• How many smells are there? And how many molecules would it take to create every smell in nature, from roses to stinky feet?

• Who was the bigger scent freak: the perfume-obsessed Richard Wagner or Emily Dickinson, with her creepy passion for flowers?

• By scenting the air in stores, are retailers turning us into subliminally controlled shopping zombies?

• Were Smell-O-Vision and AromaRama mere Hollywood fads or serious technologies?

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.

“The delightful and erudite Avery Gilbert employs his multidisciplined talents as scientist, humanist, and fragrance-industry innovator to present fascinating facts with wry humor. The marvelous What the Nose Knows is likely to remain the authoritative popular source on the art and science of scent for a long time to come.”

Richard Restak, MD, author of The Naked Brain: How the Emerging Neurosociety Is Changing How We Live, Work, and Love

“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 and revered natural perfume guru

Take a sweeping journey through the intoxicating world of scent, as a smell scientist highlights new discoveries and reveals a startling new view of the most evocative sense.

AVERY GILBERT is a psychologist, smell scientist, and entrepreneur. His groundbreaking studies in odor perception have been published in scientific journals, and he has helped design commercial scents for everything from perfume to kitty litter. He lives in Montclair, New Jersey. Visit him at www.averygilbert.com.