Product Details

• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 5
• Studio: Wgbh / Pbs
• VHS Release Date: March 28, 2000
• Run Time: 300 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303418643
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #338,511 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Enjoy a celebration of the senses, a vivid blend of science and imagery. Hearing visits the quietest place on earth, the music-rich Maori and a deaf woman regaining her hearing. Smell samples a huge spectrum of smells, from the world's largest perfumery to sweaty t-shirts. Taste savors the miracle of great cooking and eating. Touch discovers how touching is a potent tonic. And Vision explores how art and science enhance this, our most magical sense.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not very informative, January 23, 2008

By 

Rebecca Sutherland (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: NOVA: Mystery of the Senses (DVD)

This series was a disappointment. The narrator, Diane Ackerman, apparently an author in her own right, gives a disjointed, rambling discussion of the five senses, with bits of science (interviews with actual research scientists, which Ackerman is not) joined to rather arbitrary examples of how the senses are involved in various cultural activities. Ackerman's examples are often a bit of a stretch, and her monologues are full of distractingly florid language. Kind of a New Age/postmodern pseudo-anthropological view of what science knows so far about the senses. I believe that Ackerman was trying to convey sensuality in her delivery, but I found myself increasingly annoyed by her throaty-yet-girlish voice, heavy make-up, and grating self-involvement. There was too much of her and not enough science. There are far better Nova series out there, and I'm sure that there are better programs about the five senses. I don't recommend this series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very Disappointing, February 23, 2010

By 

Sam B "prof" (RHODE ISLAND, US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: NOVA: Mystery of the Senses (DVD)

Oh dear, this was such a disappointment. Diana Ackerman spends too much time in pointless shots (looking a river; admiring her own photos from childhood) and has produced a NOVA series that seriously misses the mark. Too little science, too much irrelevant material. While one can certainly connect art and human experience with scientific knowledge about how the brain works, this series didn't do so successfully. If you were hoping to reveal the wonder of the senses for your students, do not buy this series. Unfortunately, I ordered it through an affiliated store with Amazon and they won't answer my queries about whether/how I can return it.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sense-ational documentary!, May 25, 2001

By 

J. Martin - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nova: Mystery of the Senses [VHS] (VHS Tape)

For anyone who has ever wondered how the five human senses works, this is the tape to purchase! This film of the flagship series NOVA introduces a wealth of knowledge on seeing, hearing, feeling, taste, and smell. Anyone who has seen anything educational program from the NOVA series, now on PBS across the nation, knows the quality of their documentaries. This tape is no exception. This film is highly recommended to anyone who is interested in exploring these five basic functions of the body, taken for granted everyday. A real winner, this video will not disappoint!