A complete and total in-depth scientific analysis of coffee. Not light reading, and not for casual coffee drinkers. This is the holy bible of technical manuals regarding coffee. Growing history, chemical breakdown, regional traditions - serious stuff. An awesome book if you want the real deal behind espresso. Very technical. It includes some math and chemistry. It does, however, have enough background and clarification that a non-technical person could leaf through it and still enjoy plenty of what it has to offer. It really shines as a in-depth espresso tech manual though.Some have reviewed this book as way to technical. That is akin to saying an in depth car repair schematic manual is way to technical. It's not full of complicated writing, it's full of very complicated subject matter. Keep that in mind. Certainly not a 'beach read' unless, like me, your an engineer and enjoy the more refined technical side of the world. And think the beach is just a big sand pit that hands out sunburns.I requested that this book be made available on the kindle bookstore, and a few months later it was. I bought it on the spot, and love it.