Bob Wolke Calls Out Alton Brown!

Robert Wolke is professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh, writes a syndicated food science column for the Washington Post, and has authored several science books for the general public. On the back cover Wolke's latest book "What Einstein told His Cook 2: Further Adventures in Kitchen Science" Food Network personality Alton Brown has the following praise:

"Ordinarily, one would expect to wait outside a wizard's gates through a long, cold winter, kneeling on broken glass, to be deemed worthy to possess even a handful of the truths Professor Wolke clearly, concisely shares herein. And yet all you have to do is ask 'why' and open to any page. Good luck putting it down."—

Last month in the Newscripts section of Chemical & Engineering News, Wolke repays the favor by calling Alton Brown a food-science hack. Here's the quote:

"The following three bombs are from an award-winning “food science” book written by a television personality.

• “Any time you find an acid bound to an alkaline, you’ve found yourself a salt.”*

• “Radiation simply refers to energy that travels in waves, be they visible (photoelectrons) or not (microwaves).”**

• “Fire is a physical reaction wherein a fuel (oxygen) combusts in the presence of a catalyst (a chunk of charcoal).” *** "

He doesn't name names, but the quotes are from Brown's first book "I'm Just Here for the Food" I remember wincing at these when I first read it. Theses three statements are just the tip of the iceberg. The book is a treasure trove of scientific misconceptions.

*Uh, no. that's not the definition of a salt. (wtf, this definition wouldn't even include table salt) I don't even know where to begin with this one.

**Photoelectrons are electrons (ejected due to the photoelectric effect). Electrons aren't visible. He's confusing photoelectrons with photons with visible wavelenths. They're pretty different.

***Seriously? I mean, come on Alton, even if you are not a scientist you should know that charcoal is a fuel. Does this book have an editor?