Presented are seven articles (reprinted from "The Exploratorium" magazine) which focus on the scientific explanations for the specific (and oftentimes peculiar) instructions and procedures called for in many recipes. "Baking, Boiling, and Other Hot Topics" (Joel Myerson) discusses different methods of cooking. "The Culinary Alchemy of Eggs" (Arthur E. Grosser) discusses the chemistry of eggs and whether it is necessary to put salt in water when hard-cooking an egg. "To Do and Notice: Meringue Science" (Rob Semper) examines why egg yolks should not be mixed with egg whites when preparing meringue. "To Do and Notice: The Annotated Lemon Meringue Pie" (Pat Murphy) provides a recipe for making a lemon meringue pie, together with explanations for the recipe's procedures. "To Do and Notice: Taking an Egg for a Spin" (Rob Semper) tells (in terms of physics) how to decide if an egg has been hard-boiled. "On the Rise" (Linda Dackman) discusses the biology (yeast), chemistry (carbon dioxide production, gluten production, and acid/base balance), and physics (convection currents and the relationship between incident radiation and baking pan materials) of baking bread. A recipe for baking whole wheat bread is presented in the final article "To Do and Notice: Whole Wheat Bread" (Linda Dackman). (JN)