What is the magic that transforms a few simple ingredients into the miracle known as pizza? Scott Wiener, renowned pizza authority and founder of Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City, will unravel the mouth-watering mystery during, “The Science of Apizza: A Talk with Scott Wiener,” on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at 6 pm, at the New Haven Museum (NHM). The program is the latest in the “Monthly Slice” series at NHM, presented in conjunction with the exhibition, “Pronounced Ah-Beetz.” Free with regular museum admission.

Is it the water? The 100-year-old oven? The ingredients? Perhaps it’s the talent of the person creating the pie, or all the above. Gorman Bechard, director of “Pizza A Love Story,” will explore the food-science phenomenon with Weiner in a conversation sure to be enlightening, funny, and perhaps a tad obsessive. United in their passion for pizza, the two will look for answers to what makes New Haven pizza so good. Visitors should don their Bill Nye hats and bring their questions to the Q&A which follows.

The “Pronounced Ah-Beetz” exhibition at NHM includes firsthand oral histories, pizza-related artifacts from personal collections, video footage adapted from the documentary, and photographs. The exhibition’s title comes from the way many people mispronounce the word "apizza," which originally derives from the Italian "la pizza." The exhibition will remain on view through October 2027.