From appetizers to desserts and every dish in between, Nancy Longnecker's cookbook, "Passion for Pulses: A Feast of Beans, Peas and Lentils From Around the World" (1999), offers legume-rich recipes with a side of science.

Although Longnecker (Cornell Ph.D. '86) wrote a cookbook, she does not hesitate to admit: "I'm not a great cook." It was a confession made at a Communication/Science and Technology Studies Colloquium in Rockefeller Hall Oct. 11. Longnecker, a plant scientist, said she wrote the book in hopes that it would increase awareness of agricultural research in Australia and beyond.

The cookbook features recipes submitted by chefs and farmers from around the world, each accompanied by bright, appetizing photographs. It also features vignettes about scientists and "Legume Legends," sidebars with information about agriculture as an industry and a science.

"It's the kind of thing you can read while you're stirring the pot," Longnecker said.

Longnecker moved to Australia for a postdoctoral position after earning her Ph.D. She now directs the science communication program at the University of Western Australia (UWA).

Although the connection between agricultural research and food might seem straightforward, it took several years for sponsors and publishers to bite. When she first approached the UWA Press in 1996, they asked her why they would want a cookbook.

"It's not a cookbook; it's a science communication tool," Longnecker responded. By 1998, two of Australia's largest agricultural research centers finally came on board as sponsors, and the book was published the following year. It sold more than 7,000 copies its first year out.

After some 50 radio interviews, 50 newspaper and magazine articles and four television spots, "Passion for Pulses" has been reprinted twice (1999 and 2004) and has sold more than 10,000 copies. It is still widely available in Australian bookstores and worldwide through Amazon.com.

Longnecker developed a complementary Web site in 2004, http://www.passionforpulses.com, to promote a community of users and provide further information on fun and healthy eating with legumes.

"I've published more than 50 academic journal articles, and I can tell you with certainty that nowhere near 10,000 people have read any of them," Longnecker said.

Sara Ball is a writer intern at the Cornell Chronicle.