Wilbur Lincoln Scoville was born in 1865 and died in 1942. During his accomplished life he was awarded several honors such as The Ebert Prize which recongnizes authors that produce the best report of an original investigation of a medicinal substance, and The Remington Honor Medal, the APhA's top award. His best know achievement is however his work on the famous "Scoville Organoleptic Test." In short, this test is used to measure the hotness of a chili pepper. Peppers from the Capsicum Genus, contain a little known chemical called capsaicin. Capsaicin is a chemical compound that stimulates nerve endings on the skin and reeks havoc on the mucous membranes also know as the eyes and facial regions. This spicy chemical is what is used to make pepper sprays and other types of self defense sprays. One little spray to the eyes and down you go. Using Scoville Heat Units (SHU), scientists measure the hotness of all types of peppers and heat generating foods. Several peppers included in this scale are Jalapenos, chili peppers, chipotle peppers and ever green bell peppers. Bell peppers are at the bottom of the list with a Scoville Heat Score of 0. The hottest pepper in the world however, is the Naga Jolokia. This pepper is stated as having anywhere between 855,000-1,050,000 SHU, the fourth hottest substance in the world just a hair behind actual pepper sprays. The hottest substance in the world is pure capsaicin which is the chemical derived from such peppers. Second in line is the various types of man made capsaicin and finally as mentioned above we have number three with pepper spray. Pepper sprays are used in conjunction with various types of self defense weapons. Police use them for law enforcement purposes and civilians use pepper spray for personal protective use. SO you can see why it might be important for the pepper spray to be as hot a possible in order to provide maximum effectiveness. Several different factors change the SHU a pepper has such as soil, climate, species, and seed lineage. The humidity in the air has a drastic effect on how hot a pepper is especially in the habanero pepper. It is basic common sense that the more humidity and heat is in the air the hotter the pepper will be. The soil and obviously the species has an effect also. Often times as promotional and advertising campaigns, hot sauce companies apply the Scoville Scale on their products.