Joshua Tewksbury: Article Analysis

Borrell’s article describes the study of chili peppers through the field studies of Joshua Tewksbury, an ecologist interested in finding the reason why chili peppers are spicy and if bugs can be blocked by chili peppers and in that way avoid fungus. This article is part of the Smithsonian online magazine. It lacks a reference list; however it makes references to similar studies such as Perry, Billing, Sherman, Nabhan, Bosland, Machnicki, Foley, Levey, Manchego and Carlo’s. The writer provides a detailed description of the Tewksbury’s field studies and his colleagues in Bolivia which makes the article reading pleasant and interesting. He narrates how Tewksbury explores the Bolivian forest biting as many fruits as he can in order to collect data for his studies. Borrell makes brief but interesting historical allusions to the use of chilies. He points out the spread of chilies around the world was favored by the discovery of the American continent. Another historical allusion is the
Conway’s article is intended to describe the relevance of canoes and chinampas on Nahuas in the period from 1600’s to 1800’s. It illustrates how canoes impacted on the development of aquatic societies and its influences over other fields such as the economy system and the preservation of their cultural heritage. Canoes, which are a type of pointed small boats, played a significant role in the foundation of aquatic communities such as Xochimilco, Chalco, and surroundings. In this concern, the writer makes reference to reports from 1875 that compared canoes with other means of transportation at that time. Canoes favored Nahuas economy in aquatic societies since they allowed people to transport and commercialize fruits, vegetables, fish, and crafts among other products to México City, even urban infrastructure