"Avery Gilbert gives us an insider view of the science and culture of smell with an enormous breadth of knowledge. We know so little about our sense of smell; the facts are simply fascinating and sometimes hilariously funny. The reader travels to the inner sanctum of the world of fragrance with an erudite, witty, and opinionated guide. I loved it!"
--MANDY AFTEL, author of Essence and Alchemy; Aroma; and Scents and Sensibilities
Everything about the sense of smell fascinates us, from its power to evoke memories to its ability to change our moods and influence our behavior. Yet because it is the least understood of the senses, myths abound. For example, contrary to popular belief, the human nose is almost as sensitive as the noses of many animals, including dogs; blind people do not have enhanced powers of smell; and perfumers excel at their jobs not because they have superior noses, but because they have perfected the art of thinking about scents.
In this entertaining and enlightening journey through the world of aroma, olfaction expert Avery Gilbert illuminates the latest scientific discoveries and offers keen observations on modern culture: how a museum is preserving the smells of John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row; why John Waters revived the "smellie" in Polyester; and what innovations are coming from artists like the Dutch "aroma jockey" known as Odo7. From brain-imaging laboratories to the high-stakes world of scent marketing, What the Nose Knows takes us on a tour of the strange and surprising realm of smell.
Introduction
CHAPTER 1 Odors in the Mind
Making sense of scents
CHAPTER 2 The Molecules That Matter
The key ingredients of nature’s chemistry set
CHAPTER 3 Freaks, Geeks, and Prodigies
The wide range of olfactory ability
CHAPTER 4 The Art of the Sniff
How the brain edits what the nose detects
CHAPTER 5 A Nose for the Mouth
Cooking, eating, and evolution
CHAPTER 6 The Malevolence of Malodor
When bad smells happen to good people
CHAPTER 7 The Olfactory Imagination
Smell and creative genius
CHAPTER 8 Hollywood Psychophysics
Scent and cinema
CHAPTER 9 Zombies at the Mall
Leading consumers by the nose
CHAPTER 10 Recovered Memories
Proust’s soggy madeleine
CHAPTER 11 The Smell Museum
Preserving odors from the past
CHAPTER 12 Our Olfactory Destiny
The future of smelling
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index