I believe that Mr. Brown came back to this on his food myth episode and demonstrated that the actual amount of oil transferred to the pasta is inconsequential.
Based on those results, he did step back from his previous proclamation that the oil would prevent sauce from sticking, and further added that the only actual benefit that the oil offers is that it prevents foam from developing and causing a boil-over. He stated that very little was required to achieve this result (around a tsp).

Good Eats was a great program. My favorite part about it was that Mr. Brown was ready and willing to accept that what he thought was true was not. He often changed his opinions, discarding previous notions for new ideas once sufficient proof was demonstrated. This ability to admit that he was wrong made him a very powerful educator.

Yeah Alton Brown is a true food scientist. I really liked when they interviewed him on the Nerdist http://www.nerdist.com/2012/08/nerdist-podcast-alton-brown/

That's always what I've been told in Italy many many years ago....

Agree with jardin bleu: The Italians don't put oil in the water (and use lots of water and salt). They invented pasta, their pasta tastes great - so why waste oil on this?

I believe the Chinese invented pasta. Marco Polo came home with it.

Canadian is right. Noodles come from the far eastern areas of Asia.

As for boil over, could pot size factor in? I have small pots, so I do use the drops of oil to control foaming. I don't rinse the pasts after draining, so the starch stays and grabs sauce.

I've never heard of adding oil to pasta water/while it's cooking...hmmm.

I've never oiled my pasta water, and I rarely have a problem with it sticking. In fact the only pasta I have a problem with sticking is fettuccine. I solve it by having good timing... having the pasta ready right when the sauce is, versus having the noodles sit in the strainer while the sauce finishes.

@truepeacenik: no. pasta was invented in several places independently and Marco Polo (who probably was never in China anyway) certainly had nothing to do with it. The legend of Marco Polo bringing pasta to Italy was a marketing trick introduced to promote the consumption of pasta in the US. Already in Roman times sources mention something called lasagna, which admittedly probably was pretty different from todays lasagna. Later the arabs introduced dried pasta to the Italians (to the Sicilians to be more precise), whose origins lay in couscous.

Pasta only really sticks to itself if you leave it "un-sauced" sitting somewhere. If you move it straight from the pot to the sauce you won't have any problems sticking.

It's simple science really as to why it sticks, when all those starches start to cool off and dry they bind to each other like glue. Adding oil is a stop gap, but then you run into other potential issues (adding extra calories, changing flavors, &c)

I am in the "no oil" camp. I love my pasta to be quite "sticky" with starch and I don't make wet sauces, I just saute something, usually a veg, with maybe some sausage or other flavorful protein, with lots of herbs or seasoning and use the starchy pasta water and some parm to create a creamy coating for the pasta, which is inviting the flavor to stick it's yummy self onto the sticky pasta. Works well!

Pasta sticks because most people use WAY too little water in boiling. Use your biggest pot.-- about 4 quarts of water for a pound of pasta. Even if cooking less pasta, don't use less than 3-4 quarts of water. There are 8 cups in a quart. Don't use one of those pierced colander-like 'Inserts" as most of them do not submerge deeply enough into the water. The pasta has to roil around in a lot of water. No chance to stick. If unfortunately you must cook pasta ahead and let it sit. put some butter or oil on it after cooking, and toss lightly. Most chefs save a little of the cooking water to thin the sauce, the starch does a good job and adds that little "something."

I'm an Italian lady and there is no Italian lady on the face of the earth that I have ever met who puts oil in the pasta water. And we make a LOT of pasta. Water, salt and pasta. That's it. Biggest mistake is not enough salt. There is even a word in Italian that means "not enough salt". Don't boil too hard and don't simmer. Who needs Alton Brown for this? He is much better used on many other things.

I stopped adding oil to pasta water sometime when I was still a kid.

I just had a cooking class in Rome (Italy, not Georgia) yesterday from an Italian chef and he:
1. Used a large pot
2. Had plenty of salted water at a rolling boil
3. Did NOT use oil either in the water or on the pasta after it drained
FYI, the pasta was fresh (we had just made it) and cooked perfectly al dente. Never going back to dry, boxed pasta again!!!

I have never heard of adding oil to pasta water!

Fulinlin,
I didn't mean the Marco Polo story was right, but what we know as pasta, in many forms, developed across Asia, with the long noodle coming from farther east.
But I'm well aware of how what is A in one place is B in another.
Kreplach or wonton? Ravioli or gyoza? Or just yummy? ;)