I've always loved baking; It may be the smell of something sweet, the sneaky fingers that try to steal my cookie dough, or the bonding I get to do with my family. Although it could be any of those reasons, I believe I'm driven by the science of it; measuring the ingredients, mixing them together, heating them up and getting a result that looks completely different than what I started with. I love the chemistry of it.
It seems as though I am not the only person to make the astonishing correlation between cooking and chemistry. Harvard University is offering a Chemistry and Physics course that is taught through cooking experiments. When you think about it, that's exactly what the basics of cooking are: chemistry!
Here's the article The New York Times has published about it: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/dining/20Harvard.html?pagewanted=all
Now, I believe this novelty idea is not just meant for the "Ivy Leagues." In fact, Purdue's Chemistry Department is quite well respected (Purdue Professor of Chemistry, Ei-ichi Negishi just won the Nobel Prize this year for his discovery) and has the potential to be as succesful. Purdue's already strong Chemistry Department could become even more powerful by taking a few tips from it's suitor. Why not turn our Chemistry classes into something that non-traditional science majors will enjoy as well? Chemistry can be as educational and as fun a school makes it. Purdue can keep up with the best, this novelty idea would be a great addition to our Chemistry Department.
I don't know that a cooking class would be as effective as a normal chemistry class, but it would definitely interest more students in taking a chem class. It will be interesting tor if more schools will start to follow the idea and add their own cooking/chemistry classes.
ReplyDeleteThe unique thing about the program at Harvard is that it's designed specifically for non-science majors. This is an excellent way to draw in students of other majors who want to broaden their knowledge, or at least take something they normally wouldn't! You can learn just as much chemistry in it as well and it's completely practical!
ReplyDeleteUh, I totally disagree with Nick's comment man. If more college stuff showed how it like applies to every day life and what happens in our brains when we are doing something like eating, or in the brain of the chemical make up of the ingredients in the thing we are eating, I would be totally down with learning more dude. How bout u?
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