Futility Closet

The modern strawberry has a surprisingly dramatic story, involving a French spy in Chile, a perilous ocean voyage, and the unlikely meeting of two botanical expatriates. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the improbable origin of one of the world's most popular fruits. We'll also discuss the answers to some of our queries and puzzle over a radioactive engineer. Intro: Williston Fish bequeathed everything. Philip Cohen invented an English contraction with seven apostrophes. Sources for our feature on Amédée-François Frézier: Amédée-François Frézier, A Voyage to the South-sea, and Along the Coasts of Chili and Peru, in the Years 1712, 1713, and 1714, 1717. George McMillan Darrow, The Strawberry: History, Breeding, and Physiology, 1966. James F. Hancock, Strawberries, 2020. R.M. Sharma, Rakesh Yamdagni, A.K. Dubey, and Vikramaditya Pandey, Strawberries: Production, Postharvest Management and Protection, 2019. Amjad M. Husaini and Davide Neri, Strawberry: Growth, Development a