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The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell Hardcover – October 9, 2007

by Rachel Herz (Author)

34 customer reviews

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Shakespeare wrote that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. But if you cannot smell, does the rose lose its sweetness?

The first and definitive book on the psychology of smell, The Scent of Desire traces the importance of smell in our lives, from nourishment to procreation to our relationships with the people closest to us and the world at large. Smell was the very first sense to evolve and is located in the same part of the brain that processes emotion, memory, and motivation. To our ancestors, the sense of smell wasn't just important, it was crucial to existence and it remains so today. Our emotional, physical, even sexual lives are profoundly shaped by both our reactions to and interpretations of different smells.

Why do some people like a certain smell and others hate it? Is smell personal or cultural? How does smell affect our choices and our daily lives? Rachel Herz explores these questions and examines the role smell plays in our lives, and how this most essential of senses is imperative to our physical and emotional well-being. Herz investigates how our sense of smell functions, examines what purpose it serves, and shows how inextricably it is linked to our survival. She introduces us to people who have lost their ability to smell and shows how their experiences confirm this sense's importance by illuminating the traumatic effect its loss has on the quality of day-to-day living. Herz illustrates how profoundly scent and the sense of smell affect our daily lives with numerous examples and personal accounts based on her years of research.

The wonders of our sense of smell are all explored in a compelling and engaging manner, from emotions and memory to aromatherapy and pheromones. For anyone who has ever wondered about human nature or been curious about the secrets of both the body and the mind, The Scent of Desire is a fascinating, down-to-earth tour of the psychology and biology of our most neglected sense, the sense of smell.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Herz, a Brown University professor specializing in the psychology of smell, demonstrates that this sense is vital to our well being-so important to mental and physical health that its loss can drive some people to suicide. Herz explores the relationships between scent, emotion and behavior, emphasizing that scent is an important component of sexual attraction and thus crucial for the survival of our species. Many intriguing facts enliven her book. For example, scents are intimately connected to memory and can be used as memory aids; olfaction shuts down while we are asleep; newborns and their mothers recognize each other by their scent. Herz debunks the mystique of aromatherapy, which she says is effective because of our emotional associations with scents rather than because of any direct action of the scent. Emerging technologies of scent, such as electronic noses that can sniff out terrorists, breath analyzers that can detect diseases and marketing theories based on scents, are given a chapter, but Herz admits that she would rather see the development of technologies to restore the sense of smell to people who have lost it, because for her, scent is essential to our humanity. This illuminating book argues convincingly that the sense of smell should never be taken for granted. (Oct. 9)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Fascinating . . . A serious book, with many whiffs of delight.” (Washington Post Book World)

“You’ll never take your nose for granted again once you’ve read The Scent of Desire.” (USA Today)

“Intriguing...This illuminating book argues convincingly that the sense of smell should never be taken for granted.” (Publishers Weekly)

THE SCENT OF DESIRE was a finalist for the 2009 AAAS Excellence in Science Writing Award (The American Association for the Advancement of Science)

“Filled with intriguing bits of information.” (Weekly Standard)

“This is a spicy perfume of a book, redolent with fascinating facts and provocative hypotheses.” (Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor, Harvard University, author of The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, and The Stuff of Thought)

“Astounding and sometimes mind-boggling with (a) wonderfully charming voice and writing style.” (Blogcritics.org)

“Charming. A reminder that life without aromas...would be sad indeed.” (Curled Up with a Good Book)

“A delightfully unexpected blend of personal anecdotes, pop-cultural erudition and scientific understanding. ” (Kirkus Reviews)

“A great reference book that everyone should read. An excellent overview of the sense of smell. It kills some of the myths that have long been corrupting Perfumery and explains where the higher debates should really be. Thank you, Rachel Herz, for gathering these facts about olfaction in one place.” (Christophe Laudamiel, Senior Perfumer, Fine Fragrances & Innovation)

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Product details

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (October 9, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060825375
ISBN-13: 978-0060825379
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 34 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #867,299 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2348 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Psychiatry
- #6228 in Books > Medical Books > Psychology > General
- #15555 in Books > Medical Books > Medicine > Internal Medicine

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Good review of olfaction

September 15, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is a pretty good popular-level review of some of the neuroscience of olfaction. The writing is clear and concise, and unlike other non-fiction books, I didn't feel like the author had run out of things to say by 100 pages in.

4 people found this helpful

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Very interesting read

April 5, 2010

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell is a very intriguing book about our incredible senses of smell, and how it affects us. Inside, it goes into detail the immense gravity and importance that our olfactory has in our day to day lives, and how it affects things from choosing our spouses to life decisions, and even to our likes and dislikes. I found this book to be a very interesting read - one that I couldn't put down.

I'm not a very scientific person, nor does science interest me. But this book opened my eyes to one of my senses that I had taken for granted - the sense of smell. I had no idea that it was so crucial to our daily lives, and the massive effects it can have on our lives. Rachel Herz did an excellent job researching and writing about our most primitive sense. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in this sort of thing, or who ever wonders how our senses and experiences can affect our psychology and our perception of things around us. 4 stars, great book!

4 people found this helpful

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Virginia A. Campbell

A very readable introduction to an Underappreciated Subject

April 5, 2008

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This book is a highly readable introduction to how smell works. While the author is a leading authority on the psychology of smell she also gives an accurate account of our current knowledge about the physiology of smell, including topics such as why smell can evoke such powerful emotions and the role of smell in memory. I just posted an interview of Rachel Herz on my Brain Science Podcast (but Amazon does not allow links in their reviews). You can find this in iTunes but the address is brainsciencepodcastdotcom.

3 people found this helpful

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Christine Chavez

A Simple Review

April 10, 2010

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Before reading this book I didn't care much about scents. Since enrolling in an English class it was required to be read. Now after reading the book I can truly say smelling is important. This book illustrates how essential olfactory is to us human beings. It covers many things such as the history of perfume, the comfort one gets from smells, and a scent triggering a memory. I would recommend this to someone who would like to learn something new.

2 people found this helpful

Comment

December 2, 2007

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

As a physician, I didn't think that I had much to learn from this book, nor a reason to really care. WRONG. Dr. Herz tells us things that impact our every waking hour. I can't stop talking about this book! You will be intrigued by her research and stories. Your nose will have an elevated place in heart. Highly recommended.

24 people found this helpful

Comment

A good series of stories.

April 9, 2010

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Firstly, I must say that this book contains EXTREMELY interesting stories. Having said that, the author offers very little evidence supporting some of her claims, making the book just as i said-a good series of stories. Hertz uses her P.H.D. as a free pass to analyze different people's events as fact. Although she does offer some examples supporting her theories, the logic is seldom %100 sound.

2 people found this helpful

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November 7, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Great information, well written, easy to understand.

One person found this helpful

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July 28, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Gret read

One person found this helpful

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