On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee. This excellent book is a classic. This book gives the historical, literary, scientific, and practical treatment of food from dairy to meat to vegetables. McGee gives explanations about table ingredients and their interactions with our bodies as well as the nature of digestion and hunger.
The Science of Cooking by Peter Barham. A great book that shows how a practical understanding of physics and chemistry can improve cooking skills. Each chapter starts with the scientific issues that are relevant for that food group. It also supplies great recipes to try after learning the science behind a dish.
What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained by Robert Wolke. An informative and entertaining book that looks to answer approximately 130 questions regarding everyday kitchen phenomena like why water boils and freezers burn. Wolke has a humorous style in his writing using puns and other witty ways of explaining how science plays an important role in cooking.
What Einstein Told His Cook 2: The Sequel: Further Adventures in Kitchen Science by Robert L. Wolke, recipes by Marlene Parrish. The sequel to What Einstein Told His Cook, Robert Wolke continues to entertain and enlighten the reader about questions that befuddle and mystify. Questions such as how old are 1,000 year eggs and how can someone cut onions without crying? Wolke in his humorous style uses science to explain and answer such questions.
Kitchen Mysteries: Revealing the Science of Cooking (Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History) by Professor Herv¨é This and translated by Professor Jody Gladding. Professor This is one of the innovators who teaches about using the kitchen as a laboratory. His book answers questions people may have like, does hot pepper burn a hole in the stomach or why can't an infant be fed sausages?