About
The Kitchen Science Cookbook
NZ$ 85,462
1,193
The Kitchen Science Cookbook is a beautiful, lovingly-crafted hardcover recipe book with a twist: each recipe is a science experiment that you can do at home, using simple ingredients you probably have in your pantry. Designed for parents and caregivers of children aged 4 - 14.
I first had the idea for The Kitchen Science Cookbook almost three years ago when I was talking with a mother after one of our live science shows. She desperately wanted to be able to share science with her children, but didn’t feel confident enough to do so. At the same time though, she was an incredible baker - she could follow a recipe with ease, and would confidently adapt recipes to create something new. That process of experimentation – of trial and error – is science…she just didn’t see it that way.
I realised that if I could make science as accessible and easy to follow as a recipe I could help this mother – and many other parents - to build their confidence, and in turn share that confidence and curiosity with their children.
As a nanotechnologist and engineering academic at The University of Auckland, New Zealand, I have worked all over the world in tech jobs. I am acutely aware of the importance of diversity in STEM – and the lack of diversity in some STEM fields. Two years ago I co-founded Nanogirl Labs, a social enterprise, to try and make a difference in this critical area. Sharing my vision for the book with my co-founder, we decided to bring this project to life. Now, after a huge amount of work from our amazing team, the book is ready to print!
After scribbling down an initial collection of more than 200 recipes, we have selected 50 to be included in this first edition of The Kitchen Science Cookbook. With a community of over 2000 families from around the world, we tested each experiment, making sure that the ingredients and equipment required were easy to find in their home, or readily available nearby.
We strongly believe that science education should be accessible to all, and to support that mission have chosen to distribute The Kitchen Science Cookbook on a ‘buy one, give one’ basis. For every copy of The Kitchen Science Cookbook purchased by Kickstarter backers, a copy will be donated to a school, library or community to enable those who may not otherwise have access to build their confidence in science.
At its heart, The Kitchen Science Cookbook is about bringing science into the home; making fundamental scientific principles accessible, building confidence through experience, and creating memories of discovery and play that will last a lifetime - and hopefully foster a lifelong love of science.
From all of us at Nanogirl Labs, we hope you will help to make this exciting project a reality. Please, support The Kitchen Science Cookbook.
Risks and challenges
The book has been written, illustrated and tested with parents and kids around the world. We have fully costed the printing and have some great mentors who have self-published successful cookbooks before.
It's hard to predict the unknown, but unless there is an issue with the printer, we are as confident as we can be that our project will be on time.
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Funding period
- (30 days)