Review – The Hungry Scientist Handbook by Patrick Buckley and Lily Binns (3.5/5 stars)

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.

This book goes to the following reading challenges:
– The 100+ Book Reading Challenge