Excel Scientific and Engineering Cookbook

Colophon

The animal on the cover of the Excel Scientific and Engineering Cookbook is a common genet (Genetta vulgaris or Genetta genetta), also known as a true or small-spotted genet. (The taxonomy of the genus is controversial, with several similar species and numerous proposed subspecies, reflecting many geographic and habitat-specific variations.) The animal’s name is pronounced with a soft “g” and rhymes with “Senate,” in contrast to the homographic surname of the French novelist and playwright of the theater of the absurd.

Related to but distinct from true cats, genets are members of the civet or viverrid family (Viverridae), which also includes the mongoose. The viverrids are generally regarded as the closest living descendants of the extinct common ancestor of the carnivores. The oldest genet fossils, found in Morocco, date back to the Pliocene. Genets were kept as pets by the ancient Egyptians and as rat catchers in Europe until they were eventually replaced by house cats (depictions of domesticated genets can be seen on European tapestries from the Middle Ages).

Common genets are distributed throughout southern Europe, parts of the Middle East, North Africa, and the savanna south of the Sahara. They prefer low altitudes but live in diverse habitats, including pine forests, olive groves, rocky areas, and scrublands. Genets are considered arboreal, but they also spend a large amount of time on the ground and are partial to streambanks. They are agile climbers, with semiretractable ...