants in the Victorian era: tobacco, opium, cannabis, betel nut, coca, datura, and fly agaric]
  
  
  
• (1924)
  Phantastica
  (German 2nd Edition, 1927. Translated to English 1931 from German 2nd Edition, reprinted 1998)
  Louis Lewin
  [Popular book by the well-known German pharmacologist, covering opium and morphine (and some related opiates), coca and cocaine, peyotl, cannabis, the fly agaric, Solanaceous deleriants, ayahuasca, alcohol, kava, betel, khat, coffee, mate, tea, kola nut, guarana, cacao, tobacco, and a few other various and sundry plants and chemicals.]
  
  
  
• (1972)
  Narcotic Plants
  (2nd Edition 1979)
  William Emboden
  [A nearly exclusively botanical treatment of the psychoactive plants, interspersed with the occasional graphic plate depicting the plant's context in indigenous use (generally either paraphernalia or ancient artwork). An excellent source for botanical information, but not much else]
  
  
  
• (1973)
  Botany and Chemistry of Hallucinogens
  (2nd Edition, 1980)
  Richard Evans Schultes and Albert Hofmann
  [Until Ott's Pharmacotheon, Schultes & Hofmann's Botany and Chemistry of Hallucinogens was the definitive volume on the visionary plant drugs.  The majority of the book is occupied in Chapter 4 (on "Plants of Hallucinogenic Use") and the bibliography. Aside from that there are only 30 pages of introductory remarks and a concluding 50 pages on the "Alleged" and "Possible" hallucinogens. Unfortunately the work lacks a Table of Contents.  The "Plants of Hallucinogenic Use" whose chemistry and ethnobotanical backgrounds are discussed include: ergot, fly agarics, psilocybian mushrooms, cannabis, nutmeg, Virola spp., Anadenanthera spp., jurema, mescal beans, ayahuasca, the psychoactive phenethylamine-containing cacti, iboga, the bindweeds (Ipomoea, Turbina, and Argyria), Salvia divinorum, the Solanaceous deleriants, Justicia pectoralis, Psychotria viridis, and a few sundry others]
  
  
  
• (1978)
  Psychedelics Encyclopedia
  (2nd Edition 1983; 3rd Edition 1992)
  Peter Stafford (with technical editor Jeremy Bigwood)
  [This volume is primarily noteworthy for its inclusion of preparation methods for the substances discussed, though the dosage advice is somewhat spurious.  It is otherwise fairly unremarkable; informative, well-organized, but lacking in adequate citations or bibliography and containing little information that couldn't be found in Schultes & Hofmann's Botany and Chemistry for example.  Primary subjects covered are: LSD, the lysergic acid amides, ergot, and bindweeds; peyotl, mescaline, and san pedro; cannabis; psilocybian mushrooms; nutmeg, MDA, and MDMA; DMT, DET, and DPT; ayahuasca and harmaline; iboga and ibogaine; fly agarics and panther caps. Subjects given cursory treatment include: Solanaceous deleriants, yohimbe, kava, and ketamine]
  
  
  
• (1979)
  Plants of the Gods
  (Revised and expanded edition coauthored by Christian Rätsch printed in 2001
  Richard Evans Schultes and Albert Hofmann (with Christian Rätsch)
  [Much less informationally dense than the other sources, but full of color photographs and other graphics. Sort of the 'coffee-table book' guide to the sacred psychoactive plants]
  
  
  
• (1993)
  Pharmacotheon
  (2nd Edition, 1996)
  Jonathan Ott
  [Truly a masterwork. Very thoroughly cited, treating the material in a lucidly direct and engaging fashion, informed by personal experience with the substances.  Primary subjects are: mescaline and the cacti of which it's a constituent; lysergic acid amides and the morning glories (Convolvulaceae) and Ergot fungus in which it occurs; South American snuffs, particularly cohoba and epéna; β-carbolines, ayahuasca, and rue; the psilocybian mushrooms, psilocybin, psilocin, and baeocystine; and ibotenic acid, muscimol, and the fly agarics. Compounds given only a very cursory treatment include: calamus root and the asarones; atropine, hyoscyamine, scopolamine, and the Solanaceous deleriants; ibogaine and voacangine; nicotine, Tobacco spp., and pituri; kava and the kavapyrones; Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A; and Cannabis spp. and tetrahydrocannabinols. Very thorough bibliography. Defined scope of the work is the "entheogens"]
  
  
  
• (1995,2002, and 2005)
  Pharmako/Poeia, Pharmako/Dynamis, and Pharmako/Gnosis
  Dale Pendell
  [Very poetic trilogy covering the "poison path", with one volume on the inebriants (/Poeia), one volume on the stimulants (/Dynamis), and one volume on the visionary compounds (/Gnosis). Captures the essence of the experience in the poetry of the monograph. Not particularly dense on definite history; just a visceral expression of the experience]
  [Pharmako/Poeia covers: tobacco, pituri, alcohol, absinthe, opium, kava, Salvia divinorum, cannabis, and a few sundry others]
  [Pharmako/Dynamis covers: coffee, tea, chocolate, mate & guayusa, guarana, kola, betel, Ephedra spp., khat, amphetamine, coca, nutmeg, MDMA, and GHB]
  [Pharmako/Gnosis covers: morning glories, psilocybian mushrooms, LSD, mescal beans, peyotl, Trichocereus spp., ayahuasca, jurema, syrian rue, Bufo alvarius, DMT, tropanes and the Solanaceous deleriants, ketamine, the fly agaric, and iboga]
  
  
  
• (1998)
  Enzyklopädie der psychoaktiven Pflanzen [Enclyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants]
  (Translated to English 2005, Park Street Press)
  Christian Rätsch
  [Truly encyclopedic volume, covers 414 psychoactive plants.  Depth of information is not tremendous, covering a smattering of chemistry and ethnography, but each monograph is concluded with a bibliography through which to find further source material. A great volume.

Additionally there are two excellent collections which make no attempt at being comprehensive, but are nevertheless eminently citable for the abundance of information contained in their constituent articles.  Obviously there are others (like Sacred Mushroom Seeker: Essays for R. Gordon Wasson), but these two stand head-and-shoulder above:

• (1967)
  The Ethnopharmacologic Search for Psychoactive Drugs
  Editors: Daniel Efron, Bo Holmstedt, and Nathan S. Kline
  
  
• (1972)
  Flesh of the Gods: The Ritual Use of Hallucinogens
  Editor: Peter T. Furst

Additionally there are several publications which are excellent sources of information on a particular substance.  The following list is by no means exhaustive, and if anyone can add to it I'd love to hear suggestions.

Anadenanthera Seeds

• (2006)
  Anadenanthera: Visionary Plant of Ancient South America
  Constantino Manuel Torres and David B. Repke
  

Caffeine Plants

• (2001)
  The World of Caffeine
  Bennett Alan Weinberg and Bonnie K. Bealer
  
  
• (1998)
  Caffeine Blues: Wake up the the Hidden Dangers of America's #1 Drug
  Stephen A. Cherninske
  
  
• (1985)
  The Cacahuatl Eater: Ruminations of an Unabashed Chocolate Addict
  Jonathan Ott
  
  
• (1922)
  All About Coffee
  William Ukers
  

Cannabis

• (2002)
  Cannabis: A History
  Martin Booth
  
  
• (2002)
  Cannabis and Cannabinoids: Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutic Potential
  Franjo Grotenhermen and Ethan Russo
  
  
• (1998)
  Marijuana Medicine: A World Tour of the Healing and Visionary Powers of Cannabis
  (Original publication in German. Translated to English 2001)
  Christian Rätsch
  

Coca

• (1978)
  Mama Coca
  Antonil
  
  
• (1901)
  History of Coca: "The Divine Plant" of the Incas
  W. Golden Mortimer
  

DMT Plants

• (1994)
  Ayahuasca Analogues
  Jonathan Ott
  
  
• (1998)
  Trout's Notes on Ayahuasca & Ayahuasca Alkaloids
  (2nd Edition 2004 as Ayahuasca: Alkaloids, Plants & Analogs)
  Keeper of the Trout
  
  
• (2007?)
  Some Simple Tryptamines (2nd Edition)
  (Date of 1st Edition publication unknown)
  Keeper of the Trout
  

Fly Agaric

• (1957)
  Mushrooms, Russia and History
  R. Gordon Wasson and Valentina Pavlovna Wasson
  
  
• (1968)
  Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality
  R. Gordon Wasson
  

Harmala Alkaloids, Rue & Ayahuasca

• (1989)
  Haoma and Harmaline: The Botanical Identity of the Indo-Iranian Sacred Hallucinogen "Soma" and its Legacy in Religion, Language, and Middle Eastern Folklore
  David Stophlet Flattery and Martin Schwartz
  

Kava

• (1992)
  Kava - The Pacific Elixir: The Definitive Guide to its Ethnobotany, History, and Chemistry
  (Republished 1997)
  Vincent Lebot, Mark David Merlin, and Lamont Lindstrom
  

Psilocybian Mushrooms

• (1980)
  The Wondrous Mushroom: Mycolatry in Mesoamerica
  R. Gordon. Wasson
  
  
• (1978)
  Teonanácatl: Hallucinogenic Mushrooms of North America
  Editors: Jonathan Ott and Jeremy Bigwood
  
  
• (1957)
  Mushrooms, Russia and History
  R. Gordon Wasson and Valentina Pavlovna Wasson

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klimt said:
I plan on reading The Shroomery Re-lived: The top 100 greatest posts by Ythan.

Should be an interesting read over the holidays.

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nickfreezerbag said:
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda







Great book so far.

If you like hearing trip reports of different entheogens than you should pick up this book.

So far he has given a report of peyote, datura, and where I am at right now he is preparing for salvia if im not mistaken.

Really interesting story which is followed by 4 or more books.
check it out

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