Nathan Myhrvold

Nathan Myhrvold is founder of The Cooking Lab, co-author of Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking and Modernist Cuisine at Home and author of The Photography of Modernist Cuisine. He has had a passion for science, cooking, and photography since he was a boy. Unlike many childhood hobbies, Nathan’s fascinations did not fade—they intensified. He consumed cookbooks and invested in new cameras and equipment even after enrolling in college at the age of 14. He went on to earn a doctorate in theoretical and mathematical physics as well as a master’s degree in economics from Princeton University. He holds additional master’s degrees in geophysics and space physics and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He did postdoctoral work with Stephen Hawking at Cambridge University researching cosmology, quantum field theory in curved space-time, and quantum theories of gravitation before starting a software company that would be acquired by Microsoft. As his career developed, he still found time to explore the culinary world. While working directly for Bill Gates as the chief technology officer at Microsoft, Nathan took a leave of absence to earn his culinary diploma from École de Cuisine La Varenne in France. Nathan retired from Microsoft in 1999 to found Intellectual Ventures and pursue several lifelong interests in photography, cooking, and food science. Unable to find practical information about sous vide cooking, he decided to write the book he had hoped already existed—one that provided a scientific explanation of the cooking process, the history of cooking, and the techniques, equipment, and recipes involved in Modernist cuisine. Nathan’s fascination with food continues. In 2014 he hired Francisco Migoya as head chef to work with him and the Modernist Cuisine team in researching and writing the next book, which will explore bread with the same rigor and curiosity that his previous books applied to savory cooking. The book will likely be on-sale in 2016.