The Emperor of Scent – A story of perfume, obsession and the last mystery of the senses (book review)

Title :- The Emperor of Scent – A story of perfume, obsession and the last mystery of the senses.
By :- Chandler Burr
Published :- Arrow books (2002) Paperback (460 pages)
Outline;- Luca Turin is a scientist with a very unusual gift to appreciate and is an expert on perfume. Much of the book is about perfume, and this is intriguing in itself. He postulates and demonstrates that smell is biochemically derived through a spectroscope like activity in special sensors in the nose. This works upon the unique vibration frequency of each molecule. His proposal for a Noble award for defining such a fundamental discovery is not approved by the Noble committee. However this book goes some way to telling Luca’s story of talent and genius, along with his character. An easy and entertaining read.
Interesting extract:
• “Nature is generating tons and tones of mutations and then, because most of them are duds, ruthlessly cutting them all down. Not very nice for the mutations. Tha’s what you do as a scientist; generate tons and tons of ideas and then shoot them down. To generate them you have to suspend disbelief.”