Acclaimed chef Jose Andres visited the Harvard MRSEC to collaborate with Center researchers and speak to students in the ES139. Innovations in Science and Engineering class; the laboratory and classroom discussions were filmed for a feature on 60 Minutes through a special agreement with the University. Andres and his mentor, Ferran Adrià, a pioneer in molecular gastronomy from Barcelona, Spain, have been working with Dave Weitz and Michael Brenner on a new course Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to the Science of Soft Matter that will be part of the new program in General Education at Harvard College in 2010. Twelve world-class chefs and food experts, noted for both their culinary and communication abilities, will also participate in the course along with Center faculty. "Cooking provides an ideal framework to study a variety of complex phenomena—from basic chemistry to materials science to applied physics—through something familiar to everyone: food," says Weitz.
David A. Weitz (Physics & Applied Physics)
Cynthia M. Friend (SEAS)
Harvard MRSEC (DMR-1420570)