On Food and Cooking

A   Note    About   Units   of  Measurement,

and About   the Drawings    of  Molecules

Throughout this book, temperatures are
given in both degrees Fahrenheit (ºF), the
standard units in the United States, and
degrees Celsius or Centigrade (ºC), the
units used by most other countries. The
Fahrenheit temperatures shown in several
charts can be converted to Celsius by using
the formula ºC = (ºF-32) x 0.56. Volumes
and weights are given in both U.S. kitchen
units — teaspoons, quarts, pounds — and
metric units — milliliters, liters, grams,
and kilograms. Lengths are generally given
in millimeters (mm); 1 mm is about the
diameter of the degree symbol º. Very
small lengths are given in microns (μ).
One micron is 1 micrometer, or 1
thousandth of a millimeter.
Single molecules are so small, a tiny
fraction of a micron, that they can seem
abstract, hard to imagine. But they are real