From frankincense to cacao and vanilla, Scent: A natural history of fragrance shows how aromatic substances have helped shape human culture
Humans 17 August 2022
Fragrances from plants such as roses help make established and new perfumes
Oliver Rossi/Getty Images
Scent: A natural history of fragrance
Elise Vernon Pearlstine
Yale University Press
FOR countless people worldwide, their first inkling that they had covid-19 didn’t come from a test, but from something far more visceral: anosmia, the loss of the ability to smell.
Our sense of smell, and our understanding of it, helps us to navigate the world, protecting us from harm and adding to the joy of living in equal measures. Catching a whiff of mercaptan, the eggy-smelling chemical …
