Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition by Benjamin Caballero

Why an encyclopedia? The original Greek word means ‘the circle of arts and sciences essential for a liberal education’, and such a book was intended to embrace all knowledge. That was the aim of the famous Encyclopedie produced by Diderot and d’Alembert in the middle of the 18th century, which contributed so much to what has been called the Enlightenment. 

It is recorded that after all the authors had corrected the proofs of their contributions, the printer secretly cut out whatever he thought might give offense to the king, mutilated most of the best articles, and burnt the manuscripts! Later, and less controversially, the word ‘encyclopedia’ came to be used for an exhaustive repertory.