We shall not confuse young people !

If we have the possibility, shouldn't we be fair and honest ? Shouldn't we say the truth to young people who decide for their lives on what we tell them ?

Today, I received an email containing this :

I am a culinary student in Pittsburgh, PA USA. I stopped attending my pastry program to study science and mathematics at a 4 year institution to learn why is baking called a science. 

 My answer was obvious : 

I don't understand what you write, when you say "I stopped attending a pastry program to study science in an institution to lear why is baking called a science".
Indeed the word "science" is ambiguous, because exact sciences are not the same as other "knowledges".
Yes, one can speak of the "science of the pastry chef", of the "science of shoe maker", but this knowledge has nothing to do with the science done by chemists, physicists and biologists, for example (including molecular gastronomy in this group... as it should not be confused with "molecular cuisine").
For "nature sciences", or "natural philosophy" as it was called, the job is to use the "scientific method" in order to discover the mechanisms of phenomena.
The scientific method ?
1. observe a phenomenon
2. make quantitative measurements of it
3. link all data in synthetic laws
4. look for mechanisms explaining such laws ; the group of found mechanisms will make a model, or a theory
5. look for consequences  (predictions) of your theory
6. make an experiment in order to refute the theory, and go back to 2 and subs for ever.

You seek, making a bread or a cake has nothing to do with this ! 

I receive a letter

Here is an email that I got and the answer that I made :


1. The email :
Hello Dr. This,
 I am currently a 22 year old career student, and my background is in Chemical Engineering. I fear that I have had difficulty finding a passion in a lot of areas of research in Chemical Engineering, and am seeking a new direction in my life.

I've come across your name in articles on Molecular Gastronomy, and have become a big fan of your journal publications. I am particularly interested in the way you have developed a scientific nomenclature to describe the chemistry of food, and admire your passion for bringing food science to a modern standard.

I was wondering if you had any recommendations for research programs that a young student could pursue in this field. Or things that I could do to make myself more desirable for said programs. I feel that my background in Chemical Engineering gives me a unique perspective from the fundamentals of heat and mass transfer, thermodynamics, and kinetics.

2. The answer :
Thanks, but please be rather fan of yourself, making everything to be worth having a fan. Indeed, you put a lot of pressur on me... because I shall merit your trust.
By the way, do you know that there is a good thing to make if you want to get ennemies, i.e. giving advices ? If the friends follow it and it fails, the are angry at you. And if it works, they are frustrated not to have decided by themselves (an idea probably from Oscar Wilde ; to be checked).

More seriously, I am very happy that you recognized that Molecular Gastronomy is clearly a scientific activity.

Concerning "research programs", I have thousands of questions, and we study here a very small number of them. Indeed, collecting "culinary precisions" and testing them can lead to scientific results... if you apply the right method of science. Your background is fine. Just play on !

PS. Do you know the FIPDes Erasmus Mundus Master programme ? www.fipdes.eu