Appendix a Chemistry Primer: Atoms, Molecules, Energy

Appears in
On Food and Cooking

By Harold McGee

Published 2004

  • About
Cooking is applied chemistry, and the basic concepts of chemistry—molecules, energy, heat, reactions—are keys to a clearer understanding of what our foods are and how we transform them. A casual acquaintance with these concepts is enough to follow most of the explanations in this book. For readers who’d like to get to know them better, here’s a brief review.