Authors: Luca Turin
ISBN-13: 9780061133848, ISBN-10: 0061133841
Format: Paperback
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Date Published: October 2007
Edition: Reprint
Luca Turin holds a Ph.D. in biophysics from the University of London. Since 1996 he has worked on primary olfactory reception and the prediction of odor character. In 2001 he became chief technical officer of Flexitral, where he uses his theory of olfaction to design new fragrances and flavor molecules.
One man's passion for perfume leads him to explore one of the most intriguing scientific mysteries: What makes one molecule smell of garlic while another smells of rose?
In this witty, engrossing, and wildly original volume, author Luca Turin explores the two competing theories of smell. Is scent determined by molecular shape or molecular vibrations? Turin describes in fascinating detail the science, the evidence, and the often contentious debate—from the beginnings of organic chemistry to the present day—and pays homage to the scientists who went before. With its uniquely accessible and captivating approach to science via art, The Secret of Scent will appeal to anyone who has ever wondered about the most mysterious of the five senses.
A rich sensory trip … this indispensable guide to all things smelly is as good as it gets.
Nombre noir : how I got into perfume | 3 | |
A recipe | 8 | |
How perfumes are composed | 11 | |
What perfumes are not about : memory and sex | 14 | |
What perfumes are about : beauty and intelligence | 16 | |
A visit to the perfume museum | 18 | |
Royal fern | 21 | |
Why 'natural' does not always mean good | 23 | |
Why 'chemical' does not always mean bad | 25 | |
Feynman's answer | 28 | |
The beginnings of smell : chemical words | 33 | |
Smell becomes perfume : chemical poems | 36 | |
Reading the poem line by line | 38 | |
How molecules are made | 40 | |
A problem of nomenclature | 43 | |
The landscape of smell | 46 | |
A bit of biology | 82 | |
Locks and keys | 85 | |
Who turns the key? | 87 | |
Membrane receptors | 88 | |
Fishing for receptors | 90 | |
Seeing atoms | 91 | |
Evolution as the great locksmith | 94 | |
The smell alphabet | 97 | |
The primary smells | 100 | |
The smell in the mirror | 102 | |
Some strange clues | 108 | |
Malcolm Dyson | 114 | |
His big idea | 118 | |
Molecular chords | 120 | |
The smell of rocket fuel in the morning | 121 | |
Robert H. Wright | 126 | |
The revival of vibration | 130 | |
Searching for the way it works | 132 | |
New problems | 135 | |
The fall of vibration | 137 | |
Mirrors again | 141 | |
Physics to the rescue | 143 | |
Jaklevic and Lambe | 144 | |
Giaever's leap | 146 | |
The search for ripples | 149 | |
A close brush with smell | 151 | |
Clifton Meloan | 153 | |
John Blaha's observation | 157 | |
Where I come in : the polarograph | 159 | |
Protein semiconductors | 165 | |
The perfume guide | 167 | |
Funding from the blue | 169 | |
Revelation in Portugal | 172 | |
Experiments in a locked room | 175 | |
The future of fragrance | 189 | |
Potato crisps and other art forms | 191 | |
The future tout court | 192 |