• Citrus: A history
• by Pierre Laszlo
• University of Chicago Press
• $25/£14
• ISBN 9780226470269
DID you know there are a billion citrus trees under cultivation, or that grapefruit juice may potentiate the effects of Viagra? Citrus mines over two millennia of history to explore the spread of these fruits out of Asia, their commercialisation in the US and enduring symbolism the world over. Laszlo, a chemistry professor, has written flavourful chapters on the discovery of vitamin C and the remarkable marketing success of orange juice. But if you don’t share his passion, his lively style and pithy facts just aren’t enough to bind such wide-ranging segments into a satisfying whole.
From issue 2627 of New Scientist magazine, 27 October 2007, page 58