The common fig (Ficus carica L.) is one of the oldest fruits domesticated by humans, and is native to southwest Asia and the Mediterranean. Figs have been associated with health and prosperity since ancient times. They are rich in fibre, potassium, calcium, and iron, as well as being an important source of vitamins, amino acids, and antioxidants. In recent years, increased consumption has caused fig production to shift to new countries such as Mexico, Brazil, India, and China. However, fig is a challenging fruit crop to grow. It is susceptible to insect pests and diseases as well as injuries from abiotic stress during fruit development and ripening. As a delicate fruit it also requires complicated postharvest procedures and climate change presents additional challenges. This volume serves as a comprehensive reference for current and future practices of fig production, consumption, research and innovation, and is essential for academic researchers, and those involved in research and development in the fig industry.

Excerpt from The Fig: Its History, Culture, and Curing, With a Descriptive Catalogue of the Known Varieties of Figs Polleniferous and insectiferous caprifigs (pollen-bearing and insect bearing figs) About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This book presents the life and personality, the scientific and philosophical work of Ludwig Boltzmann, one of the great scientists who marked the passage from 19th- to 20th-Century physics. His rich and tragic life, ending by suicide at the age of 62, is described in detail. A substantial part of the book is devoted to discussing his scientific and philosophical ideas and placing them in the context of the second half of the 19th century. The fact that Boltzmann was the man who did most to establish that there is a microscopic, atomic structure underlying macroscopic bodies is documented, as is Boltzmann's influence on modern physics, especially through the work of Planck on light quanta and of Einstein on Brownian motion. Boltzmann was the centre of a scientific upheaval, and he has been proved right on many crucial issues. He anticipated Kuhn's theory of scientific revolutions and proposed a theory of knowledge based on Darwin. His basic results, when properly understood, can also be stated as mathematical theorems. Some of these have been proved: others are still at the level of likely but unproven conjectures. The main text of this biography is written almost entirely without equations. Mathematical appendices deepen knowledge of some technical aspects of the subject.