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SCIENCE AND COOKING
LECTURE SERIES 2014

Science and Cooking 2014

A collaboration between eminent Harvard researchers and world-class chefs

Michael Brenner, Glover Professor of Applied Mathematics and Applied Physics and Harvard College

Much to the delight of Science & Cooking veterans, Michael Brenner, Glover Professor of Applied Mathematics and Applied Physics and Harvard College Professor, returns to the course and lecture series this year. (Photo by Larissa Zhou.)

Introduction

Members of the public are invited to attend a series of lectures by world-class chefs and food experts, inspired by the Harvard College General Education course “Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to the Science of Soft Matter.” The public lectures, while related to the course, do not replicate the course content.

  • All talks will take place in the Harvard Science Center (1 Oxford St., Cambridge, Mass., Hall C) and begin at 7 p.m., unless otherwise noted
  • Each presentation will begin with a 15-minute lecture about the scientific topics from that week’s class by a faculty member from the Harvard course
  • Seating for all lectures is first come, first seated

Questions regarding the public lecture series, please contact science_cooking@seas.harvard.edu.

2014 Chef Lecture Dates

Monday, September 8, 2014
“Science and Cooking: A Look at the Last Twenty Years”
Science Center Lecture Hall C, 7 p.m.
Dave Arnold (@CookingIssues), Booker & Dax, and host of “Cooking Issues”
Harold McGee (@Harold_McGee), writer, Curious Cook

Monday, September 15, 2014
“The Science of Sugar”
Science Center Lecture Hall C, 7 p.m.
Joanne Chang ’91 (@jbchang), Flour Bakery, author of Flour and Flour Too

Monday, September 22, 2014
“Al Dente: When Plastic Meets Elastic”
Science Center Lecture Hall C, 7 p.m.
Mark Ladner (@ChefMarkLadner), Del Posto

Monday, September 29, 2014
“gAstronomy”
Science Center Lecture Hall C, 7 p.m.
Bill Yosses (@BillYosses), former White House Pastry Chef, author of The Perfect Finish
Steve Howell, project scientist, NASA Kepler & K2 missions

Monday, October 6, 2014
“Heat Transfer and Chocolate”
Science Center Lecture Hall C, 7 p.m.
Enric Rovira, master chocolatier

Monday, October 13, 2014
“Metamorphosis of Taste”
Science Center Lecture Hall C, 7 p.m.
Dominique Crenn (@DominiqueCrenn), Atelier Crenn

Monday, October 20, 2014
“Decoding the Creative Process”
Science Center Lecture Hall C, 7 p.m.
Ferran Adrià (@FerranAdria), elBulli Foundation
NOTE: TICKETED EVENT

Tickets will be made available at the Harvard Box Office beginning at noon on Tuesday, October 14. The tickets are free—but first come, first served.

Monday, October 27, 2014
“The History of Culinary Thickeners”
Science Center Lecture Hall C, 7 p.m.
Martin Breslin (@HUDSinfo), Harvard University Dining Services

Monday, November 3, 2014
“Emulsions and Foams”
Science Center Lecture Hall C, 7 p.m.
Christina Tosi, Milk Bar

Monday, November 10, 2014
“Where is the Acid?”
Science Center Lecture Hall C, 7 p.m.
Daniel Humm, Eleven Madison Park

Monday, November 17, 2014
“Fermentation, an Ancient Trend”
Science Center Lecture Hall C, 7 p.m.
Jody Adams (@JodyAdams), Rialto

Tuesday, November 25, 2014
“Modernist Cuisine”
Science Center Lecture Hall D, 7 p.m.
Nathan Myhrvold (@ModernCuisine), former CTO of Microsoft, co-founder of Intellectual Ventures, author of Modernist Cuisine

Monday, December 1, 2014
“El Celler de Can Roca: Roots, Innovation, and Creation”
Science Center Lecture Hall C, 7 p.m.
Joan Roca (@CanRocaCeller), El Celler de Can Roca

The Harvard College Course

The Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Alícia Foundation developed the General Education science course, “Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to the Science of Soft Matter,” which debuted in the fall of 2010. The course uses food and cooking to explicate fundamental principles in applied physics and engineering. (Watch a video about the course.)

Limited to currently enrolled Harvard undergraduates, the class brings together eminent Harvard researchers and world-class chefs.

Instructors

  • Michael Brenner, Michael F. Cronin Professor of Applied Mathematics and Applied Physics and Professor of Physics; Harvard College Professor
  • Pia Sörensen, Senior Preceptor in Chemical Engineering and Applied Materials
  • David Weitz, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and Applied Physics

Lab Design/Implementation

  • Pere Castells, Unitat UB-Bullipèdia

Science and Cooking at Harvard Extension School

In 2014, for the first time, a version of Science & Cooking will be offered for credit through Harvard Extension School. In the fall, it is an online-only course, and in spring 2015 it is a hybrid. Registered students will have access to the expertise and support of Harvard teaching staff.