Peter Barham (born 1950) is emeritus professor of physics at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

. He was visiting professor of

Molecular Gastronomy Molecular gastronomy is the Science, scientific approach of cuisine from primarily the perspective of chemistry. The composition (Structural formula, molecular structure), properties (mass, viscosity, etc) and transformations (chemical reaction ...

at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Early life

Barham was born in 1950. He received his BSc from the University of Warwick, and his MSc and PhD from the University of Bristol.

Career

Barham's research at the University of Bristol is concerned with

polymer physics Polymer physics is the field of physics that studies polymers, their fluctuations, mechanical properties, as well as the kinetics of reactions involving degradation of polymers and polymerisation of monomers.P. Flory, ''Principles of Polymer Che ...

. He found ways to connect his research with his love of

penguins Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

, including the creation of silicon-based flipper bands which can be used for monitoring penguin populations. The silicone bands are designed to minimize the potential impact of carrying an external marking device and are currently in use on

African penguin The African penguin (''Spheniscus demersus''), also known as Cape penguin or South African penguin, is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters. It is the only penguin found in the Old World. Like all penguins, it is flightless, ...

s (''Spheniscus demersus'') at

Bristol Zoo Bristol Zoo was a zoo in the city of Bristol in South West England. The zoo's stated mission was to "maintain and defend" biodiversity through breeding endangered species, conserving threatened species and habitats and promoting a wider underst ...

, UK and in the wild in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. More recently, together with colleagues in the Computer Science Department at the University of Bristol, he has developed a

computer vision Computer vision tasks include methods for image sensor, acquiring, Image processing, processing, Image analysis, analyzing, and understanding digital images, and extraction of high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical ...

system for the automatic recognition of African penguins. This system in 2008Biometrics picks up the penguins
/ref> was undergoing trials in South Africa. Barham has contributed to the development of the new science of molecular gastronomy and has authored the book ''The Science of Cooking'' (). He has collaborated with a number of chefs including Heston Blumenthal, the chef/owner of

The Fat Duck The Fat Duck is a fine dining restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, England, owned by the chef Heston Blumenthal. Housed in a 16th-century building, the Fat Duck opened on 16 August 1995. Although it originally served food similar to a French bi ...

and also a proponent of molecular gastronomy. He is editor-in-chief of a new journal, ''Flavour'', which covers the science of molecular gastronomy. In 1994 he appeared as the Scientific Cook in a regular feature on Channel 4 food magazine series '' Food File'', in which he explained some of the chemical mysteries that take place during the cooking process. Barham contributes to the

public understanding of science ''Public Understanding of Science'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1992 and published by SAGE Publications. It covers topics in the popular perception of science, the role of science in society, philosophy of scienc ...

by giving public lectures on molecular gastronomy and penguin conservation biology. He has addressed audiences in both the UK and further afield. Titles of previous public lectures include "Ice cream delights", "Why do we like some foods and hate others?", "Kitchen disasters and how to fix them" and "A passion for penguins". He has also written articles for several national newspapers, makes frequent television and radio appearances, and was scientific advisor to the Discovery Channel series ''Kitchen Chemistry''. He won the Kelvin Medal and Prize in 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barham, Peter Living people English physicists Academics of the University of Bristol Molecular gastronomy 1950 births Alumni of the University of Warwick Alumni of the University of Bristol