Emotions are to us what scents are to our animal cousins.
I’ve been reading, and obsessing a bit, about scent, smell, noses, olfactory goodness and badness. This idea is from a book by Rachel Herz, The Scent of Desire. Herz is the world’s top expert in a field she more or less invented, a kind of combined psychological and physiological understanding of the nose. The book is full of surprising, sometimes shocking facts about our sense of smell, but what I most appreciate is when Herz makes connections from science to the sensual, from anatomy to aesthetics, and from human to animal. Also, there’s this: She likes the smell of skunk, and can explain why.
1 Comment
August 18, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Bill ,
I have to say that in the past week I’ve read two of your books – ‘We might as well win’ and ‘Ten points’ and am really impressed . I am a cyclist who attempts blogging and really find you to be a huge inspiration , but having read ten points I have to say chapeau for your bravery and skill in telling such a difficult story .
Thank you for writing it and keep up the good work .
Barry
http://www.worldwidecyclesblog.com