I really really love dedication pages! Just last week I saw a dedication that goes: For Elsie, "Botanist by Marriage" and my heart just melted. That's love - loving what the person one loves loves. :)

Today, as I flip "Fundamentals of Plant Systematics" by Albert E. Radford, I see some very heartening words again.

"Systematics, as a natural science, is a continuing quest for truth and understanding as well as the never-ending pursuit of reality, organized and simplified.

James Bruce, a British diplomat, once stated that "to most people nothing is more troublesome than the effort of thinking." This text is dedicated to those students willing to make that troublesome effort."

Didn't your heart just melted? It is so true for me. Thinking takes up a lot of effort. I am often lazy to do it. But the rewards one would reap from thinking are plentiful and I hope to think more. :)

Strangely this book though Prof. recommended it, only has one edition till this day (from 1986). Is it because Systematics really is a dying trade?