Foreword to the Seventh Edition Free

Life originated on Earth, by as-yet poorly understood chemical and physical processes, at least 3.7 billion years ago. Over eons of time, these original life forms evolved into countless species, past and present. There are so many species alive today that it has proved difficult to enumerate the characteristics that they all have in common. In other words, what constitutes life? For example, are viruses - such as the SARS virus that causes COVID-19 - alive? Everyone would agree, however, that all organisms require food to survive, thrive and replicate.

Humans are no different in this regard, also requiring food to function, but food is so much more to us. Just imagine the time when someone discovered cooking over an open fire, thus making some things palatable and others tastier. It is hard to imagine this extraordinary event occurring in other animal species. We are constantly barraged by references to food on TV, radio and the internet, in books and magazines and, of course, in grocery stores. Just think of words such as diet, cuisine, vegan, recipe, fine dining, wine, Michelin stars, gourmet, ethnic, and thousands more, that we hear all the time. Whether one eats to live or the other way around, one cannot escape the milieu of food. If you are like me, you may wonder what is in food that is essential to our well-being, what makes eating and drinking so enjoyable to some, what happens when we cook, and why are there regulations about what can and cannot be in food. This is the information one hopes to find in a book on food science.

Almost 20 years ago I favorably reviewed an earlier edition of Tom Coultate's book on food in the Journal of Chemical Education and find the current edition to be likewise comprehensive, well-written and containing many useful structures, tables, graphs and references. There are the things of interest for the technically minded, but also things of a more general interest for those with little or no knowledge of chemistry or biology. Even a casual perusal of the book will yield delights that will make our eating experience more rewarding. The book will make a nice text for courses in food science and as a supplement to select courses in chemistry and biology.

Congratulations, Tom, on a job well done!

Richard Pagni