Pepper
Spices
In the introduction to Spices, Henry N. Ridley claims that “The history of the cultivation and use of spices is perhaps the most romantic story of any vegetable product.” His passion for the subject is one of many examples of Ridley’s overlapping interest in botany and economics. Each chapter is dedicated to a particular flavoring, often a single spice, including flavors from Vanilla, Cinnamon, and Ginger to Zedoary, Galangal, and Calamus Root.
Piper Nigrum, Dissertatio Medica
In 18th- and 19th-century Europe, it was standard practice for university professors to write their students' dissertations; the student's job was to explicate and defend the thesis. At the University of Uppsala (Sweden), first Linnaeus and then Thunberg wrote hundreds of these short botanical papers.
