Gastrophysics

Truly accessible, entertaining and informative. On every page there are ideas to set you thinking and widen your horizons – Heston Blumenthal, OBE
His delight in weird food facts is infectious…fascinating – James McConnachie * Sunday Times *
Not many people are as ready to realize the importance of the senses as Charles Spence – Ferran Adria, El Bulli restaurant, Spain
Popular science at its best. Insightful, entertainingly written and peppered throughout with facts you can use in the kitchen, in the classroom, or in the pub – Daniel J. Levitin, New York Times bestselling author of ‘The Organized Mind’ and ‘This Is Your Brain on Music’
This is partly serious tome and partly an amusing guide for the layperson to a whole new gustatory world. Gastrophysics is packed with such tasty factual morsels that could be served up at dinner parties. If Spence can percolate all these factual morsels to the mainstream, the benefits to all of us would be obvious – Nick Curtis * Daily Telegraph *
Spence allows people to appreciate the multisensory experience of eating * The New Yorker *
The scientist changing the way we eat * Guardian *
Spence romps around such factoids in the style of a Blue Peter presenter … fascinating and provocative – Melanie Reid * Times *
A fascinating look at the science of food and how our perception is shaped by all our senses, not just taste * Sunday Times *
If simply changing the name of a dish on a menu or the color of the plate on which it is served can dramatically alter our perception of taste and food quality, then everyone in the restaurant industry needs to read this and take a deeper look at the scientific secrets Professor Spence reveals in Gastrophysics – Larry Olmsted, New York Times bestselling author of ‘Real Food, Fake Food: What You Don’t Know About What You’re Eating & What You Can Do About It’

Professor Charles Spence has spent the last two decades researching how people perceive the world around them at the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at Oxford University, earning him the international reputation as the expert in multisensory perception and experience design. He has popularized the term ‘gastrophysics’, and leads the field in this ground-breaking area of science that is rapidly transforming the way in which we all experience what we eat and drink. He has consulted for many multinational companies, including Unilever, PepsiCo, Diageo, Pernod Ricard, P&G, Nestle and Twinings, advising on various aspects of multisensory design, packaging, and branding, and has conducted research with a number of world-leading chefs, mixologists and baristas, including Heston Blumenthal and Ferran Adri. In 2008 he was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for his ground-breaking work on the ‘sonic crisp’, demonstrating how a louder crunch makes a crisp seem fresher.

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