Sure, there are many ways to heat up food to comestible temperatures. The college students among us know the microwave method all too well, and my European self lifts an eyebrow every time I see those curiously exposed heating coils on old American stove tops (a.k.a. the finest technology the 1950s have to offer). But the real king of cooking is this: Natural gas. (Go away, hipsters, with your silly induction stove tops).
The gas stove is seen here in its natural habitat, turning beef bones and veggies into delicious, delicious stock.