Joseph S. Karas

Joseph S. Karas was a medical doctor who served as director of the Poison Control Center at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence. He is best known as the co-author, with Heber W. Youngken, Jr., of Common Poisonous Plants of New England, a public-health guide published in cooperation with the Rhode Island Health Department and the U.S. Public Health Service.

His writing is clear, practical, and rooted in prevention. Rather than treating botany as an abstract subject, Karas helped present poisonous plants as a real-world safety issue, explaining how to identify hazardous species, which parts are dangerous, and what symptoms may follow exposure.

That combination of medical knowledge and public education gives his work lasting value. Readers interested in nature, first aid, and regional field guides will find in his book a concise example of health information written to be genuinely useful.