What is the smell of mesaforan and what fruits does it contain? Harold McGee explores these and similar questions in “Scented Rich”. McGee is best known as the author of the 2004 book on food and cooking, which explores molecular gastronomy. With “scent,” McGee builds on this and offers a wide range of chemicals and their scents.
The content is divided into five parts according to the source of the scent: “Simple Smells”, “Animals”, “Terrestrial Plants”, “Earth, Water and the Afterlife”, and “Selected Smells”. The author explains the molecules in which substances and how they smell. In this way, the book reminds us of the standard work “Smells and the sense of smell. The Molecular World of Fragrances ”from 1990 by the aromatic chemist Günther Ohloff, which was also published in English. Unfortunately, there is no reference to it.
“Fragrance” explains many interesting details on the subject. However, it must be noted that odor cannot be explained solely on the basis of molecules and cannot be truly understood without reference to anatomical and physiological grounds. There are no indications of this. Despite extensive scientific efforts, there is no clear relationship between molecular structure and cognition. It is not mentioned how basic factors such as concentration, admixture ratios, adaptation, experience, learning, or emotions affect cognition. Some of the claims are completely false. For example, sodium chloride is not always salty, because its taste depends on the concentration: as has long been known, sodium chloride can also taste sweet. The same applies to the smell: the feces give off an unpleasant odor, and when very diluted they have a flowery smell and are therefore also used in the production of perfumes. Unfortunately, this is rarely considered in the text. The saying that “with normal breathing we take from 2 to 4 liters of air into our lungs” is also wrong.
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