One is curious about the science of food, the other about Renaissance cookbooks -- and both are scheduled to speak at UC Davis in the coming weeks. Here are the details:

• "Cuisine by the Cut of One's Trousers: Cookbook Marketing in Renaissance France," Timothy Tomasik, assistant professor of French, Valparaiso University. Noon Feb. 23, 228 Voorhies Hall. Sponsored by the Critical Studies in Food and Culture research cluster of the Davis Humanities Institute. Tomasik studies the intersections between late medieval-early Renaissance literary works and culinary texts.

• Food Science and Technology Seminar Series, "Playing with Food: Three Centuries of Science in the Kitchen," Harold McGee, 4:10-5 p.m. Feb. 28, 212 Viehmeyer Hall. Sponsored by the departments of Food Science and Technology, and Viticuture and Enology. McGee is the author of On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, which is the textbook for UC Davis' FST 10 course. He is known as the Curious Cook, writing an occasional column for The New York Times and maintaining the curiouscook.com Web site.

Both seminars are free and open to the public.