Monday, August 06, 2007

Home economics.

20 comments:

Oleg Semenov said...

Unfortunately, that's a one-way relationship...

Anonymous said...

So true!(says me, a chemist with a sink full of dirty dishes).

Unknown said...

Well maybe with regard to cleaning, but cooking is all science with a little math thrown in like salt and pepper, merely to taste.

Unknown said...

This only applies until you hack a Roomba.

Anonymous said...

I dunno, my mother and father are both amazing scientists (chemist and physicist) and my house was always ridiculously clean and full of delicious gormet food. (No maid or anything)

Christina said...

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http://christinadownloaded.squarespace.com/downloads/2007/8/7/spreading-the-love.html

A Paperback Writer said...

With all due respect, mended meanderer, there's a good deal of math involved in cooking. Measuring is all math, and anyone who tries to double or halve a recipe needs to be fluent in fractions. Granted, I've never found the need for applied calculus while making bread (thank heaven! for my last calc class was 20 years ago, and I can't remember a thing!), but basic arithmetic skills are a must.
(I agree with you about the chemistry, though.)

Anonymous said...

say you threw your food into water when you put the water on the stove, but the recipe calls for the food to be added when the water is at a boil. How much sooner do you take it out?
There's a calculus cooking question for you, once you define a few parameters.

Miss Know said...

I, for one am a great cook with no math skills. Measuring schmeasuring, just throw shit in a pan and taste it. This graphic makes me feel better about the whole thing.

A Paperback Writer said...

Sam, you're scaring me.

Jerry said...

I think it means the more you study math and science, the less likely you will have to cook and clean

Anonymous said...

More subtly, since the curve is concave, the "optimization point" is a balance between the two. Therefore, its more efficient to do one or the other, not both.

Dr Obvious said...

You clearly know nothing about science, math, or cooking.

Anonymous said...

me, a nanoscience phd candidate does most of the cooking and cleaning

my wife, with an MFA, does a two hour commute

to every law...

Val said...

Most of the scientists I know (myself included) cook often and keep a clean kitchen. I've always thought that cooking was much like doing experiments with the exception being that I am able to eat the results :)

Anonymous said...

Val: I agree with you.

Life is too short to eat boring food! Cooking is such a great adventure! Cleanup can be a bit of a pain, but like so much in life, anything worth having is worth the effort.

Scott said...

The best cooks I know say, "Cooking is an art, baking is a science." So I guess I'd agree with today's graph.

When cleaning, however, some basic chemistry can be helpful. Knowing not to mix bleach with ammonia, for example...

bearing said...

Only if you don't think very hard about any of the four, I guess.

... says the homeschooling homemaking mother of three with a PhD in chemical engineering.

Anonymous said...

haha, nice relationship! =D

Anonymous said...

Oh, i have to show this to my husband. Hopefully he'll buy it. :)

 
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