Customer Reviews

The Hungry Scientist Handbook: Electric Birthday Cakes, Edible Origami, and Other DIY Projects for Techies, Tinkerers, and Foodies

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Not a bad book, and a good DIY/"Fun with Science" textbook. I feel that the book overhypes the "Fun in the kitchen!" idea. The majority of projects in the book are more Junior High science, less "exciting projects for foodies." There's 19 chapters, and only five or so would appeal to food-lovers. Most of these are basic electronic projects that are only loosely kitchen-focused (the least interesting was "make a trivet out of intergrated circuits!") Some of the projects are only tangentally food-related at all (a megaphone in a soda bottle, a pinhole camera in a pumpkin).

And it's not really appropriate for a junior high science class, either, with an emphasis on alcohol and "edible undies" for the opening chapter, this seems to be a book without a really strong sense of audience. If at all possible, open a copy and thumb through it before buying, I'm not really sure who this book is directed at.

What great fun!! It's the baking soda volcano and the soda bottle tornado -- TIMES 100!!!! This book is rife with clever ideas that will leave you hankering for more time in the kitchen! Between sending my husband out for supplies and bringing my creations over to my neighbors, I don't think I've had this much fun in the kitchen since the renovation of 2002 - when I was literally sledge hammering my way through the bane-of-my-existence formica that had been drilling holes in my psyche for over a decade. THAT is the kind of fun this book restores to your kitchen-weary soul!

I'm a very difficult person to buy presents for, and normally end up with things I don't really want. I was given this book and have really enjoyed reading it and the projects in it.

There's enough here to keep me entertained for many weekends, and I highly recommend it as a present for others!

Coming from a science background, I really enjoyed this book. It has a nice set of fun "experiments" and DIY projects that kept me and dinner guests thoroughly entertained. This book is meant for people that truly like to play with their food.

I was really hoping to love this book, but I found most of the projects to be unattainable. There weren't many projects (I'm more used to cookbooks with come packed with recipes and activities). I'd seen all the best projects elsewhere. And, to be honest, I thought there would be more interesting stuff to do with food.

I did like the writing and I will keep it on my shelf for that mythical day when I can actually do more of the projects.

Great fun for all who want to mix a little science into their cooking repetoire. Also an excellent way to introduce some hands on fun with science to the family. I Highly Recommend!

My husband and I would classify ourselves as both techies and foodies, which is why I purchased the book. Unfortunately, the title is misleading. There are very few food recipes, the authors choosing to instead give ink to the science of making megaphones and tile coasters. The photographic style seems to be intentionally 70's, which is also a bit disconcerting. With the modern chefs placing increased focus on the "science" of molecular gastronomy, this book greatly misses the mark. It simply makes no sense to title the book as "The Hungry Scientist Handbook," nor to highlight the food aspect of the book. There are really no recipes here that would serve as a food way to explore the science of cooking, food, and/or the marriage of the two. If you're into science, this might be fun. If you're into food, you're better off going hungry.

it promises a lot, but really it's not. the product description makes it sound oh-so-fabulous, but really, it's just a black and white book with stuff that's way technical and way advanced for the average person (like me). (seriously, where is the average person going to find liquid nitrogen??) if you have no clue what a resistor is, don't get this book. my computer genius boyfriend thought it was pretty cool though (lucky me), so I didn't waste my money entirely.

I bought this book for my boyfriend for Christmas. He's a science nerd and also loves to cook. It was the perfect gift for him! He loves it and can't wait to get started on the projects!

I got this book on loan from my dad who thought I would really enjoy it. As a chemist and someone who enjoys food, I did enjoy the quirkiness of this book.

This book is an interesting read and more of a coffee table type book than a reference book. The twenty projects featured in it vary widely: from folding wonton wrappers into cranes, to a solar powered temperature sensing coaster, to edible underwear. This is a project book focused on the adult crowd: many projects feature alcohol or already mentioned edible underwear, all projects would require adult help or supervision.

While all of the projects are interesting, most of them do not focus on novel science. Mostly they are just using well known science with food somehow. For example a number of projects feature liquid nitrogen or dry ice to make liquids bubble; this is something we do all the time at our yearly Halloween party. Each of the projects do feature small asides that provide some interesting info about the food or the science behind it.

My biggest complaint about this book is that you won't be able to do the majority of these projects without running out to purchase a number of specialty items. Many of them require soldering tools, electronics, or other strange items. For example the LED birthday cake requires edible silver varak leaf (they do list a source for this in the back of the book). So while an amusing read, most of these experiments would take a lot of work to pull off at home and to be honest, most of them probably aren't worth the effort.

Overall I liked the book and thought it was amusing. It would make a great coffee table book. As far as a book for practical projects you can do at home, this book leaves something to be desired. Many of the projects require specialty items or equipment to do. It is also aimed at an adult crowd with projects like creating edible underwear, fruit wines, and bubbly martinis. All of the projects require adult help to do, so not a book for kids. An entertaining book, but there are better ones out there if you actually want to do some projects.