[Magic_Man]

If you don't know anything about cooking, "I'm Just Here For The Food" by Alton Brown is great! Especially for us geeky types, Alton Brown is the man. The book is divided into cooking techniques, with recipes for each method; in other words, there is a frying section, a searing section, a sauce section, and many more. Each section has a long description of how the cooking method works, ways to do it properly, and several recipes for that method. The end of the book has a great section on cooking gear - what pots to buy, what to look for in knives, etc. If you want a science-and-math-targeted guide to cooking, Alton Brown is #1.