In this chapter is, I believe, the first negative review in this book expressed towards salt. Prior civilizations didn't seem to address any of the health aspects of salt; they just knew that it tasted good, helped preserve stuff, and was an important economic tool. Platina, a fifteenth century author from Italy, however, recognizes the unhealthy side of salt. He writes, "It is not good for the stomach except for arousing the appetite. Its immoderate use also harms the liver, blood, and eyes very much." He also warned people of the hazards of eating too much butter and aged cheese. Smart man, this Platina must have been. These dairy products can't sneak anything past him.

This chapter talked about cheese alot! That was fun. Cheese is pretty cool. The book states that the Romans made a really lot of different types of cheeses. Today, there are close to one thousand types of cheeses. If you want a quick run-though on some cheese names, watch this video:


skip past the first 15 seconds..

I never really thought about the effect that the discovery of North America had on much of Europe. Whever I thought about it, I focused on the obvious places, such as Great Britain, Spain, and other countries on the Atlantic Ocean. I realize now that it proved to be disastrous to places like Italy and the rest of the Mediterannean. Its all kind of eye opening. Its scary how an area can be doing so well, and after just one discovery start to decline so rapidly. It makes me think of those diagrams of a civilizations rise and fall that Mr. Farrell drew on the chalkboard. Those are terrifying...