JANE BRODY: "Eat for Life: Separating Wheat from Chaff"
Too often, vested interests and true believers, rather than well-designed research, now influence North American eating decisions and habits. The basic facts of good nutrition that have stood the test of time, along with the findings of sound modern science, should form the foundation of a wholesome diet, absent of dogma, deprivation and extreme self-denial.
HAROLD MCGEE: "Playing With Food: Four Centuries of Science in the Kitchen"
Cooking is practical chemistry, and scientists have been influencing cooks since the time of Isaac Newton. The last decade has brought an explosion of interest in the science of cooking. There's a television series devoted to it, restaurant chefs now collaborate with chemists and sensory psychologists, and last year Harvard University offered a regular undergraduate course taught by both scientists and chefs. Harold McGee will trace the rise of kitchen science and describe some of the startling new foods that have been created with its help.