Dig Deeper: Food Science
The Science History Institute’s new exhibition, Lunchtime: The History of Science on the School Food Tray, features several items from our museum and library collections that tell the surprising story behind the school lunch. We also have many historical materials on food and nutrition in our Othmer Library in Philadelphia.
Start with this short list of materials on nutrition curated by our librarians. You can also browse our library’s Society of Flavor Chemists collection and the Food Science topic in our digital collections, or learn about food safety advocates Ellen Swallow Richards and Harvey Washington Wiley.
Discover more related materials by searching our library catalog using subject headings such as “nutrition,” “food,” or “food science.”
To Use Our Collections
The historical collections of the Science History Institute Museum and Othmer Library include archival collections, scientific instruments, objects, fine art paintings and prints, modern books and journals, and rare books and manuscripts.
A variety of our historical resources are available online in our digital collections. For in-person research, make an appointment to visit our library. Please fill out this reference form to contact our librarians with any questions.
Featured image: Scientific diagrams of percentage composition of foods, from The Science of Common Things, 1922.