" This is like the textbook you get for a lecture class. You can learn from it without attending class, and you certainly can get away with never buying the book if you pay attention to the lectures, but the combination is likely to be your best bet. I'm new to Good Eats (the show) and have been watching it in order. This wasn't available at my library until I'd gotten a few episodes into season 6, so I read everything up to that point. I then watched the next episode, followed by reading that episode's section of the book. I think that would be more useful when actually planning to immediately cook from the episode in question. As it was, since much of what's in the book is word-for-word from the episodes, it was a bit like reading the Cliffs Notes of each episode, which is repetitive when you've just seen it. The trivia bits are fun for fans of the show, as are the behind-the-scenes photos scattered throughout. Some of the recipes (called "applications") have been modified from the way they were broadcast, and there are a very few that weren't shown onscreen due to time constraints, but otherwise the book matches up directly with the show. If you're someone who learns better by reading than hearing, the book will probably help a lot. I am a bit frustrated with the measures being by weight. I do own and use a kitchen scale, and I agree that it's the most accurate way to measure ingredients, but I'm also aware that the vast majority of US home cooks do not have a scale or a desire to own one, and that as long as it's cooking, not baking, that level of accuracy is not really necessary. I would have been unlikely to use any of the recipes anyway, just because they are mostly far too large for my household size, but with only weight measures I'm almost certain never to bother reducing any of them for my use. I'll use the food science to write my own "applications" and ignore the rest. "
— Robyn, 2/12/2014