The Science of Cooking: Understanding the Biology and Chemistry Behind Food and Cooking 1st Edition

Just about as fun as a college textbook can be.

When I first saw this book I thought the title was quite interesting. After I spent some time in it I was completely amazed! All of us at one time or another have thought, "why does this happen to a certain food" or "why do I like Pot Roast or Hot sauce so much?" These questions are answered on a basic level where anyone can understand. The authors of this book have answered questions that I had but didn't even know how to ask! I have known teachers in elementary school through college that would on occasion tell me questions their students have asked about food and science that they never knew how to answer. They told me most of the time they responded by saying "well thats just how it works." This book answers those questions! It is written in a scientific manner for an MD or phd to read but they bring it down to a level that everyone can understand. My 10 year old patients love what this book says about chocolate chip cookies!! As an MD, I wish I would have had this book as a reference when I was in medical school taking biochemistry. It would have proved to be an excellent resource as well as a time saving one.

Bought it as a present. Person I bought it for really enjoys the book. And I enjoyed the food resulting from the knowledge in the book .

Used this book for a recent class. The material is interesting but the book is hard to trust as it is riddled with errors front to back. On p 200 lactose is shown with incorrect monosachharides, on p 404 and 405 cinnamaldehyde is drawn as a carboxylic acid, it's literally in the name. The list is quite expansive. Errors happen, but it wasn't uncommon to find errors every few pages in this book.

Very, very detailed chemistry, almost like organic chemistry.

I enjoyed learning from the book; however, poor editing has resulted in me not being able to 100% trust the science behind the content.Diagrams are mis-labeled or mis-identified and obvious errors in text are the reasons for my statement of poor editing. Perhaps a non-science editor was assigned this particular book.An example of an erroneous diagram is found on page 7, figure 1.3, wherein neutrons and protons are mis-identified (neutrons are shown as positive and protons as neutral).Another example of a diagram in error is found on page 14, figure 1.11, wherein a molecule is depicted (C3H6OH) and is labeled as "Ethanol", when in fact it is 1-Propanol.An example of poorly edited text is when the authors refer to the diagram above, as a two carbon molecule when it is obviously a three carbon molecule.Another example of problematic text is contained on page 22 wherein the authors write "However, the oxygen atom in water also contains two pairs of electrons". Last time I checked the periodic table, oxygen had a total of 8 electrons, of which 6 (or 3 pair) were valence electrons.My two cents worth of opinion.

If you’re interested in this book you should be aware that the promised author resources is locked out for you unless your a professor using to course at a university, or a student in such a course. The publisher Wiley not only controls the book, but also the lab notes, guides, and other author materials that would make self-directed learning of this material more of a possibility.

If you're here from Muhlenberg Kitchen Chem I literally did not open this book once the entire semester.