When we first did 'Modernist Cuisine,' I think most people in cookbook publishing would have said, 'This is insane.'

One of the ugly secrets of the renewable-energy industry is that its products make no economic sense unless they are highly subsidized.

A blowtorch is a wonderful thing. You can get one of those for about 25 bucks at Home Depot. And there's a ton of things that you can use a blowtorch for, in browning a steak or touching up the browning of a chicken or making creme brulee.

For relatively modest amounts of sulfur dioxide injected into the atmosphere, you could easily cool Earth by 1% or more, if you want.

If people don't find what you are doing threatening, then it is probably not very important.

Micropayments are great if you use them for a product or service with certain properties. It must be one where you can get away with usage-based pricing, and where there is a strong rationale for making it cheap, yet not free.

Nobody wants a prediction that the future will be more or less like the present, even if that is, statistically speaking, an excellent prediction.