“All you have to do is ask ‘why’ and open to any page. Good luck putting it down.” —Alton Brown, host of Good Eats and Iron ChefHave you ever wondered why onions make us cry? Do you believe bananas contain more calories as they ripen and get sweeter? This sequel to the best-selling What Einstein Told His Cook continues Robert L. Wolke’s investigations into the science behind our foods. In response to ongoing questions from readers of his nationally syndic...

The scientist in the kitchen tells us more about what makes our foods tick.This sequel to the best-selling What Einstein Told His Cook continues Bob Wolke's investigations into the science behind our foods—from the farm or factory to the market, and through the kitchen to the table. In response to ongoing questions from the readers of his nationally syndicated Washington Post column, "Food 101," Wolke continues to debunk misconceptions with reliable, commonsense a...

"Like having a scientist at your side to answer your questions in plain, non-technical language."—Science NewsWhy is red meat red? How do they decaffeinate coffee? Do you wish you understood the science of food but don't want to plow through dry, technical books? In What Einstein Told His Cook, University of Pittsburgh chemistry professor emeritus and award-winning Washington Post food columnist Robert L. Wolke provides reliable and witty explanations for...

New York Times bestselling author Michael Ruhlman deconstructs the "essential knowledge all cooks and food people need" (The New York Times Book Review) in this indispensable cooking reference for home cooks, serious food lovers, and aspiring chefs, revealing what professional chefs know only after years of training and experience.With alphabetically ordered entries and eight beautifully written essays, Ruhlman outlines what it ta...

What makes ice cubes cloudy? How do shark attacks make airplanes safer? Can a person traveling in a car at the speed of sound still hear the radio? Moreover, would they want to...?Do you often find yourself pondering life's little conundrums? Have you ever wondered why the ocean is blue? Or why birds don't get electrocuted when perching on high-voltage power lines? Robert L. Wolke, professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh and acclaimed author of What ...

Michael Ruhlman’s groundbreaking New York Times bestseller gets at the very “truth” of cooking: it is not about recipes but rather about basic ratios and fundamental techniques.Ratios are the simple proportions of one ingredient to another. Knowing a culinary ratio is not like knowing a single recipe; it’s instantly knowing a thousand.Why spend time sorting through millions of cookie recipes online or in cookbooks? Isn’t it easier to remember 1:2:3...

An award-winning kitchen classic for over 35 years, and hailed by Time magazine as "a minor masterpiece" when it first appeared in 1984, On Food and Cooking is the bible which food lovers and professional chefs worldwide turn to for an understanding of where our foods come from, what exactly they're made of, and how cooking transforms them into something new and delicious.For its twentieth anniversary, Harold McGee prepared a new, fully revised an...

The bestselling popular science author " has made it his mission to tackle myths about science and the so-called experts who spread them" ( CBC Radio).The internet is a powerful beast when it comes to science; the answer to any query you may have is just a few keystrokes away. But when there are multiple answers from various sources, how do we know what information is reliable? In Monkeys, Myths, and Molecules, bestselling...

Everyone thinks they know the real Gordon Ramsay: rude, loud, driven, stubborn. But this is his real story…In this fast-paced, bite-sized edition of his bestselling autobiography Ramsay tells the real story of how he became the world’s most famous and infamous chef: his difficult childhood, his brother’s heroin addiction, his failed first career as a footballer, his fanatical pursuit of gastronomic perfection and his TV persona – all the things that have made him the celebrated cul...

From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes incredible stories of science, history, finance, mythology, the arts, medicine, and more, as told by the Periodic Table.Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? How did radium (Ra, 88) nearly ruin Marie Curie's reputation? And why is gallium (Ga, 31) the go-to element for laboratory pranksters?The Periodic Table is a crowning scientific achievement, but it's also a treasure trove of adventur...

The bestselling "quackbuster" and "tireless tub-thumper against pseudoscience" fishes for the facts in a flood of misinformation ( Maclean's).Eat this and live to 100. Don't, and die. Today, hyperboles dominate the media, which makes parsing science from fiction an arduous task when deciding what to eat, what chemicals to avoid, and what's best for the environment. In Is That a Fact?, bestselling author Dr. Joe Schwarcz carefully navigates through...

There’s no shortage of recipes available today and Keys to Good Cooking will help you make the most of them by telling you what works, and why. Written by award-winner Harold McGee, this book acts as a companion to your recipe books, providing answers to all your kitchen questions – why should I fry-off beef before making a casserole? How do I prevent my sauce from separating? How can I be sure my eggs are fresh? Easy-to-use and authoritative, Keys to Good Cooking is a guide to the techniq...