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

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

. He was visiting professor of

Molecular Gastronomy Molecular gastronomy is the scientific approach of nutrition from primarily the perspective of chemistry. The composition (molecular structure), properties (mass, viscosity, etc) and transformations (chemical reactions, reactant products) of an ...

at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Early life

Peter 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

Peter Barham's research at the University of Bristol is concerned with polymer physics. He found ways to connect his research with his love of

penguins Penguins ( order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...

, 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. Like all extant penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body and wings stiff ...

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 unders ...

, UK and in the wild in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

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

computer vision Computer vision is an interdisciplinary scientific field that deals with how computers can gain high-level understanding from digital images or videos. From the perspective of engineering, it seeks to understand and automate tasks that the hum ...

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 Heston Marc Blumenthal (; born 27 May 1966) is a British celebrity chef, TV personality and food writer. Blumenthal is regarded as a pioneer of multi-sensory cooking, food pairing and flavour encapsulation. He came to public attention with un ...

, the chef/owner of

The Fat Duck The Fat Duck is a fine dining restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, England. It is run by celebrity chef proprietor Heston Blumenthal. Housed in a 16th-century building that had previously been the site of the Bell pub, the Fat Duck opened on 16 Aug ...

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 Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

'', in which he explained some of the chemical mysteries that take place during the cooking process. Peter Barham contributes to the

public understanding of science Public awareness of science (PAwS) is everything relating to the awareness, attitudes, behaviors, opinions, and activities that comprise the relations between the general public or lay society as a whole to scientific knowledge and organization. ...

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 The Institute of Physics awards numerous prizes to acknowledge contributions to physics research, education and applications. It also offers smaller specific subject-group prizes, such as for PhD thesis submissions. Bilateral awards * The Max ...

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