Based on the popular Harvard University and EdX class, Science and Cooking explores the scientific basis of why recipes work.

The spectacular culinary creations of modern cuisine are the stuff of countless articles and Instagram feeds. But to a scientist they are also perfect pedagogical explorations into the basic scientific principles of cooking. In Science and Cooking, Harvard professors Michael Brenner, Pia Sörensen and David Weitz bring the classroom to your kitchen to teach the physics and chemistry underlying every recipe.

Science and Cooking answers questions such as why we knead bread, what determines the temperature at which we cook a steak or the how much time our chocolate chip cookies should spend in the oven, through fascinating lessons ranging from the role of pressure and boiling points in pecan praline to that of microbes in your coffee. With beautiful full-colour illustrations and recipes, hands-on experiments, and engaging introductions from world-renowned chefs Ferran Adria and Jose Andrés, Science and Cooking will change the way readers approach both subjects—in their kitchens and beyond.