William Shurtleff is the author of author (or lead co-author with Akiko Aoyagi) of more than 100 books about soyfoods. These books have sold more than 825,000 copies. His best-selling book is The Book of Tofu, which has also been widely translated.

All of these books are presently in print or in full view (free of charge) on Google Books. They include three popular books (on tofu, miso, and tempeh), plus market studies, histories, and historical bibliographies (each extensively annotated and containing many photographs).

In October 1972 William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi began full-time research on soyfoods in Japan while writing The Book of Tofu. In August 1976 they founded the Soyinfo Center (named Soyfoods Center until 2006) in California. A detailed chronology of their work is available on the Soyinfo Center website www.soyinfocenter.com.

The Soyinfo Center (located in Lafayette, California) has the world's most complete collection of soy information - available in various formats in addition to our books.

1. SoyaScan Database: SoyaScan is the world's most comprehensive computerized database on soyfoods and soybeans. It contains more than 89,000 records from 1100 B.C. to the present. These include four basic types of records providing detailed information on: 73,000+ published documents, 15,500+ commercial soy products, 5,800+ original interviews and overviews, and 6,000+ unpublished archival documents. These records are unique, and have been added one at a time over many years; none have been downloaded from other databases.

2. Free Digital Books in PDF Format on Google Books. A steadily growing number of our books is available here. For best results, go to Google Books advanced search.

3. Research Library of Books and Articles: The Soyinfo Center Library owns more than 78,000 physical documents (printed on paper).

4. Graphics Collection: More than 5,000 labels and other graphics sorted by soyfood type.

William Shurtleff has been a vegetarian since 1968 and a vegan for most of this time. He uses soyfoods as a regular part of his daily diet and believes strongly that soyfoods are the among the very best, most delicious, and most versatile protein sources available. They promote good health, are inexpensive, are great for the Planet, and are part of an ethical lifestyle that bypasses the slaughterhouse and the feedlot system. Roughly 50 percent of the agricultural land in the United States is used to grow crops that are fed directly to animals. When people eat more than a small amount of animal protein, they easily fall prey to the degenerative diseases of affluence (heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, obesity and overweight) that characterize modern American culture.

William Shurtleff has been serving as a consultant to the soyfoods industry for more than 25 years. He probably has more personal contacts in this field, worldwide, than anyone else in the world. He has helped to start more than 450 new companies.