哈洛德·马基，世界知名的食物化学和烹饪权威，先后在加州理工学院和耶鲁大学攻读物理学和英国文学。

《食物与厨艺》系列丛书于1984年首度出版，被《时代》杂志誉为“小巨作”；

2004年完成第二版修订，增补了2/3的内容，同年被国际专业厨师学会（IACP）及餐饮界权威詹姆士·比尔基金会（James Beard Foundation）评选为最佳食物类参考用书；

2005年，美国美食杂志Bon Appétit 推举哈洛德·马基为年度美食作家；

2008年，哈洛德·马基名列《时代》杂志的世界百大影响人物。

哈洛德·马基的其他著作包括The World Book Encyclopedia、Nature、Food&Wine、Fine Cooking。他目前还担任《纽约时报》的专栏作家。

哈洛德·马基的文章常见于《科学》期刊、《世界百科全书》《纽约时报》。

他在美国饮食学院、加拿大厨师联合会等专业学校授课，也到美国科学促进会、丹佛自然史博物馆甚至费米研究室等学术专业研讨会演讲。他还是公众人物，并时常受邀出现在各大新闻媒体及广播节目上。

Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking is a kitchen classic. Hailed by Time magazine as "a minor masterpiece" when it first appeared in 1984, On Food and Cooking is the bible to which food lovers and professional chefs worldwide turn for an understanding of where our foods come from, what exactly they're made of, and how cooking transforms them into something new and delicious. Now, for its twentieth anniversary, Harold McGee has prepared a new, fully revised and updated edition of On Food and Cooking. He has rewritten the text almost completely, expanded it by two-thirds, and commissioned more than 100 new illustrations. As compulsively readable and engaging as ever, the new On Food and Cooking provides countless eye-opening insights into food, its preparation, and its enjoyment. On Food and Cooking pioneered the translation of technical food science into cook-friendly kitchen science and helped give birth to the inventive culinary movement known as "molecular gastronomy." Though other books have now been written about kitchen science, On Food and Cooking remains unmatched in the accuracy, clarity, and thoroughness of its explanations, and the intriguing way in which it blends science with the historical evolution of foods and cooking techniques. Among the major themes addressed throughout this new edition are: Traditional and modern methods of food production and their influences on food quality The great diversity of methods by which people in different places and times have prepared the same ingredients Tips for selecting the best ingredients and preparing them successfully The particular substances that give foods their flavors and that give us pleasure Our evolving knowledge of the health benefits and risks of foods On Food and Cooking is an invaluable and monumental compendium of basic information about ingredients, cooking methods, and the pleasures of eating. It will delight and fascinate anyone who has ever cooked, savored, or wondered about food.