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Books : The Emperor of Scent : A Story of Perfume, Obsession, and the Last Mystery of the SensesIn association with Amazon.comby: CHANDLER BURR  Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Format: Bargain Price Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 336 Publication Date: January 21, 2003 Sales Rank: 735396 Related Items:
Editorial Review: Product Description: For as long as anyone can remember, a man named Luca Turin has had an uncanny relationship with smells. He has been compared to the hero of Patrick Süskind’s novel Perfume, but his story is in fact stranger, because it is true. It concerns how he made use of his powerful gifts to solve one of the last great mysteries of the human body: how our noses work. Luca Turin can distinguish the components of just about any smell, from the world’s most refined perfumes to the air in a subway car on the Paris metro. A distinguished scientist, he once worked in an unrelated field, though he made a hobby of collecting fragrances. But when, as a lark, he published a collection of his reviews of the world’s perfumes, the book hit the small, insular business of perfume makers like a thunderclap. Who is this man Luca Turin, they demanded, and how does he know so much? The closed community of scent creation opened up to Luca Turin, and he discovered a fact that astonished him: no one in this world knew how smell worked. Billions and billions of dollars were spent creating scents in a manner amounting to glorified trial and error. The solution to the mystery of every other human sense has led to the Nobel Prize, if not vast riches. Why, Luca Turin thought, should smell be any different? So he gave his life to this great puzzle. And in the end, incredibly, it would seem that he solved it. But when enormously powerful interests are threatened and great reputations are at stake, Luca Turin learned, nothing is quite what it seems. Acclaimed writer Chandler Burr has spent four years chronicling Luca Turin’s quest to unravel the mystery of how our sense of smell works. What has emerged is an enthralling, magical book that changes the way we think about that area between our mouth and our eyes, and its profound, secret hold on our lives. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Fascenating and EntertainingI absolutly loved this book. An incredible glimpse into the world of high science. An amazing treast on smell and fragrance. Not my usual sort of read, but I recently became interested in perfumes which led me to this book. I would reccomend it to anyone; it is both a page turner and a fabulous education on the world of smell. Who knew it could be so interesting! First I've read by this author - he has two others I can't wait to get my hands on. Rating: - Wonderful writing!, Well written - hard to put down. This book reveal the politics at the heart of the "scientific process" in a fascinating, entertaining, and completely personal way. Even the chemistry is made accessible and inspires a desire to learn more. Burr's characterization of Turin is honest, funny and completely human. An excellent adventure! I can't wait to read more of his work! Rating: - The Emporor Of ScentI read everything Chandler Burr writes. This is his most magnificent offering - easy to follow and wonderful to know. He switches back and forth from NY to France over and over until you are entirely entranced. Rating: - A fascinating tour de force.This book is simply awesome. Before reading it, I was already somewhat familiar with its subject matter (it's the story of the distinctly unorthodox biophysicist, Luca Turin, and his efforts to elucidate the fundamental mechanisms underlying the sense of smell). I'd seen a BBC documentary about Turin's work, which was interesting and accessible. I'd also read Turin's own account, "The Secret of Scent", which was oddly less interesting than one would expect, given the flamboyance of Turin's personality, ... Read More Rating: - AmazingBurr is simply amazing. One of the top five books I've ever read. The story of Luca Turin's "Theory of Smell." Who would have known in this day and age the world had no idea how the nose worked? Turin's road to discovery and the obstacles set before him by the closed-minded academia. Burr does an amazing job of setting the stage honing in on Turin's eccentricities. A great insight into perfume, perfume makers, and a brief history of perfume. I have given over fifty copies to friends and customers. ... Read More Browse for similar items by category: 
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