"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