: What are the advantages of using a stove instead of an oven? Are there any advantages to using a stove instead of oven? As a woman of science, this is a question that has been lingering in my noggin for a very long time.

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You are relying on very different forms of heat. Conduction vs Convection vs Radiation

Heat transfer, and the first law of thermodynamics
Principles of Cooking
Basic Cooking Methods

What happens when you heat something? A number of things.

Proteins Coagulate
Starches Gelatinize
Sugars Caramelize
Water Evaporates
Fats Melt

Depending on how you cook it, you're going to get different forms of each of those at different rates. On a stove, you can avoid too much moisture and fat from leaving your food by cooking it extremely quickly (in a stir-fry). . You can't sear something in an oven and you can't roast something on the stove. The two are simply not the same, because fundamentally the two are not the same, you are not going to get the same results. It's really as simple as that. You can't take two entirely methods and argue that you get the same results.

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Stove tops:

Cook by conduction;
Send most of the heat to the surface of the food (good for searing, bad for thorough cooking);
Can be adjusted very quickly, unless they're glass-top;
Can cook food very quickly, because conduction is a very efficient method of heat transfer.

Conventional ovens:

Cook primarily by radiation, unless steaming or simmering in a covered vessel;
Penetrate the food much more readily (good for even cooking);
Take a relatively long time to adjust the temperature;
Tend to have much longer cooking times because the heat disperses so much.

So in general: Use the oven if you need slow, even cooking, or want to dry the food out. Use the stovetop for searing, quick cooking, or if you need precise control over the heat (i.e. caramelizing sugar, stir-frying, etc.).

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Active monitoring & maintenance:

Because it's in view and not hidden away in an oven (blocking sight/sound/smell), you can more easily monitor it, and occassionally stir, etc. Because of this, you can more safely put things under higher heat, as you're not just letting it sit, but can move things around so the stuff on the outside doesn't burn.