About this item
Shakespeare wrote that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. But if you cannot smell, does the rose lose its sweetness? The first and definitive book on the psychology of smell, The Scent of Desire traces the importance of smell in our lives, from nourishment to procreation to our relationships with the people closest to us and the world at large. Smell was the very first sense to evolve and is located in the same part of the brain that processes emotion, memory, and motivation. To our ancestors, the sense of smell wasn't just important, it was crucial to existence and it remains so today. Our emotional, physical, even sexual lives are profoundly shaped by both our reactions to and interpretations of different smells. Why do some people like a certain smell and others hate it? Is smell personal or cultural? How does smell affect our choices and our daily lives? Rachel Herz explores these questions and examines the role smell plays in our lives, and how this most essential of senses is imperative to our physical and emotional well-being.
About the Author
Dr. Rachel Herz is on the faculty at Brown University and a professional consultant. She has been working on the psychology of smell since 1990 and is considered to be one of the world's leading experts. Her book, The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell (William Morrow/Harper-Collins) was published in 2007 and selected as a finalist for the "2009 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books." Her intellectual interests recently took a turn and she is now studying the emotion of disgust. Her latest book is, That's Disgusting: Unraveling the Mysteries of Repulsion (W.W. Norton & Co) .
Rachel Herz serves on several advisory boards, including The Fragrance Foundation, and consults for many of the world's leading multinational flavor and fragrance companies. Her expertise has led to legal work as an expert witness in cases involving the sense of smell, and numerous appearances on national media, including ABC News, The Discovery Channel, The New York Times, New Yorker, Time magazine, Rolling Stone, Salon.com and O, the Oprah Magazine. Please visit her blog at Psychology Today and her website: www.rachelherz.com.
Rachel Herz is a dual citizen of the US and Canada. She grew up in Montreal Canada and received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. Rachel Herz is fascinated by human nature and loves all things scented and sensory. She lives in New England with her canine and human family.
