nathan myhrvold and cooking with science

I watched a ridiculously awesome talk last night. nathan myhrvold, who founded microsoft research and studied with stephen hawking, among other things, is writing a cookbook that explains the scientific processes behind how food cooks. The idea is that by educating cooks about some of the physics and chemistry involved, they are more empowered not only to employ conventional cooking methods more accurately, but also attempt new ways of cooking that can only work with understanding of how things work.

You can find the full talk here. It's an hour long, including questions, and also includes a live demonstration of making ice cream without milk but with liquid nitrogen, and some footage from a ridiculously nice high-speed camera. It's both entertaining and informative, especially if you have any interest at all in physics, biology, chemistry, or computers.

btw, when the cookbook comes out, I am going to purchase it at any cost.