Ruth Francis, Nature’s Head of Press, is reviewing all the entries shortlisted for the Royal Society’s science book prize. She’ll be reading one per week and we are posting her thoughts on The Great Beyond every Friday between now and the prize ceremony on 15 September.
What the Nose Knows – The Science of Scent in Everyday Life, by Avery Gilbert
“It is very obvious that we have many different kinds of smells […] but until you can measure their likenesses and differences you can have no science of odour.”
Alexander Graham Bell, 1914.
Nearly 100 years on, we still have little ability to measure these likenesses and differences.
The problem with What the Nose Knows is that it neither focuses on what we don’t know, nor on what we do. Gilbert describes some science, breaks down some history, illustrates both with anecdotes, but like a bad perfumer he doesn’t seem to blend the mix particularly well.
In essence the book demonstrates that much of what we know about smell springs from theory rather than science. When we do get trusted with the science, however, it is all too brief and leaves many questions unanswered.
Gilbert colludes with the reader, often switching from a highbrow style to a more tabloid form of address. The result is the lack of a coherent voice as we drift from how many smells there are to the scenting of air in stores to drive sales.
The chapters on scent and cinema, and leading consumers by the nose, are both interesting because they follow a stronger narrative thread than the others. But they also contain little science; this is cultural history.
Much of the rest of the book is like walking through the perfumery in a department store. It is hard to single out strong or weak notes. Gilbert sure knows his scents but fails to convey his greater knowledge.
Fundamentally, my curiosity was not sated by the book and my understanding was unimproved.
Previously on Ruth’s Reviews
Ruth’s Reviews: the Drunkard’s Walk