Smellosophy: What the Nose Tells the Mind
An NRC Handelsblad Book of the Year

“Offers rich discussions of olfactory perception, the conscious and subconscious impacts of smell on behavior and emotion.”
Science

Decades of cognition research have shown that external stimuli “spark” neural patterns in particular regions of the brain. We think of the brain as a space we can map: here it responds to faces, there it perceives a sensation. But the sense of smell—only recently attracting broader attention in neuroscience—doesn’t work this way. So what does the nose tell the brain, and how does the brain understand it?

A. S. Barwich turned to experts in neuroscience, psychology, chemistry, and perfumery in an effort to understand the mechanics and meaning of odors. She discovered that scents are often fickle, and do not line up with well-defined neural regions. Upending existing theories of perception, Smellosophy offers a new model for understanding how the brain senses and processes odors.

“A beguiling analysis of olfactory experience that is fast becoming a core reference work in the field.”
Irish Times

“Lively, authoritative…Aims to rehabilitate smell’s neglected and marginalized status.”
Wall Street Journal

“This is a special book…It teaches readers a lot about olfaction. It teaches us even more about what philosophy can be.”
Times Literary Supplement

"1133142101"
Smellosophy: What the Nose Tells the Mind
An NRC Handelsblad Book of the Year

“Offers rich discussions of olfactory perception, the conscious and subconscious impacts of smell on behavior and emotion.”
Science

Decades of cognition research have shown that external stimuli “spark” neural patterns in particular regions of the brain. We think of the brain as a space we can map: here it responds to faces, there it perceives a sensation. But the sense of smell—only recently attracting broader attention in neuroscience—doesn’t work this way. So what does the nose tell the brain, and how does the brain understand it?

A. S. Barwich turned to experts in neuroscience, psychology, chemistry, and perfumery in an effort to understand the mechanics and meaning of odors. She discovered that scents are often fickle, and do not line up with well-defined neural regions. Upending existing theories of perception, Smellosophy offers a new model for understanding how the brain senses and processes odors.

“A beguiling analysis of olfactory experience that is fast becoming a core reference work in the field.”
Irish Times

“Lively, authoritative…Aims to rehabilitate smell’s neglected and marginalized status.”
Wall Street Journal

“This is a special book…It teaches readers a lot about olfaction. It teaches us even more about what philosophy can be.”
Times Literary Supplement

22.95 In Stock
Smellosophy: What the Nose Tells the Mind

Smellosophy: What the Nose Tells the Mind

by A. S. Barwich
Smellosophy: What the Nose Tells the Mind

Smellosophy: What the Nose Tells the Mind

by A. S. Barwich

Paperback

$22.95 
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Overview

An NRC Handelsblad Book of the Year

“Offers rich discussions of olfactory perception, the conscious and subconscious impacts of smell on behavior and emotion.”
Science

Decades of cognition research have shown that external stimuli “spark” neural patterns in particular regions of the brain. We think of the brain as a space we can map: here it responds to faces, there it perceives a sensation. But the sense of smell—only recently attracting broader attention in neuroscience—doesn’t work this way. So what does the nose tell the brain, and how does the brain understand it?

A. S. Barwich turned to experts in neuroscience, psychology, chemistry, and perfumery in an effort to understand the mechanics and meaning of odors. She discovered that scents are often fickle, and do not line up with well-defined neural regions. Upending existing theories of perception, Smellosophy offers a new model for understanding how the brain senses and processes odors.

“A beguiling analysis of olfactory experience that is fast becoming a core reference work in the field.”
Irish Times

“Lively, authoritative…Aims to rehabilitate smell’s neglected and marginalized status.”
Wall Street Journal

“This is a special book…It teaches readers a lot about olfaction. It teaches us even more about what philosophy can be.”
Times Literary Supplement


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780674278721
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publication date: 10/11/2022
Pages: 384
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

A. S. Barwich is Assistant Professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science and Cognitive Science Program at Indiana University Bloomington. She has been a Presidential Scholar in Society and Neuroscience at Columbia University’s Center for Science and Society and has held a Research Fellowship at the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research in Vienna. Her website is www.smellosophy.com.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction: Nosedive 1

1 History of the Nose 13

2 Modern Olfaction: At the Crossroads 54

3 Minding the Nose: Odors in Cognition 80

4 How Behavior Senses Chemistry: The Affective Nature of Smell 119

5 On Air: From the Nose to the Brain 146

6 Molecules to Perception 167

7 Fingerprinting the Bulb 202

8 Beyond Mapping, to Measuring Smells 236

9 Perception as a Skill 264

10 The Distillate: The Nose as a Window into Mind and Brain 303

Appendix: List of Interviewees 315

Notes 319

Acknowledgments 353

Index 357

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