Smell: A Very Short Introduction
Matthew Cobb
Jul 2020 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Dennis Kleinman
headphones
Audiobook
3 hr 56 min
Unabridged
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
Want a 23 min sample? Listen anytime, even offline.
Add
About this audiobook
Our sense of smell-or olfaction as it is technically known-is our most enigmatic sense. It can conjure up memories, taking us back to very specific places and emotions, whilst powerful smells can induce strong feelings of hunger or nausea. In the animal kingdom smell can be used to find food, a mate, or a home; to sense danger; and to send and receive complex messages with other members of a species. Yet despite its fundamental importance in our mental life and in the existence of all animals, our scientific understanding of how smell works is limited. In this Very Short Introduction, Matthew Cobb describes the latest scientific research on smell in humans and other mammals, in insects, and even in fish. He looks at how smell evolved, how animals use it to navigate and communicate, and disorders of smell in humans. Understanding smell, especially its neurobiology, has proved a big challenge, but olfactory science has revealed genetic factors that determine what we can and cannot smell, and why some people like a given smell while others find it unbearable. He ends by considering future treatments for smell disorders, and speculating on the role of smell in a world of robots.
About the author
Matthew Cobb is professor of zoology at the University of Manchester. He has a degree in psychology and has studied the sense of smell in maggots and other animals for over thirty years. Since 2004, he has taught a course on chemical communication in animals, which is the basis for Smell: A Very Short Introduction.
Dennis Kleinman has been narrating audiobooks since 2013 and has at least forty titles to his credit. Born in Cape Town, South Africa, he currently lives in Los Angeles.
Rate this audiobook
Tell us what you think.
Listening information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can read books purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
